No matter the extraneous circumstances, your first year of college is a difficult transition. Learning to balance school, extracurriculars and your personal life is hard without the added stressor of throwing attention deficient disorder into the mix. Attention deficit disorder (ADD) refers to a type of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) that focuses on inattention. ADD is a neurological disorder that can often be manifested through a person’s inability to focus complete tasks or remember instructions. According to the National Institute of Health, about 2-8% of college students have ADHD, and I am a part of that small percentage.
I have known of my ADD diagnosis almost since I started elementary school, so I wasn’t really expecting it to be an issue when I went to college. However, college was designed for the neurotypical, which has made me more aware of my ADD than I have been in a long time. I have always had to tailor my education to work for my brain, but when I started college, I was unaware of how much ADD would affect my life in and outside of the classroom.
Having ADD as a college student is like running hurdles while everyone else is running a normal race. If you work hard to excel at the hurdles, eventually, you’ll catch up to the other runners and may even outpace them. You might even find that running the hurdles gives you unique advantages, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that you’ll still have to work harder to succeed.
One way that I tackle my own hurdles is through keeping detailed lists of the schoolwork and chores that I need to complete in a day. Keeping lists helps me remember what I need to do while still giving me the flexibility to adjust my schedule. I also try to plan ahead of my schoolwork so I can anticipate how much I need to complete every day to stay on track, but not let it consume my life. One symptom that I recently discovered that I suffered from is the inability to walk away from projects. I will become totally absorbed in a project or assignment and feel that I can’t stop working on it until it reaches an insane level of perfection, because there’s always room for improvement. I try to combat this by planning what I am going to work on ahead of time and assigning mini deadlines over the course of a project, essay or assignment. This method not only keeps me from spending too much time on one thing, it also keeps me accountable with stopping procrastination, another common symptom of ADD.
Another symptom that I constantly have to work with is attention and distractions. I can read a book for hours but struggle to work on an assignment without getting distracted by other tasks, my phone or outside noises. The easiest fix I have is to wear headphones while I’m working. Noises are so distracting for me that I have lost focus in the past just from someone’s breathing. It may seem weird to replace this with listening to music, but I can handle music much better than other noises, or even my inner dialogue. (For those curious, I am using this technique as I write this article and am listening to “Magical Mystery Tour” by The Beatles). I also try to put my phone away when I’m working which cuts down on wasted time exponentially.
While ADD definitely isn’t always fun, I wouldn’t trade my brain for a neurotypical one. My ADD is an essential part of who I am. It makes me a more creative and insightful individual because my brain doesn’t take the typical pathways. The world needs people with AD/HD or ADD, even though it isn’t always accommodating to those people. ADD isn’t a foreign disease that should be rectified because it doesn’t exactly fit the mold. It should be embraced, not forced to conform. As I continue my education, my ADD will not be a source of shame but rather of pride. It won’t be an easy transition—especially because I have spent the majority of life ashamed of or ignoring my ADD—but acknowledging and trying is the first step.