Returning Student

Hi Everyone,

When I was 9 I was diagnosed with ADD, at 19 I just stopped talking my medication. I've spent the last 15 years learning how to be me without being medicated.

I returned to college in 2011 and even when I'm doing well enough I feel like I could be doing better. I feel like I could try harder on many areas. I feel like I put hardly any effort into school but holding a 3.3 total GPA. I would like to make honors yet I seem to fall short each time I try to put my best foot forward.

I started only working 16 hours a week on the weekends but I'm doing 26-40 hours now. I'm also taking on 12-16 credit hours at school. Have I taken on too much for my ADD even when I felt like I had a handle on it?

I'm very afraid of going back on medications as they didn't work like they should. They only made me depressed and everyday was like a rollercoaster of highs and lows.

I applaud your ability to work those amount of hours and take that many credit hours, especially while doing it without meds. I've got AD/HD and a gamut of other issues, and don't know where I would be if I weren't on meds. I'm a non-traditional student as well, and I've got a 3.4 GPA in my major, but because of my issues I can only manage 6-9 credit hours, and that's with me not working!

What do you think it is that keeps you from excelling any further? You said you hardly put any effort into school, so it doesn't sound like the amount of hours you work or credits you take, is the factor that is keeping you from succeeding. Do you just like to party a lot, or do you possibly find the class work boring? The fact that you can pull a 3.3 without even trying, suggests that you are bright and possibly just not challenged enough to keep your interest.

As for the statement that I felt like I put hardly any effort into school is that I do what I have to to get things done to get the grade. I tried to take a Electronic Engineering course which I ended up with a C... I might have past it but just barely! I did well on the homework and quizzes but it's like a totally different person took the exams. I liked the class so I don't understand what I didn't understand doing the homework. The same went for the Physics class I had to take before hand, I retook it and got a B.

I'm not a organized person my computer room, where I want to do homework, is a mess and I'm always trying to keep it as clean as I can. I want to work in a clean environment. I find myself going to coffee shops as I can't keep things neat with hardly being home. I also kinda lazy on the days I work, I'm working home handling a day at work and doing what I need to do. I've also been trying to keep a healthily sleep habit.

It's like if I have to pull and all nighter I will! I make sure I can make deadlines, be at class on time and just being at class. I watch the high school kids at work work on their homework in the break room and I can't see how as we only get 15-30 breaks. I mean I need time to get into what I'm working on.

OK I'm starting a rant about why I feel like I could put more effort into my school work. I'll stop there.

Nice to meet you.

It's nice to meet you too, Arwen.

It sounds to me like you are talking more motivation rather than ADD-related? Do you want to work that many hours or take that many courses, etc.? I would rearrange either you can/want to so it allows you to maximize both. There's no rush for the schooling, taking one more/less class a period won't hurt anything?