*EUREKA* moment!

    I think that I might have found the perfect thing to do my project about! I wanted to do my project about an issue in society, but also have I always wanted to relate to it. Of course, there are so many big issues in society like food scarcity or homelessness, which are all very bad. But those are not really things that I know much about. Of course, with some research I could have learned more about problems such as those, but I wanted to do something more personal that could be applied to me, so that the project could be more meaningful for me. 

    But just a few moments ago I had an epiphany! I think I know exactly what I want to do for my portfolio project! Something that I have been struggling for a while is my ADHD. Most people are surprised to find out that I have ADHD, mainly because of the stereotypes that Asians are very smart and don't have a hard time doing work. After some research, I realized that this stereotype even has a specific name: the model minority myth. This is a really harmful stereotype for all Asians, and especially for those struggling to keep up with these high expectations, such as me. At first, I thought this feeling of not being understood by others was just felt by me, but then after more research, I found out that many other people feel the same way. I found this article that perfectly sums up how I feel every day. Even though I am not Indian like the girl in the article, I am Sri Lankan, so a lot of people assume that I'm Indian just by looking at me. Not only does this article perfectly represent how much I struggle to get basic things done because I loose concentration, but also the fact that I feel like no one validates my feelings. I always feel like people look over the fact that I struggle with ADHD, just because of the way I look. What makes it worse is that fact that I have inattentive ADHD, and not hyperactive. This means that my symptoms for ADHD are not visible to other people, which makes it hard for others to understand that I really struggle.  

    The moment I realized that I should do my project representing how it feels like to have ADHD, but have no one understand that I need help is when my parents told me what happened at the meeting that they had with the school today. Today, they had a meeting with my counselor to talk about my 504 plan, and what accommodations I should have. Before the meeting, only one of my teachers gave me extra time to complete my tests, which I truly appreciated. However, the outcome of this meeting was that I shouldn't be given extra time, just because I am in hard classes and have good grades. I think that it is unfair to be judged on these things, because just because I have semi good grades, it does not mean that I struggle to complete things every single day. So, in order to show people what it is like to have the mind of me, a person with inattentive ADHD, I really want to make my portfolio project about this struggle. So yea, THAT was my *eureka* moment! I really hope my project will be able to inform people that ADHD comes in all different forms, and that it shouldn't be invalidated for anyone.