This is for anyone struggling with feelings of failure, shame, or like they’ve “fallen behind” because of their mental health. When I started my A Levels, OCD and anxiety became much more difficult to manage and I found myself feeling like I wasn’t “keeping up” with my friends or my usual achievements. Things got so difficult at university that I ended up not sitting my final exam and couldn’t graduate. I’ve carried the feelings of failure and shame around for the last 10 years. In 2021, I decided to pick things back up and finish my degree with the Open University. For the last four years, I’ve studied while working full time and dealing with some difficult challenges life has thrown at me. This past year has been one of the hardest as I started to experience DPDR almost every day. It became consuming, and I genuinely didn’t think I’d be able to finish my final module. But I did. I submitted my final assignment and was just relieved to be done and didn’t expect much in terms of grades. I was just happy I may finally have achieved my degree! Today I found out I’ve achieved a First Class Honours degree. And not just that - I scored 96% on my final project (which was a research project about how young people with SEND experience education). Without my experiences, I don’t think I would have ended up working in SEND or discovered how much it means to me. I know how easy it is to compare yourself to others or feel like you’ve messed everything up if your mental health gets in the way. But, it’s okay if it takes longer than you planned - you haven’t failed. Exactly one month before I turn 30, I’ve finally achieved a goal I thought I’d lost. And I’m really, really proud of myself. The moral of this long post is that you can do it! Maybe not the way you thought — but in your own way. 💛 (Pic is of me at uni 10 years ago!)
