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2016 NJCTS Youth Scholarship Award Essay: “A Journey with Tourette Syndrome”

This is the essay I submitted to the NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome & Associated Disorders (NJCTS) for their 2016 Youth Scholarship Award contest. I hope you enjoy it!

JordanT

JordanT

Tourette Syndrome has played a significant role in my life ever since I was diagnosed in fifth grade. Initially, it did not pose much of a threat for me. I was still able to focus during school, which allowed me to continue my education and learning. I was grateful for that phenomenon, but it did not come without a caveat. Even though my facial tics were not very severe, I still developed a shyness and self-consciousness because of them. However, I was surrounded by a group of kind and accepting friends, which greatly alleviated my anxiety.

I was able to prosper throughout middle school with the support of my friends and family, but high school was a much different story. I am currently attending the Academy for Information Technology, a prestigious school dedicated to teaching students about the vast possibilities of business, information technology, and computer science. Unfortunately, I was the only student from my middle school who enrolled that year, so I was in a completely new environment. I was terrified at first, but I was able to overcome my fears and make new friends, just as friendly as the ones I had in middle school. The course work was much tougher than in middle school, but I was able to succeed in my academic endeavors. My facial tics were under control as well, so all was well in life.

My senior year of high school was a major turning point for me and my Tourette Syndrome. At the start of the year, I felt an immense weight on my shoulders because of all the new responsibilities I had to assume. With more demanding school work, the college application process, and my extracurricular activities, I felt swarmed with an enormous amount of pressure. And with the additional stress, the frequency of my facial tics skyrocketed. The first few weeks were probably the worst. During class and at home, I could barely keep my eyes open. Not because of a lack of sleep, but from incessant blinking, one of my most prominent facial tics. The warm summer weather only aggravated my symptoms. My self-consciousness also reemerged, as I was afraid people might start noticing my facial tics. I felt like I was hopeless, but I resolved to overcome this obstacle.

Senior year marked a new precedent for my Tourette Syndrome, but I gained a valuable trait from my facial tics as well. My tics were starting to impede my focus, so I knew I had to something or else my learning would suffer. One day after school, I went into deep contemplation and emerged with a strategy for alleviating my troubles. I realized my Tourette Syndrome was a medical condition, so I would not be able to just make it go away. Instead of trying to arduously suppress my facial tics, I decided to embrace my tics as a definitive part of me. Whenever I felt a sudden wave of facial tics about to occur, I would just let it wash over me and run its course. With this method of coping, I was able to maintain my focus and composure while doing my school work. It took some practice, but after a few weeks, I was back on track for success. My facial tics now seemed like involuntary actions, just like breathing or walking. With my new training, I acquired the virtue of patience, which has paid off time and again in school and life. I was confident in myself once again with inspired passion that I could overcome such an obstacle. Instead of seeing Tourette Syndrome as an adversary, I can now see it as a motivator to help me continually improve myself throughout life.

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JordanT

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