- Someone achieves a feat that is perceived as "beyond" their abilities.
- The person in question almost always has a disability, is financially disadvantaged, is part of a racial minority, and/or marginalized in some other way.
- Hardships are either overplayed or denied entirely.
- The person rarely has their say in how they got there, just that they did.
- Overcomer stories make a task inherently more inspirational because this person had (insert a disadvantage here).
- The story exists just to make advantaged people feel good/bad.
My journey can easily be twisted into an overcomer story. "First resource student to attempt an honors institute designation" would be the headline. The story would go on telling me about why I am such an inspiration and how everyone else is lazy. People would read this and impose undue pressure on neurotypicals because someone with Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD pursued a high academic honor. Not everyone is made to achieve academic feats like this. Undue burdens imposed by these stories is one of the main problems I see with them. Everyone has a different set of strengths, weaknesses, interests, and passions.
Key Factors that Separate My Journey from a Typical Overcomer Story:
Key Factors that Separate My Journey from a Typical Overcomer Story:
- I've haven't gotten there yet and I'm not sure if I will. My grades are highly variable depending on the subject and the teacher. One bad teacher or confusing subject can derail my effort entirely. I have never been sure of my abilities.
- This truly pushes me to the limit. I have seen how quickly grades can derail due to missing little details (as I tend to do). Now, I will have to make sure everything is perfect (or near perfect). That kind of thing makes me tired and frustrated. I have sacrificed my sleep to maintain my grades.
- I do not intend to make neurotypical people feel bad by sharing my story. I know that everyone is different and might not have my Herculean (or so I've been told) academic strength. That would be like comparing me to a Paralympic athlete.
- I will get a lot of help along the way. Rarely am I ever truly alone. I have my parents, teachers, and other people behind me.
- There are days when I will doubt myself. Think I'm all cocky and confident because of what you see in my writing? I'm the shy and awkward in real life. Before I played the flute, I never felt like I was good at anything. Even now, the recurring twinge of insecurity among my multitalented peers comes at varying degrees.
- This is my story as I tell it. Technically, this is on the Internet with consent because I am the one telling my personal experiences as I see them. I won't transcribe every little detail here for various reasons, but this is my story told by me, not my mom, not random people on social media, not random stalkers filming me without my consent, but me.
It sounds like you are under a lot of stress to maintain your grades, but that you also have a lot of support! I hope you'll find some balance and not stress out too much! I know you'll achieve your goals, hopes and dreams!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard work to maintain good grades. I bring difficult things upon myself and achieve them.
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