Friends of Quinn

My name is Sam. I am a new blogger here on Friends of Quinn. I’ve never blogged before and have never even liked writing too much really… But here I am.  My hope is that by reading some about things that have helped me in my life, perhaps you may find something that can help you in yours.
 
I wish that I could blame my ADD or my Aspergers Syndrome for how stilted this post sounds but unfortunately I really just write like that. Hopefully you will all just bear with me while I try to get my bearings and convey some semblance of meaningful thought!
 
So I will start with a story.
 
When I was growing up I didn’t have many friends. I didn’t get very good grades despite all manner of aptitude tests saying that I should be capable of it. I would cause disruptions in class and jus generally did not fit the mold of what a student was supposed to be.
 
I was diagnosed with depression at the age of 7. My ADHD diagnosis followed a year later. By the time I was in middle school my week had an odd dichotomy of some classes in the gifted and talented program and then being stuffed into the “resource room” for an hour of hell. I hated that room.
 
All of my peers didn’t seem to care about anything and all of the teachers seemed to be more concerned with obtaining anything that looked like improvement (i.e. better grades) than they were with HOW that improvement was achieved.  The result was everyone sitting at a table with the teacher basically doing your homework for you.
 
Now to some people that was heaven. A slacker’s paradise, but I couldn’t stand it! The reason that I didn’t do homework wasn’t that I couldn’t, it was because I didn’t think I needed too. All through school I was able to get good grades on tests by listening to the lecture and bull-shitting my way through discussions. I saw all homework as just make-work and so I was refusing to do it on principle.
 
Skip forward into high school and not much had changed. I was an incredibly awkward teen, still didn’t get great grades but I was finally having a bit of a social life. The high school had a new type of resource room that was aimed at creating a safe haven for ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) students and helping them build social skills.
 
In high school I also discovered my passion for cooking. I went from there to Le Cordon Bleu, and from there, into cooking in Minneapolis. I met my lovely fiancée Sylvia a couple of years ago and now we are preparing to move to Portland, OR so that she can attend school to get her Ph.D. I am lucky enough to have found a profession and, more importantly, a place in life that makes me happy and works for me.
 
I’d love to go into more detail now, but I really need to get back to packing (This moving thing is ridiculous!) So I’ll see you all again soon from my new home with an even better story and start telling about what helped me shape my life.  I’d love to hear from you about your journey too.