Mason Hernandez
Admissions Director
My name is Mason Hernandez, and I am the Admissions Director for Embark Recovery. I grew up in Orange County, California, and can say I had a typical positive childhood. I had a loving family, enjoyed playing sports, and loved going to the river on weekends. But when I got to high school, I was introduced to drugs my freshman year, which kickstarted a decade long addiction to heroin and other substances. I quit playing sports, was in a toxic relationship, and spent my senior year in juvenile hall. Out of school, my life continued to spiral out of control, and at the age of 22, I went to my first detox. I tried staying on suboxone for a few years, only drinking and smoking pot, but heroin always came back into my life. At 25 years old, I hit my breaking point when I got into serious legal trouble, and it wasn’t until then that I decided to try long term rehab.
Embark Recovery was recommended to me by an old friend I used to get high with. Nervous and skeptical, I decided to take a chance and enroll in March 2015, and from the moment I walked into the door, Embark welcomed me in with open arms and considered me family. The structure of Embark is exactly what I needed: safety restrictions in the beginning, earned privileges, and the opportunity to experience what life is like when you graduate. I had a job, I cooked, cleaned, did laundry, and as my mom would say, “became an adult for once.” My therapist helped me get to the bottom of my addiction, and why I had such low self-esteem and continued to use. I went on inspiring and uplifting activities such as, hiking, rock climbing, and started playing sports again. I was getting back into things that I used to do as a kid, which really helped me come back to life. Embark truly helped bring the light back to my soul, and even after graduation when I had to face legal charges, my Embark community that I created day one was there to support me.
Today, I am the Admissions Director for Embark Recovery, but I’m also a son, a brother, a boyfriend, and a nursing student who graduates in June 2022, RN/BSN. My family is proud of me, I have a loving long-term relationship, I’m now a homeowner, but above all, I like being me, I respect where I’ve been, appreciate where I am now, and look forward to seeing who I become, and I owe all of this to Embark for helping me believe in myself again.