He spent $24,000 on drugs using Disney's corporate credit card. The company gave him a second chance instead of firing him. He later went to rehab.
Courtesy of Taron Sargsyan & AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images
I started my first professional internship at Disney in the summer of 2014 in my hometown of Glendale, California. I felt a sense of purpose in planning summer activities and bringing the intern community together. It was the greatest summer of my life. Little did they know I was also struggling with a meth addiction.
My traumatic experience of coming out as gay to my Armenian family brought a lonely, dark fog over my life. My workplace was a refuge from addiction and my pains. I loved being surrounded by imaginative people. Upon graduating from college, and after my second internship with Disney, I was excited to be hired as a software engineer on the PhotoPass team. It was my dream job and a haven; I knew I was lucky to have it.
As my addiction deepened, my finances didn't reflect the near-six-figure salary I earned at Disney. Most of my money was spent on drugs and on helping out my immigrant family.
I eventually reached a breaking point.
I spent about $24,000 on Disney's corporate credit card to support my drug habit and my family. I convinced myself I'd pay it back, but I was getting in over my head.
At the beginning of 2017, I took a stranger's advice and admitted my mistake to my manager. I was terrified I'd get fired or go to jail, but Disney offered me the greatest gesture of love anyone could've shown me. The company gave me a chance to pay it back and left me with a formal warning. This was a big turning point in my life.
My family gave me a loan to pay all of it back, and for the next year, I worked to pay them back. The second chance Disney gave me also inspired me to go to rehab. But I failed six times and was starting to give up hope.
On July 17, 2018, I was stranded with no gas, no money, and 10 days left to return to work from another medical leave of absence. Addiction led me to push away all my friends and family. I feared I was about to lose the only constant left in my life: my job at Disney.
But on this day, I Googled "rehab for professionals" and called for help. An acquaintance Ubered me to a rehab facility in Tustin, California.
Something was different about this rehab experience. When I walked into this rehab facility, my imagination convinced me I was seeing important people from my childhood. In group therapy, the facilitator looked like the first teacher I had in America after emigrating from Armenia. Memories from my childhood flooded back when I saw her. Hearing her soothing voice teleported my mind to fourth grade. I felt like a child again. She reminded me of my innocence — of the person I was before my addiction. My chin quivered. I had somehow forgotten the fact that I was not born addicted to drugs.
In this group session, people read stories that deeply resonated with me. The stories felt like they were written just for me. I couldn't stop crying. I felt like the main character in my own Disney movie.
These people in my rehab reminded me of my humanity. Of course, Disney had nothing to do with my rehab stay. But the company's compassion in not kicking me to the curb at one of the lowest points made me believe in my ability to change for the first time.
Addiction nearly killed me and dimmed my hopes for a future. My experience in rehab allowed me to rebuild my life and work on healing my relationship with my family.
I moved back in with my family to heal the rift in our relationship. My family was the primary source of my addiction triggers back then.
Disney showed me that compassion can be a powerful force to inspire forgiveness and accountability. I learned that without self-forgiveness and accountability, healing from addiction is impossible.
Over the past four years, my family and I have grown closer by taking mutual accountability for our actions. My parents got a chance to know and learn about their gay son, who was struggling with addiction.
Had it not been for Disney's impact on my life, I may not have healed from my addiction or my relationship with my family. I'm glad I didn't miss out on a life filled with joy, love, and kindness.
Although I no longer work for the company, I'm grateful to Disney for unlocking the power of my imagination and giving me a second chance at life. I'm also eternally grateful to my family for evolving with me throughout my main-character journey.
