Samantha Bretz
As I think about everything that makes me stand out as a person, the thing that protrudes to me most would be my growth mindset. I have been through an exceptional amount of challenges in my life, as I’m sure everyone else has, but my daily struggle with OCD, Tourette’s and anxiety is something only I can explain.
Ever since the second grade, I was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome. It wasn’t until around the fifth grade that I understood a little about what it was and how it affected me. When my freshman year started to roll around, it started to negatively impact me in ways I never thought of. I wasn’t able to control any of my tics and I had an unbelievable hard time focusing on any little task. I had read and heard from different places that there wasn’t an actual cure, so straight from the get go I had a fixed mindset that nothing would ever get better for me.
Things started getting worse my junior year and I had developed extremely bad OCD. It got to the point where I wouldn’t touch anything my family had touched, I wouldn’t sit in the same spot they had sat, etc. I ended up taking medication for it and right away I saw a huge change. From then on I realized that I had had such a negative mindset and that it takes a couple trial runs to find something that is the right fit for you. I had promised myself that I would have a growth and positive mindset in the future.
After months in to taking the medication, my results plateaued and I had awful side effects. I would find myself falling asleep at the worst times, sometimes during class, I often wouldn’t eat because I would get nauseous, and my grades plummeted tremendously. I slowly felt myself slipping back into a fixed mindset but I remembered that if I had a good attitude towards it all, everything will work out for the best. I decided to be proactive about my situation and switched medications. I am currently taking it, and it has been a life-saver. I am not back to my same self, but I am proud to say that I am doing much better and I believe it all starts with a positive mindset.
I trust that everything happens for a reason, and that always sticking to a positive, motivational mindset, is the key to success.