This guest post is by Brandon Walters, a young man on the autism spectrum who was accepted into Wilmington College. Brandon is applying for the Spring 2022 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.
I hope you can support my nonprofit like I’m trying to support these students with scholarship aid for college. Learn more on how you can help our cause with a small donation (just asking for $3 today, equal to your daily cup of coffee) here.
My life was full of struggles–many of which I have overcome and others I still deal with. Starting at age eight, I began to take a downward slide regarding my mental health; I was not enjoying anything that I did, I was struggling in school, and there were obvious signs of depression and anxiety. After this became evident, my parents took me to various doctors who helped slightly. At this point, I was experiencing a dangerous cycle of emotions that seemed like a mixture of bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression.
Every day, I would experience a sudden shift in emotions; I would become extremely angry for seemingly no reason, storm off grumbling to myself about how my current situation was unfair or stupid, and then, I would feel guilty for my actions going apologize while crying my eyes out. As I approached my teen years, these two-way mood swings became increasingly more frequent, and, also, I had a continuous fall in my confidence and self-esteem which began to take a toll on everything I did: I had distanced myself from my friends and family, I became increasingly more withdrawn, and I began to wonder if life was worth living anymore.
After a few better years, around age fifteen, I felt signs of depression returning, and then, almost out of nowhere, I began to find myself interested in agriculture. Even though I had always liked to see and learn about plants and small animals and the ecosystems in which they coexist, I had never thought of it as a possible career option before. My interest was particularly sparked after I took a horticulture college class in May. During this class, I felt more engaged and satisfied by learning about something that I knew something about but learning that there were still pieces I was missing.
Filling in those gaps, for some reason, gave me hope that I may in fact have a future ahead of me. Realizing this, I finally found the motivation and the goal I needed to convince myself to keep living. I eventually escaped depression entirely and have not gone back this past year to the cold depths from which I suffered for so long. Finding my purpose has helped me to stay happier, and my mental health has greatly improved since then. Now, I do not have as many mood swings, nor do I have frequent feelings of worthlessness or helplessness. However, I still doubt myself daily, but I now see that these feelings are temporary speed bumps; there will be many of them throughout my life, some of these I will see coming, and others will catch you off guard. I realized that, once I found my motivation, I have overcome these struggles, and they cannot hold me back forever.
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 that started the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help students with autism receive scholarship aid to pursue a 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.
