"So, I was talking to Jimmy the other day, and I was like..."

I stared into the distance, completely blanking on whatever I was just saying.

"Wait, what were we talking about?" "I'm sorry, can you repeat what you just said? I was off in LaLa-land."

This is the literal story of my life.

My parents always reminded me of how resilient I was as a child. I could talk to anyone about almost anything, and for however long it took to get to the point of whatever I was talking about. I was very thorough and extremely detailed in most of the conversations I held, and people seemed to enjoy talking with me on a regular basis.

I noticed in middle school, my ability to focus was basically shot, and people had a hard time communicating with me about simple things. When I would talk to my parents about my concern, they would boost my confidence, saying there was nothing wrong with me and I just needed to work a little harder and I would improve. Six long, hard-working years went by and my brain became completely frazzled. I felt incompetent and unintelligent, because I was never able to fully comprehend instructions, directions, or simple questions that were related to school and even everyday life. I felt ashamed of myself and became weary of how little I could remember what people were saying to me. You could assume that I was an exhausted and stubborn teenager who needed to get a reality check and a few extra hours of sleep, but I knew the problem was much larger than what I could control.

Senior year of high school rolled around, and the standardized testing for college applications haunted me every minute of every day. The best way to describe my feelings toward the SAT and ACT, and tests in general, could be compared to a horror movie. I would be in the middle of reading a question and my mind would drift off and think about something completely irrelevant and off topic. I would then recognize the fact that I was not paying attention and try to reread that question until my brain finally clicked with the concept. Most of the time, the answers I chose were incorrect, leaving my scores in the dust and lowering my confidence and optimistic outlook. I struggled with basic listening skills and found my ability to follow directions to be almost impossible. My coworkers and teachers asked me questions about assignments to finish, but I would have to ask multiple times what the directions were. I felt like I was in a constant fog, and my mind was cloudy with a chance of rain.

Oh, what a forecast!

Time passed, and I was diagnosed with lower-level ADD and prescribed the appropriate medication to help me focus. I took my medicine and I was able to talk to people like a normal person, able to focus well, and able to understand what people were telling me. I learned so much about the functions of my brain, my ability to think thoroughly, and I was able to focus on the details of life. I became optimistic in my comprehension recovery. I saw the sun peek out from the clouds and the rain stopped to welcome my mind to a world of organized thoughts, feelings, and possibilities.

ADD will never control me!