John is a Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander man attending a midwestern university and majoring in mechanical engineering. Although John has an enduring interest in the visual and performing arts, he also describes himself as a ‘tinkerer’ who has always enjoyed taking things apart. Despite his lifelong good grades in all his classes, he wasn’t interested in science or engineering careers until coming to college. He decided to pursue engineering because of its design aspects and strong career prospects, which led him to major in mechanical engineering. John has also struggled with his mental health and potential symptoms of ADHD, such as low motivation and executive dysfunction, since middle school.
Right now, getting motivation at all is a struggle, it is very difficult for me to start something and finish something. But, I’ve been going to therapy since the semester began, and I skipped over this summer, but yeah. I think as of now it’s been a year since I’ve been in therapy.
From John’s first interview.
The image below is a journey map that John created summarizing some of the highs and lows from his second year as an engineering student.
Want to learn more about John’s journey? Check out his tag here (or by clicking the ‘John’ tag below) to see quotes from his interviews over the years.