This guest post is by Andres Castillo, a young man who is diagnosed with autism and plans to attend The University of Central Florida. Andres 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.
My minor is Creative and Professional Writing. This coming fall of 2024 semester, I will switch my minor to Theatre. Then, I will transfer my Bachelor of Arts credits to the University of Central Florida to study Broadcast Journalism with my Bachelor of Arts degree while minoring in Theatre. Hopefully, I will be done with my Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Central Florida in the 2026 semester. Will continue my internship job as a TV Host or News Anchor in Univision to receive my college credit from the University of Central Florida.
I grew up with my family from Puerto Rico on my mom’s side and my stepfamily from Colombia on my stepdad’s side. However, I did not see my family who are from Puerto Rico on my biological dad’s side too often. However, I did not grow up with my family who are from Puerto Rico on my biological dad’s side. I am Ortiz from the bottom of my stepfamily’s heart. I was very excited to get my high school diploma. I was really feeling emotional because I was glad that my high school graduation was over with. Autism has been really a challenge for me but thank God I learned to live with it when I became a young adult. I used to not feel belonging to my condition, but right now I do.
I graduated from grade school from a special program. I took a small bus throughout my school years in the states. I went to Boys Scouts with special needs students in sixth grade. After Thanksgiving, I got out because it was not for me. In seventh through ninth grade, I was a member of the Boys and Girls Club. In tenth grade, I was a member of Spanish club. In my senior year of high school, I was a member of the National Honor Society. I was on the Dean’s List four semesters from Valencia College. In May 2023, I graduated with my Associate of Arts degree in general studies from Valencia College. For right now, I am working on my Bachelor of Arts program in Communication and Media Studies as my major study from Fayetteville State University. My minor study is Creative and Professional Writing. I am deciding to switch my minor to Theatre this coming fall of 2024. Will be transferring my Bachelor of Arts credits to the University of Central Florida for completing my degree in Broadcast Journalism while still minor study in Theatre.
I have been studying at a college for 8 years. In this spring semester, I am in my eighth year of my experience at a college. I am in my first year at university. Sometimes taking college courses online might be challenging for me. Since the pandemic started four years ago in March, I could not go back to campus. I went to visit my family on my mom’s side and my stepfamily on my step dad’s side in Texas during Christmas after the pandemic had started. My college overall GPA was a 3.21 out of 4.0 scale once this spring semester is over, and my college cumulative GPA from Valencia College was a 3.42 out of 4.0 scale. When I was in my third year as a sophomore student from Valencia College, I received a cord in Phi Beta Lambda as a business club member, and Latin American Student Organizational stole as a Spanish club member. In November 2023, I just published my first book, called “My Life Journey with Autism as a Military Child” on Amazon. My cumulative GPA from Fayetteville State University is a 3.5 out of a 4.0 scale.
My educational goals are to earn my bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism while minoring in theater. Sooner or later, once I have my bachelor’s degree at the age 28 or 29, I will be working on my master’s degree in screenwriting at the age 30. My career goals are being an actor, writing my songs in Spanish, news-report, and an author. The reason I want to sing and write my songs is that I want to work on television. I want to be someone in life in the music industry. Additionally, it helps me to travel all over the world. I will get to meet new people in every place and visit many countries. It is my dream to be famous. In my high school years, I did not have an income due to my autism and I had to move every state because of my dad’s job in the armed forces. I could not make a chance to make money because I had to focus on my education in eight different states and one Hispanic country. I had been through many changes at school due to my moving experiences and my condition of autism. However, my condition has not stopped me from having a better education and my parents always taught me that it is okay to be different, and to achieve and work for my dreams. I will be going to an acting school training to learn about a job with the TV industry to earn my certificate in the TV industry during this summer.
Hopefully, this summer or next semester I will find a way to get a job. If I can earn the money from a scholarship to pay for my tuition, that will help me to go up one more step to obtain my education and finish in Fayetteville State. We have recently lived in the state of North Carolina for a year, and it has been difficult to secure money to pay for my tuition, and books that I will need for my courses. All my expectations are on the scholarships to be able to achieve my goals and dreams to show the world that people with conditions or without conditions can be successful in life.
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.
