About Rocky

Rocky Ferrenburg grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. He came from a middle-class family. Early in his life, Rocky watched his parents raise a family on a struggling income. However, as time went on their socioeconomic status grew.

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Rocky attended a Christian academy, graduated with a 3.4 GPA, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He was a guitarist and loved to snow machine (that is a snowmobile for the rest of you). But this was only the side Rocky wanted everyone to see.

By the age 15, Rocky was already a daily drinker and marijuana user. Over the next three years, he began to experiment with numerous amounts of drugs. As the story goes crime began to become a part of his lifestyle. Theft and fighting became a large part of Rocky’s other persona.

On September 11, 2007, there was hope in disaster. After spending all day with her son, Rocky’s mother got a call that Rocky was in the hospital because he had been stabbed, and they didn’t know how bad it was. Rocky had lost two pints of blood from his ulnar artery. His ulnar nerve was severed too. He had to undergo emergency surgery to save his hand. No one knew if he would ever play music again, but everyone hoped this would be the wake-up call.

However, it wasn’t. Rocky was right back to partying as soon as he was out of the hospital.

The next year Rocky made the decision to move for a job. Down to Idaho to stay with extended family and work in Wyoming. Despite the partying, he seemed to have done pretty well. Nevertheless, time will take its toll. Rocky’s job shut down in 2008, and Rocky was broke. Over the next year, Rocky was homeless. He spent his time committing crimes and using drugs hard drugs.

In 2009, Rocky was arrested for possession of methamphetamine. He was offered a drug court program in lieu of prison. Still, Rocky wanted to get high. Now he spent his time trying to figure out how to beat the system, and he did. Rocky spent 10 months in a 12-month program, and lost 60lbs from his new-found method of abuse; intravenous drug use. Finally, in what would retroactively seem like a call for help, he inadvertently admitted to his scam.

Rocky spent the next 9 months in a minimum security prison completing a crime and drug program.

When he was released he arranged to transfer his probation to Alaska to be closer to family. Unfortunately, he was still too interested in getting high, and had relapsed multiple times before he even got on the plane. Rocky spent the next 6 months or so struggling through probation, treatment, and work. At this point, Rocky was drinking heavily, smoking pot, and shooting up heroin and methamphetamine.

Finally, in August of 2011 Rocky was homeless again, strung out again, on the run again, and had no one and nothing. He made the call.

Rocky set up a plan to get into one of the toughest programs in Alaska. When he went in for his interview the house manager, who later became a sober mentor and counselor to him, was touched by his story and was able to find him a spot at the program.

At this point, Rocky was surely on the fence about sobriety. He was listening and working steps, but still holding negative contracts, and continually playing with fire. After three months Rocky and another client had one crazy idea to commit a robbery and get high so they left the center in the middle of winter with almost nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Luckily for the other client, some friends of his were kind enough to intervene for him, and then Rocky was on his own.

It was the beginning of December in Anchorage, Alaska. Rocky had no money, no food, no place to go, and was technically on the run… and drunk.

Rocky checked into a homeless shelter that night.

After that, a friend felt bad for Rocky and gave him a place to stay for a few days. Rocky sat on the couch for a week… drinking…. smoking… trying to figure out what to do. However, he knew what to do. Rocky turned himself into probation and was shortly extradited back to Idaho.

He was offered one last chance at a brand new program facility, and it was between this sentencing and the program itself that something changed. Rocky went from a plan centered around joining the circus under an alias to making a true attempt at sobriety.

Rocky decided that his new plan had to be simple; K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid). He decided that whatever “old Rocky” would do, he was just going to do the exact opposite. This seems pretty lame. I mean after all, if it was that easy then why was it so hard before? The more in-depth plan was that Rocky was going to stop and actually process every decision, even if the pause made him look stupid to others. And whatever he did… he was not going to get high.

Shortly after his release Rocky met back up with an old friend that he knew wasn’t a drug addict, and it was only a matter of time before they were dating. Rocky had fallen head over heels for her little girl. A nine-month old who’s biological father didn’t care to stick around, but little did they know that they had another on the way!

One year into probation Rocky had moved out of the halfway house, graduated a few treatment classes, had drug testing lowered, got his CDL, was working, and had his own little family. Rocky knew that if he was going to be a supporter of his family he was going to need to do more than drive truck his whole life. So Rocky enrolled in college, and in 2016 Rocky graduated with honors and five Associates of Arts degrees.

During that time Rocky also graduated from probation with zero infractions, play in a community-minded rock band (yes, he taught himself to play after being stabbed), and legally adopted his oldest daughter. Also, shortly after being released from probation, Rocky also proposed to his, now, wife!

Late in 2017 Rocky began writing for political outlets, and made the decision to run for public office. In 2018, Rocky lost his primary race but has still remained active in speaking out against those that infringe on our liberties.

Today Rocky still drives truck, still writes for political magazines, and is currently working on Three Bachelors degrees. Rocky also hosts a music podcast and writes for a state music magazine. Though he is not in the same band as before, he still plays music in a local band.

Since 2011, Rocky has been discovering who the “new Rocky” is. He has discovered all the geekiness, and quirkiness, along with the ability to stand up for what’s right and help others out when he can. However, most of all Rocky has learned how to be a great dad and a good man to a woman. This is a life never imagined by Rocky, but today, in anticipation for his third child, he looks forward to where his life and the life of his family is going.


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