I Was a Terrible Student, but All I Do Is Learn
Is it ADHD or a lack of interest?
Everyone is convinced they might have ADHD when they are trying to learn about something they have no interest in.
Years ago, my parents thought I had ADHD.
My teachers did too and eventually, I was convinced as well.
When I was young, I would sit in class and daydream about something else.
When I was younger, it might have been about Lego or girls. As I aged, cars and still girls clouded my mind.
The result? I was a terrible student.
Yet today, I spend all my spare time learning and studying.
The exceptions
I might not be giving school enough credit. There were exceptions. There are always exceptions.
For me, it was the poetry section in English class, physics and history.
I loved hearing beautiful ways to convey simple or complicated messages. Oftentimes, we would have to figure out what a poem meant. It was a beautiful process.
I found it so fascinating. I never daydreamed when it was time for poetry.
Physics gauged my interest because of cars. I wanted to understand how they move. Speed was my interest.
But, that interest led me to be more curious about the universe. From there, I started to study outside of school.
Curiosity made me a good student.
History class was a similar story. I was curious, so on my own time, I started to spend more time learning so I could hold an intelligent conversation with my teacher.
Where am I getting with this you ask?
We like what we like
In the classes I was interested in, I would sit and pay attention all class. Not only that, I would go out of my way to learn more.
In the classes I didn’t like, I would either be texting, talking to friends or daydreaming.
So, some teachers thought I was great with my 90%+ grades (I had 102% in history at one point), while others thought I had ADHD and there was something wrong with me.
The point is, we like what we like. We can all be great students if we are learning about something we have a genuine interest in.
That’s how we can get an edge over others.
It took me a while to learn this.
University and beyond
The same thing happened when I went to University. I listened in astronomy class and didn’t in everything else.
This led to me dropping out relatively quickly.
For years following, I didn’t bother to dive into anything academic. I was convinced I had a learning disability and simply couldn't digest knowledge the same way others could.
That’s when I started working in sales and then in the hospitality industry. I figured I could learn a bit and use my words to do the rest.
It worked for a while - until I got curious again.
Curious ole’ me
A few years ago, something changed. It might have been because my friends and family were getting smarter and I started to feel dumber, but I started to crave learning.
There were random topics I would have a growing interest in and then I would spend the next while diving in, watching videos, and reading blogs and books to learn as much as I could.
I realized that when I was interested in a topic, I could learn endlessly about it. Didn’t matter whether I was reading, watching videos, or listening to others.
It turned out, I didn’t have a learning disability. I just didn’t care about what I was learning.
This continued ever since and this curiosity and desire to learn is now stronger than ever.
It has compounded over time and it would have never happened had I stayed stuck in the “I can’t learn” victim mindset.
It took overwhelming curiosity to shatter my false beliefs.
Closing thoughts
Before jumping to the conclusion that you have ADHD, as many of us do, take the time to dive into something that truly interests you.
It may not be the case for all of you, but I bet a lot of you will realize that your learning ability is simply selective.
Your mind will do whatever it can to avoid boredom.
Thanks for reading