Wired differently: How I rise above dyslexia

On paper, I look like any other high-achieving student. My grades are almost always between 95 and 100. But what those numbers don’t show is how much harder I have to work than everyone else just to get there.  

I have dyslexia, and I go to a school that wasn’t really designed for me. 

Daniel Island School doesn’t have a specialized program for kids with dyslexia. The whole system was built for a certain type of learner, and I’m just not that kind. Yet somehow, I am still here, earning grades that most students would be proud of. 

What people don’t get about dyslexia is that it has nothing to do with being smart. My brain is just wired differently. When I try to write, the connection between what I know and what ends up on the page is a battle every single time. There is a specific kind of exhaustion that comes from working twice as hard for the same result. By the end of the day, I’m not just tired from learning; I’m tired from fighting.  

My grades are proof that a student with dyslexia can still rise to the top, even without the right tools. I’m writing this because students like me deserve to be seen. If I can achieve these grades in a system not built for me, imagine what I could do in one that was. I fought, and I’m still fighting. My grades prove that I am winning.