Get to Know Me

After seeing a Top Story by Kayleigh Fraser ❤️, doing this felt required.

So, here goes nothing...

1. I am obsessed with music. It is my life. Some songs, most by Icon for Hire, are the reason I haven't given up. The first song by them that I ever heard was "Under the Knife" (lyric video below for those who are interested) which is what made me realize that hurting myself is an issue. Before that, I thought it was normal... I was a dumb teenager (as most people are).

2. I have known how to play the flute since I was eight. Even though I haven't been in band for six years, I still occasionally play it just for fun. Since it is not daily anymore, I am no longer as good as I was at one point (which still was just average for someone who played for eight years).

3. I have never been to a live concert outside of school. However, that is changing on September 15th, when I'm going to see Icon for Hire! I'm so excited to see my favorite band in person for my first live concert!

4. I love cooking, except for when it is actually required. I enjoy cooking for others, like my family. I eat differently than them but offer to cook their food. However, when I need to cook my own food, it feels like a chore. It doesn't matter if it is my favorite recipe, it still feels like a chore.

5. I used to love math. I know it sounds crazy for someone to like math but I liked how it was either right or wrong, with no ambiguity. Algebra 2 (formerly trigonometry) ruined all math for me because it was too complex for me.

6. I am a college student majoring in biology. I want to be a lab technician working with samples and stuff like that and an associate's degree in biology is sufficient for almost all lab technician jobs I have seen. I was torn between biology and chemistry until I heard horror stories of organic chemistry. For biology, there are options... physics or organic chemistry. If I did chemistry, organic chemistry would be a requirement. Physics is math and organic chemistry is memorization. My memory is messed up big time from my struggles.

7. I am very into volunteering, specifically with one organization. This non-profit is for people with epilepsy. I am a camp counselor at their camp for kids with epilepsy. I am also doing a training seminar group to be a peer facilitator in a group for people with epilepsy who want help with mental health. The group is, of course, not a replacement for therapy. It does help with some DBT skills though, along with learning about how mental illness and epilepsy can go hand in hand.

8. I advocate for awareness to be raised for struggles that I have. I have epilepsy, functional neurological disorder (FND), bipolar 2, and severe anxiety. I have poems and educational things on most, if not all, of them. Below are the educational pieces.

9. At work, my paper plate award in March was "Most Sarcastic." I don't think it shows in much of my writing but I can be very sarcastic. My coworkers and managers have seen how awful I can be. Sometimes it is borderline bitchy, like recently when my boss couldn't say "acetaminophen." Her pronunciation was so bad that nobody else could copy what she said.

10. Writing isn't my only creative outlet. I also paint, not very well, besides one piece with directions. I make candles at home. Both of them are used as gifts for birthdays and Christmas. this year I tried paintings for Easter too. That's how I learned that I can't paint basic bunnies.