Growing up, school was never easy for me. I loved school and learning, but it was a daily struggle. I would get frustrated and just give up when I did not understand something. I ended up having low self-esteem from feeling like I could not do anything. My first grade teacher and my mom both noticed me struggling so they had me tested to see what was causing me to struggle. That is when I was diagnosed with my learning disability. Because of my learning disability I was promptly placed in special education. Ever since then I have been labeled. I have been labeled “stupid” or “unintelligent”. My learning disability was one of the reasons why I was constantly bullied in elementary school. I was often pulled from class to work on a lesson I struggled with or when I got too frustrated with something. I would be pulled from class to work on homework or other assignments. I would take all my tests in another room so I could receive extra time. Other kids noticed I was different, and they were not always kind to me. In a small town school, being different from others was torture. I became so ashamed of myself because of my learning disability.

As I grew up, I eventually moved and switched schools. This new school had more students and more resources. To everyone’s surprise, I ended up doing really well in school, despite my struggles with my learning disability. When I first moved to a new school system I did everything I could to hide my learning disability. I ended up figuring out that most of my peers in my school did not care about my learning disability because it was something a lot of other kids had; it was normal. Other students had the same struggles that I had and so, no one really cared about me having one. For once I did not feel ashamed for learning differently or for struggling. Sure, I had a few jerks who accused me of lying about my learning disability so I could get the special accommodations. For the most part though, no one really cared about it. I ended up graduating high school with a great GPA and numerous college credits. I ended up with scholarships to a few different schools and I won several awards.

Because I ended up doing so well in high school, people often think that my learning disability disappeared or that I overcame my struggles with it. That could be further from the truth though. I still struggle daily with it and I probably always will struggle with it. My learning disability causes me to get very frustrated when I do not understand something or when I cannot explain things properly. Things like math and English are my weakest subjects and cause me to get very frustrated. Over the years though, I have learned how to cope. I have learned how to not get frustrated over certain subjects. I have also learned that it is okay to ask for help, because a learning disability is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.