It took 37 years and thousands of beers, but graduate student Kevin Faust found his calling — counseling, the profession that saved his life.

Prior to beginning his bachelor’s degree in psychology, Faust was drunk every night for about 17 years. He was arrested twice for alcohol-related incidents and faced jail time and mandatory counseling sessions. Faust’s first time in jail failed to affect him, and he faked his way through both counseling sessions.

“I would tell them I stopped drinking, then my buddy would pick me up from the counseling session and we’d go drinking directly after,” Faust said.

Faust’s actions eventually caught up to him and he was arrested for the third and final time. He was sentenced to 91 days in the Cumberland County Prison. Halfway through his sentence, Faust had the realization that this life was not working for him.

“The world’s not going to change so I can keep getting drunk every night,” he said. “I am going to have to change myself.”

After his probation and mandatory counseling, Faust elected to attend optional sessions at Pennsylvania Counseling so he could do it right this time.

“I kind of liked it. I liked looking inward and I never realized that I liked being introspective,” Faust said. “But I was starting to like it and I thought, ‘Man, I could do this. I love this process now. I like what’s happening to me, I like what they’re doing.’”

When Faust started as a freshman at Penn State University in York, he intended to focus on nothing but academics.

“I told myself I wasn’t going to get involved with women, clubs, sports or anything,” Faust said. “I was goal-driven as all hell.”

He ended up getting involved with everything. When Faust transferred to Penn State, Mont Alto, he became the oldest vice president of student government.

“It wasn’t just that he and his partner won: It was the way they did so — namely, by consulting with students and student groups and building a campaign on the basis of students’ needs and expressed desires,” said John Bardi, professor of philosophy, who worked with Faust on a number of occasions.

Faust did not stop there. He became the vice president of the human development and family studies club and volunteered at Wilson College’s childcare center for the experience. Additionally, he volunteered at Women in Need in Chambersburg and served as president of the gay-straight alliance.

“It was way out of my comfort zone, but it was awesome,” he said. “I really grew from it.”

While working with Women in Need, Faust participated in “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes,” a charity event that encourages men to experience one of the many things women are put through.

“Kevin is comfortable speaking his mind and is willing to share it when necessary,” said Raff Iula, who met Faust for the first time at the event.

Faust completed his undergraduate degree in May 2014 with a 3.73 GPA and began his graduate studies in counseling at Shippensburg University a few months later. While Faust’s current goal is to be a counselor on a college campus, he chose the clinical mental health track so he would not pigeonhole himself into only one career option.

Iula and Faust continued to work together on events such as “Take Back the Night,” a rally aimed to speak out against domestic abuse and encourage abuse victims to share their stories.

This December, Faust will travel to India on a service-learning trip. He decided to work with those suffering from leprosy because the idea makes him uncomfortable and he knows nothing about the subject.

“Kevin is learning a lot about himself by asking and answering difficult questions,” Iula said. “I think this will transfer well to his future clients.”

Share