[94-107; 123-135] I’m currently struggling with a lot of feelings I have when I go to class. I don’t usually have productive thoughts. I feel like things are scaring me more than helping me now. Or I’m getting scared more than I’m learning. I hope it’s just the mental health thing. Recently, I’ve been getting better. I’ve been paying more attention, and I’m going to pass. I met with a psychiatrist last week. I just got medication and hope it will lift my spirits. When I go to class, I’m paying attention for the first 10 minutes. But after that, I start to have like breathing problems or my mind is wandering off. It’s like an escape. I’m in the classroom because if I’m in there, I’m more likely to learn something than if I’m not. But at the same time, once I look up at the board and see all the equations, all the steps that I phased out on, that’s the moment that I start getting anxiety and scared. So, I look away and I go back in my head so I’m not as stressed. It’s a cycle. It goes throughout the entire hour until I come back out without anything in my notes.
STORIESSTories of Resilience and Inclusion of Engineering Students