During a transition during seventh grade, I went from public school to private school.
It was a tough transition, and I really struggled socially. Every day during recess,
I would go into the bathroom and cry. I didn’t know what was going on with me. My
mother told me about my diagnosis around ninth or 10th grade by telling me that I
had a “cousin” of autism. I started to do some research on the topic of autism while
in high school, and it became easier to understand after a while.
After my junior year of high school, my family made an unexpected move to Idaho. I
had to transition from a small private school to a large public high school. After
meeting with a counselor, I found out that I only needed four more classes to graduate
from high school, and I started college courses at North Idaho College (NIC) during
my senior year. My mornings would start at my normal high school, then by the afternoon
I was attending a technical high school. This continued until I got my high school
diploma at the end of that year in 2014.
The high school to college transition took its toll on me, and my first two years
at NIC were rough to say the least. I had gone from such a structured school schedule
to being able to pick my own classes, which was super different for me. I made some
poor decisions, failed a portion of my classes, and had been lying to my parents about
my grades for a year and a half. To make matters worse, I went into a tailspin of
depression. It was so bad that sometimes I would wonder to myself what would happen
if I had just wrecked my car into the light pole. I was having suicidal ideation and
was in a generally dark place.
Despite the hardships of those first few years, something good did come from it. When
I had started my degree, I was a declared math major. I wanted to go into the medical
field originally. But after I discovered that I could remember and repeat almost anything
to do with sports facts or statistics that I heard or read, I changed my tune and
decided to become a sports statistician. Looking back, it was my version of echolalia
showing due to my autism.
Early on in the program I took a couple math classes — one of them being statistics.
I hated it. Motivation for my major quickly drained. That following semester, I was
searching for a language of some kind to take. NIC offered four languages at the time,
three of which I was not thrilled about. The only option left was American Sign Language,
ASL. I had always wanted to learn, and I figured that I had nothing to lose.
In that first ASL class, I found my passion again. I was enjoying the class and the
material. I didn’t want class to end most days. During that class, my deaf teacher
saw something in me that I didn’t recognize for a long time. He saw potential and
a passion that is still alive today. With the help of a friend, the teacher, and the
department head, before the semester had even finished I switched my major. I worked
closely with the head of the department after that. She was my professor for the next
few semesters, and she helped me a lot when my depression started getting worse.
In 2017, I was taking a class to help me determine which college I was going to attend
post-associate degree. I had two colleges in mind, both of which were renowned for
their ASL programs. I needed to list three colleges for the assignment I was working
on, and I wasn’t quite sure what to put for the last option. The head of the ASL department
had gone to the ASL Teachers Conference held in Salt Lake City, and that is where
she was introduced to Utah Valley University. She told me about the ASL program UVU
had, and I listed the university as my third choice on the assignment.
Upon researching each of these three colleges, I found out by accident that UVU had
an autism studies minor. I was actually looking for information about the deaf studies
program and came across the minor by hitting one wrong (in this case, right). This
was significant to me because just a few weeks before this, right before my 21st birthday,
I was officially diagnosed with level 1 autism or Asperger’s. To this day I still
like to call myself an “Aspie.” The other two colleges offered maybe one or two classes
in autism studies, but I was blown away that UVU had a full minor for the subject!
UVU immediately went to the top of my list, and I applied to the university without
even visiting campus. Less than a year later, I found myself in Utah with no friends,
no family, and no support. I had nothing aside from my physical belongings. I didn’t
do very well my first semester here, but I worked with the faculty and staff here
and improved over time. Today I am doing very well, and I am excited to work toward
graduation in 2021.
UVU has given me so many opportunities to succeed, and I feel like everyone here wants
me to succeed every single day. A few of these opportunities include meeting President
Astrid S. Tuminez, participating in the art soiree, speaking to parents of kids on
the spectrum, and working on the parent panel in the Passages program. Additionally,
I have been doing a work-study program with Athletics’ marketing and promotions department,
and that has been so rewarding.
Before I moved here, I didn’t know there was an autism community out there. I am more
connected with the community here, and it creates a safe space for me. I am happy
to be studying something I love, and I am forever grateful for all that I have gained
from Utah Valley University.
