A little bit about me

I forgot to do this when I joined :smile:

I’m an undergrad student majoring in psychology and minoring in biology. I went my whole childhood and adolescence undiagnosed, but I was finally diagnosed with NVLD a year ago. I love volunteering at my local animal shelter and training in flyball with my dog. I pet sit and dog walk any time I get a chance. I plan to apply for a master’s in animal behavior. My dream job is conservation detection dog handler.

College has been both a struggle and a refuge for me at the same time. I wasn’t able to drive until I finally got a driver’s license at 21, so I can’t help but feel that the highschool/community college years when I would actually have had more time to work (unlike now that I’m a full time student) were totally wasted. My hometown is rural with no public transportation so I couldn’t go anywhere except school because my parents didn’t have time to take me places and I didn’t have a lot of friends. I’m really privileged to have parents who wanted to support me until I finish my bachelor’s. In college, the rules (usually) make sense. You do what your professor tells you to, you do it well and submit it on time, you get a good grade. I’m good at following the rules when the rules are actually clearly laid out. School has been a refuge from the minefield of fake job postings, unclear descriptions, “entry level job: 10 years experience required,” and intensely social world that is the working world in this day and age. But I will have to face it, sooner rather than later, so that’s my next hurdle in life. Because of all the years where I was so isolated, I kind of feel like I’ve only just entered the “real world” in the last 2 years :sweat_smile: So it feels like so much at once when I’m only just learning how to be a person.

Anyway that’s a little bit about me plus some rambling. Glad to be here!

Thanks for sharing your story, and welcome to the site!

Making it in “the real world” as far as you have is an incredible accomplishment, and I hope this site can be of some support as you move forward.

I do appreciate someone saying that. All anyone ever seems to see are the things I haven’t done yet that I “should’ve” done by now. I don’t think anyone really knows how much I have struggled and oftentimes still do. But I know how far I’ve come that’s the important thing. I mean. As much as school has been a refuge for me, there have still been many times I’ve seriously considered dropping out :sweat_smile: But I’m still here and graduating in the fall. I’ve stuck it out to the end and that’s a pretty big deal.