As my junior year of high school was coming to a close, I was looking ahead with my parents to decide on where I would go to college. I didn’t want to travel too far from home, and I wanted a school with a journalism or communication program. I wasn’t ready to live in a dorm, which my parents, especially my mom, completely understood. We did some research and found three close schools to Westborough that appealed to me the most: Framingham State, Worcester State, and Assumption. I also applied to Central Connecticut State in the event that I wanted to be close to our relatives in that area. We weighed our options with the other three schools, and we looked at which place would serve me well for my bachelor’s degree. After we did our online research, I decided that I would go to Worcester State to pursue a bachelor’s degree in communication. Along with our research, I had heard amazing things about WSU from my coworkers at Regal Cinemas, and that enticed me even more about going there. I graduated from Worcester State last year after five years of dedication and hard work to get my diploma. I have nothing but positive things to say about my time at WSU, and everyone who helped me and those I interacted with along the way have my respect and deserve gratitude. I’ll talk about what worked for me the best at Worcester, including the support I got from the SAS office and my professors, the social experiences I had, as well as the perfectionist attitude I had during my last year that made for an anxious ride in the final chapter of my time on campus.
When my parents and I went to accepted students day when I was finishing my senior year of high school, we met with Fran, the director of the SAS office. We introduced ourselves and I was very impressed with how she and her colleagues help students. The SAS office provides services to students with intellectual and physical disabilities to help them with prioritizing their schoolwork, giving them a quiet space to take exams, assisting with picking classes, among other supports. I was very excited when my parents and I heard that Fran and her colleagues offered that type of assistance to students. After I committed myself to WSU, we met with Fran’s colleague, Kelly, to have her help her create my schedule for my first semester. Before I began, Kelly showed me where all of my classes are, as well as showing where all of the facilities throughout campus (i.e., library, student center).
Every semester at Worcester, I had weekly check-ins about how my work’s going and a plan to prioritize what I had to get done. During my first two years, I met with a graduate assistant, then I spent a year with Kelly, followed by Fran for the remaining two years. I had a lot of support from every one of my mentors during the five years, and having these meetings every week made me a better student and helped me figure out the best plan to approach my work. I also benefited from taking exams in a quiet environment in the office, along with having double time for them so I wouldn’t be too overwhelmed about rushing. Having the SAS office was a helpful resource for me to use throughout college and contributed so much to my success. I highly recommend any autistic college student registering with an SAS or similar office that can help with accommodating a successful and happy social and learning environment. Everyone at Worcester State’s SAS office helped me find the best ways to approach my work, and made my time on campus as enjoyable and enriching through their support and finding involvement.
Another component that led to my success at Worcester State was the supportive attitudes of the professors. Each professor had a different approach to his or teaching, but each style had positive impacts on my learning. From the very beginning, I learned about the importance of meeting deadlines and getting assignments in on time. In the workforce, it is crucial to hand in projects or reports on time, and the same goes for college classes. Professors typically give partial credit for late assignments, but more stricter ones can give zeros for late work, which can take a huge toll on a grade. I took it upon myself to get all of my work done on time, so I could avoid receiving a low grade because the work was late. I didn’t have any issues with needing extensions because I was good at planning ahead and knowing what had to get done and when. I also learned the significance of putting in effort and that quality mattered over quantity.
During my first two years at WSU, I didn’t like to do work at home, so I would hang out and watch sports and listen to music instead of putting more effort in writing and studying. During the midway point of the fourth semester, I had received a few C’s on some exams I took, and that was a sign for me to start putting in more effort. From that point on, I became motivated to succeed, and I wanted to get assignments done at home to keep the hard work ethic going. That was the approach I took my remaining semesters at Worcester, and I got A’s on nearly every assignment and exam I did while I was there. My cumulative GPA went from around 3.3 to 3.7 in that time, which allowed me to graduate with magna cum laude honors.
Most importantly, the biggest support mode I took was going for help from my professors via email or during their office hours. Most of the time I was asking for clarification about assignments and help with exam preparation. Going for extra help gave me better insight on what to include for my work and writing, as well as the right approaches on what to focus on for the test. Moreover, attending office hours allows students to build a positive relationship with their professors, so they can help them make the most of the assistance. When the professor sees the student coming to seek his or her assistance, it makes the professor happy that the student is putting in effort, and may lead him or her to give the student a boost on his or her overall grade for effort and participation. Attending office hours and reaching out for help was a significant part of my success and growth as a student at WSU, and I’m very appreciative of each and every professor’s efforts to assist with which I needed the most guidance.
Although I was very busy with my schoolwork during my time at Worcester, I found time to stay active in the community and make friends. During my first four years on campus, I helped out the football team by doing statistics during games and attending a practice during the week. The coach made me feel very welcome to the team, and he introduced me to everyone on the team, where I made some friendships. I would have lunch a few times with a few players, and we talked about sports and how our classes are going. During my second and third semesters at WSU, I was involved with a group called the Lifetime Lancers. The group is made of current and former Worcester State students, where we planned events that connected with alumni. I made a friend from that, and she and I would go for lunch together, as well as hang out on campus and do our schoolwork together.
I went through a period during my seventh and eighth semesters that I would solely focus on my schoolwork, so I wasn’t too involved with doing activities around campus. (I only went to football games and not practices.) During that time, my parents and therapist encouraged me to have more involvement on campus, so I wouldn’t be caught up in a “all work and no play” mentality. I took their advice, and I went on to become part of the university’s newspaper, The New Worcester Spy, for my final year. I didn’t hang out with anyone, but I had some friendly conversations with the members during meetings about what to include the paper and making edits to our pieces.
During my sixth semester, I was inducted into the Delta Alpha Pi (DAPi) honor society, which is made for students with disabilities who have excelled in the classroom. I didn’t participate in meetings and events until my final year at WSU. The events I took part in where the Thanksgiving pie sale and Valentine’s flower sale. We all took shifts selling those items, and all of the earnings we made went to support DAPi. A member of DAPi, who was in my intro to video class, was someone I became friends with during my last year. We had lunch every week and talked about our classes, sports, upcoming events, and poker. I enjoyed spending time with him, and I Ioved how much our interests lined up with each other.
Thanks to some help from a contact of ours, I was able to help out the basketball team during my final year. I was the waterboy for the team, where I gave players waters before and during games. The experience was so much fun and I became friendly with all of the players on the team. I didn’t eat lunch or hang out with any of them, but I would exchange hellos when I saw anyone on campus. I also became friends with a group of girls who came to every game. I enjoyed talking to them when I saw them, and they loved my enthusiasm and positive energy that I had when the games were going on. I enjoyed each activity that I did throughout my time at WSU, and I loved how many friends and positive relationships I made doing them. I do wish I had more time to see and hang out with the friends I made, but COVID-19 prevented that from happening.
One struggle that I had at WSU, especially at the very end of my time on campus, was my perception that all of my work had to be perfect. I would over-analyze and overthink about what to include for an essay or a report, which would want me to include every possible detail. For instance, I would have 500-word blog posts to do for my professional writing class, and I would write upward of 3,000 words for a few of them. Moreover, I had five- to seven-page reading response essays to write for my gender and the media class, and one of them was 34 pages by the time I handed it in. That mentality led me down a rough path where I took my work seriously, but not myself, which led me to build up my anxiety and burn the candles at both ends by staying up until 2 many nights. During my last semester, I had a huge rush of anxiety that the photos I took weren’t good enough, and that if I didn’t modify them I would fail the class and not graduate on time. That event and thought were on a night where I was up until 2 going through every possible approach on Adobe Bridge to make the photos better. In the heat of those intrusive thoughts, I was looking at the summer class offerings on WebAdvisor for what I would take if I ended up failing the class.
When the anxiety seemed unbearable at times, I sought help from my parents and therapist. They assured me that I would not fail because I’m a very productive, conscientious, and detail-oriented student, and that my professors would see the effort I put in and too much effort never leads to failure. In fact, high levels of schoolwork effort typically yield better results. I took their advice and as I continued my work for the remainder of the semester, I wasn’t as stressed as I was when I got my work done. I didn’t go all out and put in every possible detail in the work I did, but I made sure that the work fit in accordance with my professor’s expectations. My parents and therapist reminded me that it’s the quality of the work and not the quantity. That principle kept me motivated through the rest of the semester, and I managed to finish the semester with straight A’s and a spot on the dean’s list. I also graduated on time and I didn’t need to consult with my academic adviser about summer class options. If any student feels that he or she can’t manage the workload and doesn’t think that he or she will pass, he or she should be reminded not to have negative thoughts and that everything will work out in the end. Intrusive thoughts are not easy to get rid of for many autistic individuals, but providing help and assurance in any way will help them see their work and lives in a positive manner.
Attending Worcester State was one of the best choices I ever made in my life. I’m so grateful for all of the memories I made during my time on campus, as well as the support and kindness I received from my parents, the SAS office, my professors, my friends and classmates, and everyone else in the WSU community. I could not succeed without everyone’s positive energy, which helped make me a better student and person by making me more aware of detail and the importance of quality over quantity. I highly encourage anyone looking for colleges to consider WSU as a possibility. The school is full of helpful people and has amazing involvement opportunities, and it’s hard to get lost because the campus is not large. Since I graduated, I have been trying to land a job in a journalistic and/or writing position at a newspaper, TV station, or other media form. I am certain that the writing, editing, and research skills I obtained and developed during my time at Worcester State will pay off in any type of work I do in the future. Going to WSU prepared me for the workforce, which will help me continue the success of any organization for which I work, as long as I don’t burn myself out and overdo it.
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