Growing up I always found it hard to read and would get my words mixed up. I remember that I always used to try and hide when the teacher was picking people to read. Let alone the red pen in my books saying SP and Read your work. It was a killer. I hated English. Even worse my mom was an English teacher so people would always expect me to be good at that subject. But I wasn’t. My sisters always used to love reading and you would always find them with their head in a book, not me. My mom would read to us sometimes and I loved it when she did because I love stories but I just couldn’t read them myself.
The word would just not register in my head. I began to get better and better at reading however I still really struggled. It’s a hard thing to explain but I would have to read a sentence about ten times to be able to make sense of the words. Reading books was still hard. If I found a book that I understood that would be the only book that I would read. To this day this still stands!
When it came to GCSE’s it was a real struggle. I started to love English more and how words can mean many different things to each person who reads them. The fantasy lands in my head would just never make it down on paper. I remember thinking of the most incredible stories but getting the words on paper was a struggle. Spelt things wrong, put letters in the wrong place, missed out words. You name it, I did it. I got to the point at my GCSE’s where I just decided to just admit that I was dumb.
Feeling like that was hard but then feeling dumb and giving up is the same thing. It wasn’t until I was applying to universities that someone questioned why I struggled so much. I’ll never forget going to Derby University for a test. After I had done the tests, I was pulled aside by this lady. In my head I was thinking “great she’s going to tell me I’m too dumb for university”. Biting my lip getting ready for the harsh reality what she said surprised me. She asked me if I had ever been tested for Dyslexia and told me to get tested.
Being tested and told that I have Dyslexia was a kick in the teeth at first. But the more and more I thought about it, it meant that I wasn’t dumb I just had this struggle. But with help and more understanding it can really help me go far.
With the help at university, it made all the difference. I still have my struggles now, but I feel like I shouldn’t let it hold me back but help me to aim for more and push myself further. If you have Dyslexia or anything you think is holding you back, power through it. Learn about it, find something that works for you and run with it. Inspire yourself! And if your still feeling negative YouTube all the different things that people have mastered through not having any arms. Seriously! There’re people who can play piano with their feet or do their make-up (much better than me!).
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