My identity may not be seen on the surface, but my ADHD is a part of my identity. I was diagnosed in the first grade and have been on medicine ever since, but medicine does not just automatically cure my ADHD. I still fight this battle every single day. Having ADHD has affected my reading and writing in so many different ways. First, English was always my least favorite subject because it was harder than math or science to me. I dreaded the days where we did popcorn reading in class because I was always the last person to be picked by my fellow peers. This was because reading one paragraph would take me ten times longer than all the other students. So naturally, I developed a disliking for reading even on my own time. What did not help though was my teacher in second grade was not very nice to anyone in the class, but especially me. One day in class she called me slow and stupid, and these words have stuck with me ever since. Once I had gotten older and into higher-level classes writing papers became the thing I also disliked. Everyone seemed to have an easy time just writing a one-page paper and getting an A, whereas, I would put in the same if not more time and would receive a C. I thought my whole elementary and middle school years that it was because I was slow and stupid like my second-grade teacher had told me, and I would never be able to make something of my life. Then one day just like Matt De La Pena, when his teacher gave him a book and made him realize there is always hope, my Academic Support teacher, Mrs. Sikes helped me embrace my ADHD and find ways of doing things that worked best for me. Thus giving me the hope that I could become something and that I was more than those words my second-grade teacher had said. Even though Pena and I have two completely different stories; we both were taught by highschool teachers about hope. I still do not like to read or write because of how much time it does still take me, but at least I know now that I am not stupid I just have to focus more of my time and energy into the paper or book.
