I wasn’t the problem. It took me 30 years to figure that out. Now say it louder for the eight-year-old; “I WASN’T THE PROBLEM!!”
The system is broken. We are forced to standardize. We take the same classes, are taught the same way, and are tested on the same things in the same format. Sounds pretty simple. 90% of my teachers led in lecture style, then read the chapter to answer the three questions at the end. Is this sounding familiar? And don’t even get me started on the reading out loud. Did I count how many kids were before me and pre-read my paragraph as often as possible before it was my turn? SURE DID!
I guess I wasn’t the only one; according to the International Dyslexia Association, 15–20% of the population has some of the symptoms of dyslexia, including slow or inaccurate reading, poor spelling, poor writing, or mixing up similar words.
15-20%?!?! I am not alone on this one. Not only that but the National Library of Medicine states; that it is not uncommon for children with dyslexia to have other impairments or disabilities. The most common is Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). AHDH, put that one on my tab as well.
We grew up taking the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, otherwise known as the MCAS. But it wasn’t until the graduating class of 2003 that they became required to graduate high school...me being in the 2005 graduating class, I HAD to pass them to graduate. They told my parents, “she won’t pass the MCAS. So she won’t graduate high school officially .”I’m sorry, what?!?!
I did pass the MCAS by the skin of my teeth and graduated with a 1.92 GPA in the bottom 20% of my class. It could have even been lower; who knows? So I needed to find a life outside the go-to college track. So I became a hairstylist.
Being a hairstylist, I could color formulate a redhead like it was naturally god-given, with all the dimensions. Do you know how much chemistry that takes? To make those colors, I had to divide, add, and multiply numbers and fractions to create the perfect blend; how did I do that if I had disabilities? You may be asking yourself.
I thrived in hands-on interactive learning, where I wasn’t shoved into some standard. Problem-solving became my strongest skill; I spent my life trying to do things in any way I could. So wait, if I CAN do all this and take all these business classes to grow my clientele, why not put it all into a business degree?
So putting my energy towards a degree is what I did. I started slowly at a community college, sat in the front row, and told myself every class would be interactive from here on out. My professors would comment, “You bring real-world examples from your career to class. It makes my job easier. Thanks!” for me, I needed to grasp and apply the concept entirely. Guess what? I got straight A’s. After five long years and three colleges, I finished school with a 3.98 GPA and was inducted into the Highest Honors Society….We started from the bottom, now we’re here.
Currently, I work in Tech at a Boston-based startup. I spend my days doing what? Solving problems. Figuring out how we can scale, integrate tools, and flow information from one department to another without losing details and time. “Oh, bet Kimberly can solve that!” is a common phrase used around the organization. My OKR list is long every year...got to love that job security.
So what’s my point? F*CK that box, the standardized test, the category, the label, whatever they said about you. Some words on the paper or filled-in bubbles on a scantron aren’t who you are…. Coming from the queen of failures over here: You are who you decide to be, and that’s Beautiful!
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