GREG
Greg graduated from UNH in September, 2004 with majors in Philosophy and Political Science. Currently attending Texas A&M on a Graduate Assistantship stipend, Greg is pursing his Masters Degree in Philosophy and may pursue a Ph.D. Greg leads recitation sections for Engineering Ethics, a class for aspiring engineers, where he combines his love for teaching, learning, and Philosophy.
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STUDYING IN THE BATCAVE
TIME MANAGEMENT
GETTING DIAGNOSED WITH ADHD AND A LEARNING DISABILITY
HAVING ADHD
STRATEGIES
BEYOND MEDICATION
FUTURE GOALS
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HAVING ADHD
I did a bunch of research when I found out I was ADHD. I knew that there was a lot of skepticism about it. If I was going to be labeled then I really wanted to know what it was. I didn’t want to use it as an excuse. I didn’t want to get lazy. After I was educated on it, I started to watch myself. There were certain things I could see. I do have hyperactivity. I constantly pace and I can never seem to stand or sit still; I have the urge to be moving. My inattentiveness would impact my test taking. I would read a question and be thinking about something else. Sometimes I would move on to the next question with the belief that I answered the question before it when I hadn’t. To compensate, I would move slowly and re-read questions but then I had problems completing the test. So I would get back tests that had blank gaps in it or that was half completed.
I went into my junior year with accommodations. The extended time on tests does help. When I am going into a four and a half hour exam due to the extra time, I am working doubly hard to focus. It is exhausting because I am watching myself while I am taking the test. I need to be aware of what I am doing to self-regulate. By the end of the test, I am burned out. That’s when the ADHD is a disability.
I am a philosophy major so most of my work is writing and expressing ideas so in that context, ADHD can be an advantage. It can be very helpful to have all those ideas running through my head! Maybe not in me finishing the paper exactly on time! It takes me longer. I have all these good ideas and now I have to organize them. I have to accept that writing a paper is going to take me longer than other students. My friends gave me a joke gift for spending so many hours in the library….a chair that resembles the ones in the library!