5/6/7th Year Seniors WOOP WOOP

[Anonymous]

I was diagnosed with ADHD my sophomore year of college. I’ve been dealing with depression and anxiety disorder from the time I was 15. I never imagined that I wouldn’t graduate on time, though. Neither did my friends. But I never went to class, and did very little homework. Because I was dealing with my stuff. I had a lot of stuff. But a couple years later and here I am, still at this prestigious school, for my 4th year, going on 5th soon, actively dealing. Most days I feel good, confident, ready to be awesome.

But then there are days, or moments, like this, where I feel completely defeated. And so anxious. Isolated. Ashamed.

And I don’t have any friends in my position. No one who gets it. No one who’s here in the trenches with me.

So, that’s why I’m reaching out. After weeks of just reading through these forums I’m finally contributing. Are there any other determined undergraduates here? Is anybody out there?

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[JimC.]

You can do it; I did. Took me 5 years (3 year course in Bus. marketing) and several failures, dropping in and out, a few jobs in between (with associated firings) and so forth. And I considered getting anything over 50% a success. I did get through and the reality at the end was that I got a job that led to a career path (bumpy, but still…a path). Keep plodding, there are those that know the hard work, guilt and associated procrastination that plague us, but at the end there’s a reward for you if you are persistent and, um, a bit lucky. In my day. high marks weren’t so important, but now I think those play a more prominent role?

Only 1 suggestion, if you’re not diagnosed and using meds, you’re making it a lot harder on yourself than you need to. ❗

Good luck, and I’m sensing you’re almost there. Jim

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[g.laiya]

been there!….except i didn’t have the fortitude like you to continue at the same school until graduation…actually never completed ungrad….but did accumulate many credits over the years at various schools, and eventually found a grad school program that didn’t require a bachelors, one i thought i could do well with, and i was able to complete, and only 2 trimesters late – yeah!

don’t stress about not being on the traditional 4-year path – honestly! take it from a professional student

let’s hear it for the non-traditional, winding path, ad/hd , multi-major/multi-interests students! woop! woop!

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[DareToBeHappy]

Thanks guys 🙂  So that was me.

 

I’m back at school now.  I wanted to transfer, away from an environment that I don’t feel particularly supported in, but my shut that shit down and convinced my family I was just crazy.  I didn’t even want to leave forever.  I just wanted to see if maybe surrounded by other people, in a different setting, with a different vibe, I could do well.  I just wanted to know if it was me or the place or me in the place or what.

 

But oh well.  And now I just feel… well at first I was frustrated, now I’m only a little disappointed.

I just honestly have no will to work right now.  I feel so defeated and unmotivated to do anything for anyone here.

 

At least right now.  This might just be insomnia driven moodiness.  I just started taking Busprione along with my Adderall a couple weeks ago.  It could be my body adjusting to it.

 

It could be all of the above.  I’m fine, I swear, I really am, I’m just having a weak moment lol

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[friendlymathematician]

I know this is an old post, but I’ve been there. It took me 10 years to get through college due to budget cuts keeping me from getting classes I needed, breaking my leg, having a few surgeries, changing majors, and various vicious social campaigns led against me by women I liked that one day would decide that we were no longer friends.

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[ancientgeek]

It took me 20 quarters to get my BS in mathematics (in 1960’s) – along with minors in physics, EE, and philosophy. I got to play with really big toys – rockets at the Redstone Arsenal (Project Apollo). I retired at 55 because I was able to exploit the hyper-focus of my ADHD in my profession. I’m in my 70’s (is that senior enough?). I’m in the 4th generation of the 6 our family has identified as being ADHD.

I never was able to maintain a decent depression much over 24 hours, because something shiny and interesting always crossed my path and drew my attention away. Rather than wasting time on depression, learn about how ADHD works, then use that knowledge. One trick is to revise the world you live in – and the associated expectations. See the Canadian flicks “ADD and Loving It” and “ADD and Managing It”.  Hollywood and Silicone Gulch (Fremont – San Jose – Santa Clara) could not survive without ADHD and Autism.

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[shutterbug55]

I had a difficulty with High school. It took me 6 years to “pass”. I think they got tired of having me there. Since I have a low tolerance for idiots and the school was full of them, I didn’t listen too closely in class. With the exception of a couple teachers, none of them really had my attention.   1.1 GPA was still passing.

College was completely different. I got my First Bachelors in 2 years, by testing out of most of the boring stuff. I got the second one a year later, because it was very closely related to the first (Physics and Mathematics).  I got my PhD in Computer Science, which I use all the time in my work.

Homework was fun for me, because I like solving problems and puzzles. Each question was a different puzzle, so time stopped while I was doing homework. Projects would get done WAY too fast, and so I always added things to the project to make it better. I did that, just so I could maintain that thrill of working on something fun. I ended up with a very high GPA and T/A several classes.

I was diagnosed with Autism in the beginning of this year, which explained why I can get so focused on one thing or a family of related things.  The secret to my success in school, was to remain interested in the subject, surround myself with really smart professors, who liked to teach. The rest was just a matter of remembering to turn in homework.

I am going to retire very soon and get another PhD. Probably something fun like Geology or Chemistry.  I would rather do that, than play cribbage with the old folks. I may even teach at a community college, looking out for ADD students and giving them the help, some of my teachers gave me.

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[Scattybird]

@shutterbug55 – I can relate to your description of your academic achievements. Like you, it took me a while to get through school. I hated it. I took my exams numerous times and even then only got into college because someone kind saw something in me and gave me a break.  I will always be grateful to him and others who have helped over the years.

Once in college I did OK and doing my PhD was one of the best and most enjoyable things I have ever done. I hyperfocused for 3 years.

Unlike you, I didn’t do so impressively so quickly. I take my hat off to your achievements.

Do you think that your autism overruled your ADHD? I guess it must have done to some extent?  Unlike you, I find that I don’t have the energy to maintain a high level of interest as I get older. Well…. that’s not strictly true – my job is exhausting and when I have a break from it the old interest in everything comes back.

 

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[shutterbug55]

@Scattybird

I am sure Autism had something to do with it. Ever since I can remember, I have been taking things apart and getting them to work. Radios, TV’s all sorts of things. Math and Physics has always been a fascination as well. What ever I am doing, Math and Physics comes into the picture. That is a very Autistic trait, I am told.

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[blackdog]

@friendlymathematician, it sounds like you had a lot of stuff happening and a lot of bad luck along the way. No wonder it took you so long. But at least you stuck with it and got through. I only went to college for one year. Had a lot of the same kinds of problems, got really sick from staying up all night to try to finish assignments that were due the next day, and suffered the same type of social sabotage. I always wanted to go back and finish the course with flying colours, just to “show them”, but I never did. Good thing probably because without a diagnosis, and without knowing that trying harder doesn’t work, I still would have failed.

@ancientgeek, some great advice. If only someone had told me 20 years ago…. I recently realized that one of the main reasons I am always depressed is that I am bored out of my mind. My life is far to simple and dull to keep me engaged and interested. I have started trying to do what I can to get excited about life again and I’m doing much better. Unfortunately, it’s too late to do much. But thanks to the Internet and my best friend Google, I can find things to keep my mind active from the comfort of my couch. 🙂

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[blackdog]

Oops…. Double posted. 😉

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