This guest post is by Emmanuel “Emany” Volcy, a young man on the autism spectrum who was diagnosed with ASD and has been accepted into the University of Central Florida. Emmanuel is applying for the Spring 2023 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, will be released on March 29, 2022 on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100 autistic adults.
High School
My high school experience was nothing like a movie, it was like a TV show, and I was the outcast who had a lot of baggage. I was the shy kid in high school who did not know how to manage my emotions and was not focused on doing well in school. Students and teachers treated me unfairly and did not understand me. When teachers would get frustrated at me for making a mistake or start to yell at me, I would become upset and walk out of class. I did not like my high school experience, but looking back at it, I know I made mistakes, and I know that I could have done better. High school was a learning experience for me, but I had to start from the bottom so that I could grow and work my way up to the top.
Between High School and College
After I graduated high school, I felt there was something missing. When I had a dream, my dream was that I was back in school and was well behaved. I keep having these dreams a couple of times. And I ask myself, why do I keep having these dreams? And God tells me to go back to school. Do you wonder why I say God’s name? Because I am a Christian who believes in Jesus. I’ve believed in Jesus my whole life, and he told me that I have a purpose. He also makes me believe that people who are born with autism have a purpose too. Also, ADHD, down syndrome, or any difference at all have a purpose as well, because we all grew up that way and because God made us that way. Those dreams have really spoken to me. Sometimes I feel school sick and also want a better future for myself. So, I do everything I can to get back to school. I started to do online school, going to trade schools, but they were too hard, and the structure is hard for me to understand. So, I decided to try to go to another school and another program, but some schools only accept regular high school diplomas. But I only have a special ed diploma. I was about to lose hope until there’s one program off the table named Inclusive Education Service in UCF. That’s the place for students with learning disabilities. So, I applied to it. Once I was been denied, so I applied to it the second time, I was denied again, so I waited a year, and I applied to it again, and a miracle happened. I finally got into UCF.
College
On August, 22, 2022, I woke up this morning, excited, and eager to walk to this campus, since I don’t have classes I started working on my own coursework. I started getting my own books from trade school and started studying more so I can get smarter. There are more things that I need to do because I realized that college is more stressful than I thought, especially commuting to campus because the dorms are expensive. I must get up early at 4 am and come home late at 10 pm, and I only live an hour away. I must go here and back, and I keep missing campus activities. It will be easier for me if I live on campus. I could sleep well, and I could participate in more activities, I always get my assignments done, such as studying hard, working hard, trying to get good grades, and doing my best. I have been participating in more activities like Knight Exemplar, Best Buddies, Catholic Christian club, and Knights Ballroom Dance, After college I want to start my own business and become successful.
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.
