Oh goodness I overshare on Fluther so there’s not much you haven’t heard. You specifically mentioned near death experiences. I’ve had one, but I’ve already spoken of it here, so I won’t repeat myself. Here’s the story though if you’re interested.)
I guess one thing I haven’t talked about much is my new mentoring role this year.
Just this year I have picked up a new role as a peer mentor through a brand new program created by the office of disability services at my college. Through this program, people who volunteer to be mentors are paired with an incoming freshman who has a disability.
I came into this program with a lot of preconceived notions. I felt that I would excel at this job because I have a disability myself, and I initially struggled a LOT with starting college. My own struggles with my health have required me to seek out almost every resource for help that my college has to offer. I even had to take time off from school in order to heal at one point, and so my undergraduate career has taken 5 years to complete. Basically, I feel that I went through hell and back in order to be a successful and happy college student, and I also feel I have overcome it all very successfully and am in a great position in life now. I am always eager to share what I’ve learned about how to survive and thrive in college even when adversity is present.
My own experiences with disability have certainly been valuable to me at a mentor, but I have also had to learn not to project onto my mentee. My mentee, Troy, faces very different challenges from mine, and has a very different personality type than I do. I originally brought him all the advice that I wish somebody had told me back when I was a freshman – things like “take care of yourself, that is more important than homework” and “just relax, everything will be fine.” But Troy is not an anxious person like I am, and the nature of his disability isn’t such that he’s in danger of becoming very ill or getting hospitalized frequently like I was. His disorder does make it harder for him to learn, however, which is something that my own experiences have not prepared me for.
I do feel that I help Troy even though it is not as easy to do as I thought it might be. I get a lot of enjoyment out of helping others, so it’s a very fulfilling role. It has been a really humbling experience.