Present

So instead of talking about where I came from, I'm going to talk about where I am. You have gotten a little taste of my early childhood and the struggle I had with reading/spelling. I now want to explain my present condition.

I still have trouble reading, especially really long and boring history books. You know the ones, they throw in French words like Entente and German phrases like Mein Herr (I guess for some reason I have WWII on the brain) and then give no pictures to go along with the text to break up the monotony.  I love history but slogging through history books is no bueno.  And trying to read history books on the middle east and asia...AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!  I can't, for the life of me, pronounce 95% of the names in those books.  If it's not spelled phonetically there's no way I can figure it out.  Thank you dyslexia and making my brain logical. 

Yeah, probably never heard someone say dyslexia is logical, but I have to argue it is.  I've gotten passed the point where I mix up my B's and D's (well for the most part anyway) and have reached what I consider phase 2 of dyslexia: the constant challenge of pronouncing words when you don't mix the letters up.  If it's not spelled how it sounds or is similar to other words I know through repetition 1) I usually can't figure it out and 2) I cannot spell it.  As an example, I was taking a humanities class a couple of years ago and my teacher was talking about Don Quixote which was the first time I was faced with that story.  In my notes I wrote Donkey Hote because I couldn't figure out the words.  It was rather humours and now me and my roommate joke about it.  I rock at life, I know :)

So I just got a little side tracked with what I wanted to say in this blog so I will try and get back to the point.  Even though I just said I still struggle with some things I have definitely improved...drastically.  If you haven't read my about me, I will catch you up.  Even though reading was a challenge for me when I was younger, it is now my passion.  I am an English major at Brigham Young University and I only have 1 semester left.  At this moment in time, I am preparing to take my GRE to get into grad school so I can get a masters and possible PhD in Victorian Literature.  My emphasis are Victorian Lit and creative writing.  So I can honestly say that I faced down my demons and said, "I will 'not got gentle into that good night.'"  Dyslexia motivated me to prove to myself and others that I would not let it over come me, and I did just that.  I fought a hard fight and it's one that's still going on, but now I can say I'm on the winning side.

So I feel like I'm tooting my own horn right now, but what I'm really trying to do is show that those with dyslexia or any other learning disorder can do well and are smart.  Don't let what others say or think about you get you down.  Just know your own limits and then push them.  Grow.  Improve.  Believe.  Be the best you can be and not what others think you should be.  It is your life and you know who you are and what you can accomplish.  Set goals and do whatever it takes to achieve.

I set goals for myself from an early age.  I made the decision that I wanted to go to BYU and be and English major.  I said I wanted a scholarship and I got three of them.  I spent many nights in my parents room crying because of how frustrated I was, but the next day I got up and I pushed on because I was determined to reach the goals that I had set for myself.

So I would challenge you, make simple goals like reading your first chapter book or writing a paper without mistakes.  Get the help you need to accomplish them whether it be someone to edit your paper or help you with words you don't know.  Just do it because you will learn each time you make a mistake.  Make the same mistake enough and correct it enough times and soon it will no longer be a mistake.  Learn from your errors, don't let them discourage you.