I attended three AA meetings to gain a better and more personal understanding of how addiction affects people. The three meetings I attended were the AA debate in Costa Mesa on Friday, the Pride+ program in Newport Beach on Friday, and the women's debate in Costa Mesa on Friday. The meetings all lasted an hour. All the meetings I attended were discussion meetings. All meetings had a moderator/leader who helped guide the meeting. The meeting began with the moderator handing out a meeting rental basket. The first time it happened, I wasn't expecting it, so I felt guilty that I couldn't donate due to my lack of cash, so I made sure to bring at least a dollar to future meetings. The moderator then had everyone go around and introduce themselves. They all said they introduced themselves using “Hi, my name is ____ and I am an alcoholic.” I had heard this phrase used in movies and shows before, but I didn't know it was actually used in meetings, so it was a bit of a surprise to me. After all the presentations were made, the moderator asked someone to read the 12 steps of the Big Book. Once all the passages were read, people started sharing their experiences. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the first meeting I attended, Speaker Meeting, the moment I walked in the door, I wanted to walk out. I walked in and saw a group of people who didn't look like me and who made me feel out of place and uncomfortable. The room was mostly made up of older men, most of whom appeared to be middle-aged. There were some women; I remember 3 or 4. There were a few people who looked to be around my age and there was a small child. I remember looking at everyone in the room and trying to figure out if there was anyone else from that class. As the meeting went on I felt more and more comfortable. When people started talking about their personal experiences, I forgot my discomfort and listened to their experiences. However, I knew that these were people I would most likely never meet in my life, as I could imagine very few places where our social circles would overlap. At the end of the meeting, the moderator asked us to hold hands while we said a prayer. The prayer chosen was "Our Father", in reality this prayer was chosen in all three meetings, so I am not sure if other prayers were also used. Saying a prayer was a bit of a strange experience for me. I grew up Catholic, but I don't identify with any religion. I was able to recite most of the prayer from memory, but I had difficulty with some parts, because first, I felt much more comfortable reciting it in Spanish, and second, I hadn't recited the prayer in so long. I have to admit that I felt a little uncomfortable holding the hand of a large man in his fifties while saying a prayer that meant nothing to me, but it wasn't uncomfortable enough to make me not want to. never attend meetings again. My second and third experiences were much better than the first, and I believe this is because these two meetings were aimed at specific groups. The other two meetings I attended were for LGBT alcoholics and women alcoholics. I think that, due to the fact that I belong to these two groups, I did not feel out of place in these other two meetings. I had the feeling that the people present in these meetings looked more like me andthey could be people I could interact with in my daily life. What was most striking about the LGBT meeting was the age of those present. First of all, many more women were present and much younger people were also present at the meeting. Most of those present looked to me like they were in their twenties. I didn't know exactly what to think about it. On the one hand I was happy that this group of people existed, because it would definitely be a good environment for someone young and LGBT struggling with addiction, but I also felt saddened by the number of young people struggling with addiction. The first meeting, as well as what I had seen on TV or in movies, led me to believe that AA meetings were normally for older people, but this meeting showed me that this was not the case. Another thing I observed about this meeting in particular was that when the question was asked about who was willing to become a sponsor, more people raised their hands at this meeting than at the other two. I'm not entirely sure why, but it might have something to do with the age of the meeting attendees, but I can only speculate. It also seemed like this group had more bonds outside of meetings. As I was leaving the meeting, I noticed that a rather large group of attendees were talking outside, which I hadn't noticed in the other two meetings. There seemed to be a social aspect to his meeting. As for the final encounter, as I said before, I felt much more comfortable in this one than in the first. Like the first one though; At this meeting mainly elderly women were present. The average age of the women present was probably in their late 40s or early 50s. One interesting thing about this meeting is that of the 6 or so younger women present, 3 of them had a child with them. In the first meeting, one of the three women present had a child with her. This was something I had never thought about before, but it became clear that childcare could be an obstacle especially for women. Although these women came with their children, there were probably many others who were unable to attend because they had no one to care for their children or did not want to risk spreading the meeting out. That said, all the children present were quite well behaved and no one seemed to mind their presence. In fact, people offered them candy and treats and generally seemed to enjoy their presence. All in all, I think the match that came closest to my expectations was the first one. I definitely expected there to be more men and I expected the men to be older. I honestly had no idea that AA meetings existed for more specific groups, but I'm glad that they do, because I see people being dissuaded from general meetings, because they may not see much in common between themselves and the group of people in attendance. I believe it is important for the person in AA to feel some sort of connection with those they attend meetings with so that they can get more out of those meetings. The aspect of these meetings that I personally liked was the discussion. It was very interesting and impactful to be able to hear the experiences of those dealing with addiction. I learned a lot about what the daily struggles of addiction look like and what some people go through to get to where they are today. The aspect I didn't like was the prayer and the mention of religion. While I understand that AA does not necessarily emphasize religion and that it encourages those who follow the steps to find their own interpretation of God, I believe this may discourage those who are not religious,