This guest post is by Jerry Farias, a young man who is diagnosed with autism and plans to attend Carthage College. Farias is applying for the Spring 2024 Making a Difference Autism Scholarship via the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference started by me, Kerry Magro. I was nonverbal till 2.5 and diagnosed with autism at 4, and you can read more about my organization here. Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams, our nonprofit’s new book, was released on March 29, 2022, on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100 autistic adults.
Hello, my name is Jerry Farias, I’m a Sophomore at the College Of Lake County majoring in Music Education. I currently play the following instruments: Violin/Viola/Cello/Bass/Piano/Guitar/Vihuela/Guitarron. I’m majoring in Music Education because I want to make a difference in the world and also inspire young kids with music because music has found my personality.
Throughout my time in Waukegan Public Schools, I was placed in Special Education from K to 12th grade. Still, the transition from High School to College was a little bit challenging at first. Still, I eventually got used to it and started to feel a lot more comfortable, from transitioning to being with support to being independent of my academics. Thanks to the help of my family and teachers who helped me along the way, I was able to graduate from High School and go on to College. But despite all that, music has also found my voice, and it found my passion for music, which led to the decision that this is exactly something I would love to do for the rest of my life.
When I was in my first year of College, I was interested in attending an organization called Latino Alliance, where I got to learn about my culture and meet new people from different cultures. When I was a Senior at Waukegan High School, I was the first chair concertmaster for the Orchestra, and at the end of my High school year, my name was displayed on the Orchestra School Plaque, which gave me the confidence to keep pursuing and to keep sacrificing to get to this point because as I was leaving behind an unforgettable legacy which will last a lifetime. I currently also volunteer at a local Elementary School called Andrew Cooke Magnet Elementary School. During my time there, I’ve been observing the students, and getting the experience needed to achieve my goals as a Music Teacher.
I love working with kids because it gives me confidence, and it brings back so many memories from my experience and how the music program got me to where I am today. I also participate in a mariachi group called Mariachi Estrellas, and throughout my time there, I’ve been experimenting with traditional instruments and observing as well as experiencing my passion and my career. I also participate in a symphony called The Waukegan Symphony Orchestra. One way how this scholarship would help me achieve my goals is by achieving my dreams and the goals needed to achieve my passion and my self-esteem.
Another way this scholarship will also help me is to be able to continue learning and preparing my academics for Music to be able to graduate with my Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. I originally was gonna go to Lake Forest College to continue my degree in Music Education, but after hearing the news of my rejection and my denial, I felt depressed and felt like a failure at first, after remembering the words that stood out to me since day one (Whatever you believe, you can achieve), I continue to move forward, which I eventually was accepted into Carthage College for Fall 2024, I felt grateful given this opportunity and felt very emotional. This goes to show that if one door closes, another door will open, and to never feel discouraged about something because your struggles are your journey, and your journey is your story, a story to help you one day inspire anybody struggling with the same thing. Despite the challenges someone is going through, you can one day make an impact, because if one door closes, another one will open up, and this just goes to show that anything is possible, regardless of what you’re going through. Anyway, my big plan as a Music Teacher is to inspire my students and have them realize that whatever they believe they can achieve.
Another big plan of mine is to also be able to not just become a Music Teacher but also play for anybody as well because I love what I do and this is something that I’m willing to continue doing for the rest of my life because music has found my passion, its found my voice, and it’s found my soul. And dreams are meant to be pursued one way or another. But despite that, even though I enjoy music and enjoy what I do, I want to not just inspire individuals, I want to inspire individuals with autism or any disability because I want them to know that they’re not alone on this, and we can make an impact together because, at the end of the day, I’ll all be worth it.
Thank you.
Follow my journey on Facebook, my Facebook Fan Page, Tiktok, Youtube & Instagram.
My name is Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum. I started the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help students with autism receive scholarship aid to pursue post-secondary education. Help support me so I can continue to help students with autism go to college by making a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit here.
Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams was released on March 29, 2022 on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100 autistic adults. 100% of the proceeds from this book will go back to our nonprofit to support initiatives like our autism scholarship program. In addition, this autistic adult’s essay you just read will be featured in a future volume of this book as we plan on making this into a series of books on autistic adults.
