Be a Villager

Event Updates!

MNYPAA and 4 of July!

The Minnesota Conference for Young People in AA was over the 4th of July weekend! It was an epic couple of daysfilled with fireworks, friends, and recovery.

Final week of softball!

It was the sober softball league finals, and we are proud to announce that StepUP came in 3rd place! AND we made it to the playoffs 🙂

Thanks everyone for another great season!!

Written by Moss

July 2026

Hi my name is Moss. I spent four years in the StepUP program. All of those years I lived on campus, and three of those years I had the honor to work for the program as a StepUP Peer Advisor, or SPA. The job duties of a SPA are similar to that of a regular college resident assistant. However there is a much heavier emphasis on building and maintaining a really stellar community, and it’s a lot harder than one might think. Don’t get me wrong, the program is awesome and filled with amazing people, but living together isn’t always harmonious. Conflict, infighting, and some drama are unfortunately inevitable aspects of a choosing to be in a tighknit community such as StepUP, but in my opinion, totally worth it. Here are a few things I’ve learned during my time in the program that I would advise all current and prospective StepUP students to keep in mind:

1. Be a Villager

In times of turmoil, sometimes I’d go complain to Shane, one of our lovely counselors, and often he would tell me to “let it go”. Like I said before, StepUP is a tightknit community, we spend a lot of time together, and the majority of us live in the same building. Resentments are definitely a thing, and not everyone is always gonna get along. We all have our own ideas about how we should act, live, and what the moral thing to do is, and sometimes we unfairly project them onto others. In AA it’s called taking someone’s inventory. I guess what I am trying to say is, while unhygienic and annoying, your roommate's dirty dishes aren’t a moral failing. Don’t let those little differences ruin your perception of them. It’s really not that deep, and at the end of the day things are what you make of them. 

3. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift; that’s why it’s called the present. 

You might recognize that saying from the first Kung Fu Panda movie. These were the late Master Oogway's final words of wisdom before turning into cherry blossom petals and passing onto the next life. I have always loved that quote, as cheesy as it is. I’ve realized that all I ever really have is the present moment. I think it’s important to remember that, like all things, your time in this program will come to an end. If I could go back in time and tell freshmen year me anything, I’d say “make the most of it”.