To say I have had a difficult life is an understatement. From dealing with abuse, facing homelessness, isolation and illness. The hardest part wasn’t going through those experiences, but the sense of worthlessness that came from my family not supporting me. Worse than that, some members actively disowned me and told me that I was either crazy or that it was my fault.
Psychology has always been a great passion of mine, understanding the trauma that I and others have gone through. How the mind works. Why do we act the way we do? How can we fix ourselves? I enrolled in University to study psychology further. However, after reporting the historical abuse that happened to me in my second year, and dealing with the fallout from my family, I ended up failing. After a lot of stress, fighting and phone calls, I managed to re-enrol at university and get a second chance to complete my degree.
If possible, I would like the opportunity to completely focus on my degree and to take care of my wonderful support dog, without whom I wouldn’t be here. Whilst looking for more psychology-related work, such as volunteering at Samaritans or working with animals.
The best advice I could give anyone; is just to keep going. When things seem bleakest. When you have no hope. When you are so exhausted, from everything that you are having to deal with, that you just want to curl up in bed and never come out…keep trying. Find the beauty in the small things. Keep going. Because you never know…