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I have been in college for 3 years. I started when I was a junior in high school, and am now almost finished as the equivalent of a freshman in college. I was able to start as a junior because of my state's program that allowed me to take college credits while in high school. I went to a small (and underfunded) school that had a very small course list, which mean that I met the requirements for graduation very quickly. Soon after taking the ACT, they allowed me to go to the Ohio State University, free of charge, for the remainder of my time in school (or I could graduate early, but that was a poor decision and would leave me in a tough spot at the time). So, I buckled up and joined 2 or 3 other students that were in the same boat as me, and headed to Ohio State. This was during the COVID-19 lockdown so it was all online but nonetheless I started taking courses. Long story short, I made it and was able to receive my degree from Ohio State before I even received one from my high school. I am very thankful for my opportunities and relatively proud of the work that went into accomplishing that. I am now on my way, with 50% completed, to receiving my bachelor's degree in Software Engineering from Western Governor's University. However, my accomplishments are not the main focus of this post; in fact, I very rarely like sharing it with people because it makes me uncomfortable and I'm sure it inspires bad feelings occasionally as well. No, this is about the many failures I endured throughout my school career.
All of my life, I've been labelled "gifted" by my peers and teachers, and (occasionally - I'll get to this in a second) the law. What that meant to each school district I've lived in varied greatly, and has opened my eyes up to what it means to be a kid that's not "average" in any way. Frankly, I hate the term "gifted"; what it typically means is that the student is smart and can solve problems using alternative or advanced logic, sure, but also is either socially paralyzed or has behavioral issues that developed in response to lack of support, understanding, or resources. This applies to all special education students, not just "gifted" ones. Most of my "gifted" time was spent doing math a grade above where I was at, making elaborate paper airplanes or Rube Goldberg machines, or watching movies. In fact, that's where I watched the Toby Maguire Spiderman movies. All of this is to say that either I went to a lot of bad schools or that the support for special education students is limited in the American school system. The one thing I've learned from school that I will always be grateful for is that sometimes, if you want to get something done, you must do it yourself.
That's what led me to WGU. (A quick note before I continue: do not jump to conclusions, this is not an ad.) WGU is essentially a DIY school - they give you resources and you learn it on your own time and at your own pace. This is something that's very valuable to me because I like to work fast when I know something and relatively slow when I don't, to make sure I fully understand what I'm doing. (Another quick disclaimer: this is not an article bashing WGU, this is simply my experience.) However, sometimes the laissez-faire approach doesn't work very well. Sometimes the staff will take a week or so to respond to a very simple question or will just not reply at all. Don't get me wrong; whenever I work slow it is most certainly my fault for procrastinating. It would just be nice to finally be done with this. After years of sort of doing everything myself and sacrificing normalcy, it's about time this is over with.