My school experience was also marked by anxiety- I had a hard time participating in some classes but it depended on my comfort level with the teacher and my peers. I was very outspoken in elementary school and middle school but struggled with Socratic discussion in high school. Small groups were fine but I often would only say 1-2 comments and get a lower participation grade. I didn’t know back then that my inability to get things done until a deadline made me panic was a sign of ADHD- I always thought I was just a procrastinator.
I was always able to lose myself in reading and my comprehension was good so my test scores were good throughout high school. My math wasn’t quite as good but I took calculus with my twin sister and with her help and our teacher, I managed to get a 3 on the AP. In college I had to withdraw from Stats 101 after failing the midterm because I couldn’t ask for help in such a big class. College was the first time I ever got under a B as a final grade and law school was the first time I got a D. Now I know I had trouble synthesizing all the information in an entire semester and I really missed having any points of reference other than a midterm and final- in law school I always did fine in class but didn’t understand how we were supposed to write essays. After my 1L year I had a lot of the same professors and did significantly better the other 2 years. I didn’t find out both my husband and I had undiagnosed ADHD until 2020 after my oldest child had been getting incident reports at school following the birth of his brother- he had just turned 3.
My school experience was also marked by anxiety- I had a hard time participating in some classes but it depended on my comfort level with the teacher and my peers. I was very outspoken in elementary school and middle school but struggled with Socratic discussion in high school. Small groups were fine but I often would only say 1-2 comments and get a lower participation grade. I didn’t know back then that my inability to get things done until a deadline made me panic was a sign of ADHD- I always thought I was just a procrastinator.
I was always able to lose myself in reading and my comprehension was good so my test scores were good throughout high school. My math wasn’t quite as good but I took calculus with my twin sister and with her help and our teacher, I managed to get a 3 on the AP. In college I had to withdraw from Stats 101 after failing the midterm because I couldn’t ask for help in such a big class. College was the first time I ever got under a B as a final grade and law school was the first time I got a D. Now I know I had trouble synthesizing all the information in an entire semester and I really missed having any points of reference other than a midterm and final- in law school I always did fine in class but didn’t understand how we were supposed to write essays. After my 1L year I had a lot of the same professors and did significantly better the other 2 years. I didn’t find out both my husband and I had undiagnosed ADHD until 2020 after my oldest child had been getting incident reports at school following the birth of his brother- he had just turned 3.
Thanks for sharing! I know we, as parents, are learning so much about ourselves by looking back on what school was like for us.❤️
I love this!
I love your honesty and vulnerability. Psychology is fascinating to me too.