<p>I just want to take this opportunity to thank you all for all of the help you have given me with regards to my Asperger's Syndrome. You all have been some of my biggest fans, and because of this, I would like to know a little bit more about some of you parents background, since you seem to be very interesting people, the type of person I'd like to become someday.</p>
<p>Let me start by telling you a little bit on my background. I'm sorry if this post is a little long. I am a 21 year old student from Southern Illinois. I am in three different majors: biological sciences, computer engineering, and civil engineering. I am very close to graduating in the first two, and I will be graduating with my BS in biology this December, and then in computer engineering the following December, and then in civil engineering the following December. I believe that this background is a great interdisciplinary background for my future career, as I feel I have to be very versatile if I am to live in southern Illinois after college.</p>
<p>I did extremely well in high school. I was the star of several teams that I did manage to get on: Scholar Bowl (academic team), math team, WYSE (engineering and science competition here in Illnois), and I was in the math, science, and computer clubs here at school. I also served on the newspaper during my freshmen year, but I didn't serve after that because I was hysterical about talking to people. I don't have that problem today, because I wasn't diagnosed then. I also was the only person in my class to be inducted into the math honor society during freshmen year. That was a big accomplishment for me.</p>
<p>A few events occurred during freshmen year that would define the years to come. One was my extremely low scores during math competitions as a member of math team. All of the awards went to this one elite girl who was the daughter of a math teacher at my high school. I remember sitting on the bus crying after seeing the scores, and all of the elite people would laugh at me and make fun of me, calling me stupid for not performing to their level. I also did not do very well on Scholar Bowl, even though I was the only freshmen on the team. I also made two B's on my report card, which of course destroyed my chances at being a valedictorian (although I later learned that I was going to be salutorian the way I was going).</p>
<p>I was devastated by these events, but I swore to myself that I would do something about them. I started by taking on an insane schedule: all college prep classes, seven of them at once, plus one more during the summer before my sophomore year. During that summer, I worked at my parent's office. I was asked to work with job costing, using Microsoft Access. I became extremely frustrated with the program, unable to do anything fancy or useful with it. However, my dad intervened, saying that maybe I should take a class in Microsoft Access. That led me to begin investigating on the Internet, and I found that you could take classes at the local community college starting at age 16. That led me to become better friends with my high school guidance counselor, who me and my parents went to see shortly afterwards. We got permission for me to take classes at the community college, and soon I was taking college freshmen English during the fall of my sophomore year, in addition to seven classes at the high school.</p>
<p>I completed that class successfully, and spring semester came. I chose a different route that made a huge difference in my high school career. I had tested into pre-Calculus at the community college, even though I was only taking algebra at high school. I enrolled in pre-Calculus though, with the hopes of taking AP Calculus AB my junior year. All of this academic onslaught was tough, but worth it, and I would do it again. I was 1st in my class on math team, 2nd in the school. I carried the JV team, and won awards for answering the most questions. I of course continued my normal activities. Regarding math team, I did beat the elite girl (who ended up with a 33 on her ACT). Her dad, the math teacher, was so angry at her that it was funny to watch them. Talk about pressure!</p>
<p>Anyways, I began full-time studies at college right after my sophomore year. I was up against UIUC and Purdue students, as well as some from other colleges, in classes such as Logic, English 102, and Psychology. I kicked their ass in those classes, especially in Logic. I got straight A's, and was put on the President's List, while still a high school student who had not even started junior year.</p>
<p>Junior year of high school began shortly after a wonderful summer at college. I was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa and National Honor Society, and there were newspaper stories in my school and hometown newspapers about it. I also got my Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis at this time. After a fight with my Scholar Bowl coach over why I wasn't captain since I was the top player on varsity, it was decided that it was time for me to go on to college full time, and skip high school entirely, especially since I was in every AP class my school offered (total of 5, I know that's not very many).</p>
<p>I started off college as a pre-med major, but had to change because of Asperger's complications, and because I had extreme trouble with a physiology class. So I started computer engineering, and excelled in it, earning a very high grade point average. I did eventually return to biology as a non pre-med when I discovered aquaculture. As a result of my hard work, I am prepared to graduate with multiple degrees, with a >3.5 average (cum laude!) Anyways, I know all of you are getting tired of reading this, so if you have any other questions about me, as well as any background about yourselves, who really helped me out with my Asperger's during a dark time, feel free to PM me, or reply to this message.</p>