Hello there!
I had been a blogger on here a while ago. Sadly, time had gotten away from me because of college and my studies, but I have more time on my hands so I wanted to get back into this!
I believe when I had started blogging I was either a senior in high school or a freshman in college. A lot has changed since then. I am currently a super senior in college. I have one final class this semester before graduating in December. College has been a lot of fun, and I truly feel that throughout this experience I have found myself. I know what I want to strive for to better myself and continue on my path of becoming the best me possible, and I believe I have matured into a woman who is a lot different then who I used to be (which I am very happy about). In high school I was very insecure. I looked to my peers on how to act, what was cool, and who I thought I wanted to be. I wanted to fit in, and honestly, who doesn’t? But high school was hard, I was only 18 when I graduated. Now being 22, almost 23, I realize how much I didn’t know about myself. I used to define myself only as the girl who has Tourette Syndrome. That was honestly all I thought people saw me for, but I was wrong. After some therapy and work, I was able to see that my TS was not who I was, it was only a small portion. I am a lovely, smart, funny, and charismatic woman who loves learning and being silly! Those are just a few words that I would sue to describe me. Now, I do not see my tourettes as a burden, but something that has made me stronger, something that I wouldn’t want to change. Instead of being ashamed of my tics, I have grown to continually learn more about them and myself and laugh with it. When I have a really excited tic, or when I’m really happy I usually tic and then giggle and smile. My friends know how I’m feeling without me having to tell them because of it. They know my happy tics from my mad tics, and my concentrating tics from my everyday tics. It has made me me, and now when people describe me and they say you know, the blonde girl who has tourettes? I’m not ashamed or mad, I’m happy about it. It makes me stick out, in my opinion, in a good way.
Granted, having TS can still be challenging. I still get some mean glares, or people making fun of it behind me back, but they don’t matter to me. If they knew me as a person and if they can’t put two and two together realizing that if I’m continuously twitching I’m not doing it on purpose, then I don’t care about them. They’re not important enough for me to spend time on. I’ll get this in passing sometimes, but it’s okay. I try to advocate as much as possible, but sometimes you can’t get to everyone. And honestly, I love advocating about it. I love when people come up to me and ask if I’m okay, even if it’s in passing. It makes me so happy because it shows me they’re concerned and care. I love educating and allowing someone to see if firsthand, so maybe the next time they see someone who has similar signs they’ll know and possibly be able to help or make the connection that this person has TS. Even if they can’t remember the name, they’ll think, oh hey wait I was that girl who had something similar to this, this person is okay.
I am happy there is more awareness and recognition for TS. I remember in 3rd grade when I was advocating for it in class, no one knew about it. In those years, times truly have changed. Almost always now whenever I tell someone I have tourettes and ask if they know what it is, they say yes. I still sometimes get ones who don’t know, but I love telling them and helping them understand its involuntary, just like a sneeze. I feel like educating others on it is so important, just like any other disability, or as I would prefer to call it, a little something extra.
Anyways, this post is already way too long. But it feels good to be back. I will be writing again soon, and I hope that if you guys ever have any comments, need help, or even advice, you’d leave a note. I love helping others, especially on this subject.
I hope you all have a wonderful day and I’ll talk to you soon!
Katie
