Following in His Footsteps: A Grandfather’s Legacy and Overcoming Dyslexia in the Pursuit of a Military Dream
My grandfather was an Army Ranger and this had always impressed and motivated me as a kid. I had old photos of him in this uniform in my room and I would listen to him talk about his training, and the respect he got after becoming a Ranger. Since I thought college was beyond my abilities due to dyslexia, I decided I would follow in his footsteps and enter the military after high school graduation. I failed the screening exam (ASVAB) due to my dyslexia. By a lot. But, I didn’t give up.
Unyielding Determination: Training Through Adversity and Defying Dyslexia in My Twenties
Over the course of my twenties, I trained my body and my mind, while suffering disappointment after disappointment. Many of my friends and family wanted me to give up and try something else. I refused. I was determined to overcome the limitations of dyslexia. Just this one time. I wanted it that badly.
Breaking Free: Achieving My Own Dreams Beyond the Limits of Dyslexia
Finally getting to do something I wanted to do, not just something teachers and other specialists told me I was able to do, pushed me beyond anything I had imagined as that confused second grader being told I had dyslexia. That it meant I couldn’t go to regular classes with my friends, and that I had to go see learning and speech specialists while other kids were playing outside.
Overcoming Pain and Failure: Navigating Relationships and Dyslexia in Never Give Up
In Never Give Up, there is a lot of failure, I’m not going to lie, and a lot of pain. I once met this beautiful woman at the local community college while I was there trying to learn enough to pass a stupid test for the military. She and I seemed to click. We talked so much over just a few days. Until she learned I was still in English 97 (rock bottom class) and thrashed my ego when she found out I had dyslexia. The “relationship” didn’t survive my dyslexia just as others had failed in the past for the same reason.
Beyond Misconceptions: Dyslexia and the Unseen Strengths in My Journey
To this day, many people think dyslexia means you are disabled, stupid, and unable to learn. And they treat you as somehow broken or just see your diagnosis, not you as a person. Dyslexics like Walt Disney and Albert Einstein have started huge Fortune 500 companies, like Disney, and discovered the Theory of Relativity.
They have emotional intelligence and see patterns others miss. We can overcome and find success. However, there is more to my story than just overcoming a learning disability few people understand or care to learn about. A whole lot more.
Bridging Cultures: Dyslexia, Shared Humanity, and the Global Spirit of Perseverance
On my journey, I met people from all over the world and discovered how much we have in common. I, the dyslexic underachiever, taught English words to Muslim children from Afghanistan while learning some of their language in return. I worked with some of the most dedicated people in the world and saw how never giving up is a universal call to action. Not just a motivational poster put away after a conference.
Motivation was one of my goals, though. I didn’t write about myself for a pat on the back. I wanted to let others know they could do what they wanted, not just what someone else said they could do. That dyslexia, or other setbacks, can lead to journeys they haven’t even thought of yet. My second goal was to show the humanness of those thoughts as different, for whatever reason. Whether a learning disability, physical limitation, coming from another culture, or just having different point of view, there is an underlying common ground we need to find and exploit for the future. Not othering people. Not banishing those that are different. Getting to know each other, human to human. That should be the biggest point to life.
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