THE MUST HAVE C O L L E G E G U I D E To Surviving College with a Mental Illness Alex By: Kiel
Thanks and Love I would like to take the time to thank all of those who believed in me, not matter how inadequate I felt beause of dropping out of school. My profesors, my parents, and those little angels who appearaed out of nowhere. Thank you for believing in my intellecutal capacity well after I stopped.
Introduction People always ask me: "Alex, how do I file a complaint with my college?" "What do I do if I need accommodations?" "What happens if I think I'm depressed but it happened at the end of the semester?" "My professor isn't listening to me when I say I need an extension, what do I do?" All of these questions and more are answered inside of this guide. These are the tools I wish I had before making drastic educational decisions... all in one place. I don't want this to be a hard read because life is hard enough. So, it's broken up into do's, don'ts, and frequently asked questions.
Introduction When writing this guide, the most important thing for me was to make it an easy read. If you already struggle with any mental illness - from depression to schizophrenia, just know that I get it. Transitioning out of high school and into college was a scary ordeal for me, too. I was also coming out of foster care. But just know that you can succeed against any physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. You can enjoy college life and life in general! Just know that I believe in you. You got this.
Do begin with what you can do today. Have pen and paper handy, and write down a list of ideas and inspiration of where to start from here as you read this guide. Do assign someone to be your advocate, as soon as possible. Question: What is an advocate? and how will I know who should be my advocate if I came from foster care? Why does it matter? Answer: Having an advocate from the beginning is important because if you start to experience really severe symptoms, you want someone in your corner to help you make better decisions. An advocate is someone who can vouch and take up for you when needed. It is someone who knows you, and can build accountability for you as you go. A good way to spot a good advocate is to attempt to build relationships with people and go with your feelings. You want someone who is responsible, knows you well, and does not have a conflicting interest to take advantage of you. If there is no one in your life who is present in that way, call the student counseling center and request for one of the counselors to be your advocate.
Getting an Advocate is a major part. They help you cross bridges.
Do experiment with different learning styles and techniques. if you haven t already, this will help you so that you can better understand how you learn. Question: what are the different learning tequniquess? Answer: you can go online and find different quizzes, but you will be in one of four categories: auditory, kinestic, and visual. One of my favorite places to take a quiz that helps you discover your learning style is http://www.educationplanner.org/students/selfassessments/learning styles quiz.shtml. Add a little bit of body text Be sure to incorporate the results into your life, while studying and learning. Learn how you learn; what are your strengths and weaknesses? Do you need a study group? Do you need natural lighting? Do you need to stay away from the window becaue of the distractions and go to the library early in the morning on Saturday when it s less people? Be strategic. Going to the library early may be required for someone with anxiety. Playing off of your strengths and keeping your weaknesses from hindering your progress.
Do Keep track of your sleep, your medicine, (if you take it), your symptoms. If you create a schedule form the beginning 1: you will notice immediately signs of depression 2: you will be able to track when changes have taken place. Do Map out how you will use your time and set goals in advance. Begin with the end in mind. Do Create a communication plan and communicate with your professors. BEGIN WITH The End IN MIND.
Do create and prepare a communication strategy of how you will make sure that if you go into crisis you have a plan. This would be something you discuss with your advocate. Question: : What is a crisis plan and a communication strategy? Answer: It is important that you keep regular, scheduled, and predictable contact with your advocate. Most times we don t think to call people until we are in need. This has backfired on me in the past, where people didn t know or realize just how bad things were for me, because I waited to late to speak up. Do not get too hard on yourself. Remember that there is nothing that you cannot do or accomplish! REgardless of who has never done it before you. The opportunity may only have your name on it. DO REMEMBER: loving yourself will enable you to do the extra work. You have to see your value.
Do find joy in the journey. Beginning today, be strategic and think differently about how to accomplish your goal.
Do be social. Every interaction is an opportunity to build relationships. know all of the resources on campus and participate. Introduce yourself, join a club, go to as many events as you can; be noticed. Talk to and get to know your professors. Let them know that you will work hard, but you may need accommodations. Do not isolate or close yourself off, it does nothing but keep you trapped. You need to feel included and apart of student life. It s a lot easier to walk away from something you don't feel connected to. Question:: But what if talking is really hard for me. I have anxiety. Answer: You don t have to talk to everyone to participate. One thing that has worked for me in the past is honesty. At the very least, send your professor's emails and start conversation that way. Then once you attend class you have something to build upon and say, Hey Dr. Johnson, I'm emily, the girl who emailed you about insert something here. I just wanted to make sure that you put a face to the name. Or tell them about having anxiety. But that s completely up to you and optional, as we ll discuss later. Quick tip: You do want to make sure you go to the student disability services and talk to them; sometimes proof of SSI disability can be evidence enough to ask for specific help from your university or school.
Question: what if my professor doesn t want to help me? Or he s mean to me and doesn t like me? Answer: Adversity breeds contempt in the comfortable. Opposition will always exist in the face of change. You may interact with professors who do not want to make the proper adjustments for you, but the law is on your side. Remember that The truth matters. And especially to professors. They want to see you work hard, and some of them just don t want to change. Either way, if you reach out early, you should be able to change classes. If none of these work, I would suggest filing a complaint, which we will get to that later. YOU ARE SIMPLY THE BEST
Question: I thought a disability had to be visible like being in a wheelchair or blind. Answer: It is a common myth that disability always means visible. It is defined major life activity. That definition may vary but all in all it is something that interferes with your capacity to lead a normal life. Not something that comes and goes only when you need to get something done. Justice Sandra Day o'connor said this? Title II highlights what denotes qualified people with disabilities (Section III) introduction. Question:: I just feel like why did this have to happen to me. Before I had a mental illness my life was going so well. Born or cursed. Answer: It is not a punishment to be different. That is a myth. Hopefully reading this book helps you to move in that direction. By providing some tools.
Do not wait to seek for help. Again, put one good day into organizing and you're set for the semester. Remember that there is an app for everything. Know how your symptoms are affecting you. Do: Be trustworthy. Accountability and transparency create trust. Do Not: expect your Advocates to do the work for you. Question: : Aren t they breaking a law if they don t help me? What laws are they breaking? Answer: Depending on the actual incident and even the school you attend is it a public or private institution? Yes they could be. Americans with Disabilities Act Title II combats discrimination by public colleges and universities. ADA Section 504 post secondary education ABDO versus University of Vermont published their own criteria for students that defines for students what the protocol is. The U.S. Department of Labor recognized what the key to disclosure is for students with disabilities.
Question: : They used to give me accomodations with my ESP plan when I was in high school. Now all suddenly I have a new professor who doesn t want to help me. Isn't that breaking a law? no. Do not engage in behaviors that affect your mood or illness. Drinking, drugs, and self harm; those things separate us from our help. Sometimes we think they are running from us, but they are running from the monster that we have created within ourselves. You have to be sober and clear minded to truly access and understand your potential.
Do not think a new place will erase old problems. Let us remember we cannot run and hide from our struggles. had a personal sense of excitement of not being able to wait to go to college and start over. Because after worker after worker looking at my casefile, thinking and saying that they know me, that they know my weakness, that they have this expectation for me to be difficult and they ve already labeled me, that i'm no good or a problem child or disrespectful with behavior issues they labeled and created who I am already and it s important not to let that carry over as a leader. Just because it was given to you doesn t mean you cannot have it. We have to separate reality from the thoughts of others, to truly understand and determine what our reality can be.
When you learn how to use your disability whether it is physical or mental health, to enable you you will see that you can create wonders that amaze other people. Thinking differently is not bad. You are not ordinary you are extraordinary. The hard part is trying to figure out how to harness and use that power the right way.as former foster care youth, we have traumaic events in our lives that come to rob us of our joy of the present moment. Be mindful. This can become disabling. Stay personal tell story of PTSD. Do believe Our goals are achievable. We will be courageous and learn how we learn and create a semester calendar and set academic goals (worksheet byui) and based on what we need as well as understanding how to best meet your own academic needs. FAQ: I feel discouraged because I think having this disability ruins my chances of success against everyone else Answer: Disabilities don t disable you they enable you because they allow you to get a heads up from everyone else around you on your weaknesses thereby strengthening yourself and knowing your strengths.