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Person: my brother
He's three years older than me so he's been there since I was born. I'd describe him as an 18-year-old with the brain of a young toddler. I have no idea what it feels like to have a sibling you can talk to because he only talks in sentence fragments. His autism has given me the ability to better understand others with the condition. He's impacted me by 1)making my life more difficult and 2)giving me exposure to something most people don't have regular exposure to. -
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Person: my mom
My mom has impacted me by being present throughout my childhood because she quit her job when I was a year old to take care of my brother and me. -
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Person: my dad
My dad has impacted me by working hard to put food on the table and we've never had a shortage of food because he's also really good at investments. -
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Person: Rhonda Tse
Rhonda's been my best friend since P1 (an elementary friend that I'm still friends with, what a surprise). She's impacted my life by constantly providing me with a different point of view. She's the only person I'm comfortable talking about anything with. She's also the one who let me open up (something I rarely do) because I felt that she genuinely cares and will try her best to see my situation in my perspective and give me relevant advice. -
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Person: Joanna Wang
Joanna's a close friend of mine. She's impacted me by helping be realized that even if a friendship fails early on, you can still possibly rekindle it years later. She's one of the only people I open up to because her replies are purposeful and she uses empathy. -
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Person: Hannah Chau
I haven't been friends with Hannah for very long (the start year is the year I first met her) but she's significant enough to be on the timeline. We were week without walls roommates last year and through that, we've become closer as friends. She's impacted me by welcoming open and honest communication without judgment and you can tell that she genuinely cares, which is a type of relationship I don't have with most people. -
Event: maternal grandma died
I had been wondering what a dead body would look like before that, and when we went to do the traditional bow, I remember being confused as to why her skin was so pale and she was wearing lipstick. I was much more emotionless than sad when she died, and that goes for other deaths that have happened in my family. -
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Event: 5th grade
I used to be extroverted and excited about (almost) everything when I was in elementary. When I got to 5th grade, it became cool to be "chill" and my enthusiasm and passion were highly frowned upon by some peers. For whatever reason, it really mattered what they thought about me (probably because of their social status). After that, I started to withdraw from society in fear of not being accepted and being judged for not fitting in with others. -
Event: tore my left calf muscle (June)
What impacted me wasn't the actual injury. I didn't really have any friends in my 5th-grade class. The main person who helped push my wheelchair during school was someone who I'd tried to be friends with before but that didn't go too well. So I asked her if she was pushing my wheelchair to actually help or if she just wanted to use the lift, and she gave an answer that sounded like the latter but put in a nice way. That experience is one of the reasons I'm skeptical of people's intentions. -
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Person: Mrs. Granberg
Mrs. Granberg was my art teacher during 6th grade and 8th grade. She impacted me by giving constructive criticism and convinced me that my art wasn't complete trash. She's a big part of why I decided to take both drawing and painting in 9th grade. -
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Person: Hannah Lui
Hannah's my other best friend. She impacted me by showing me what loyalty and dedication look like. She wasn't the kind of person who'd abandon me at the sight of someone more fun and exciting and she works her hardest to accomplish what she wants. -
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Person: Mr. Meyer
Mr. Meyer has been my main art teacher since 9th grade. He's impacted me by not judging (at least not openly) my book and TV show taste despite being an ICS teacher and proving that it's possible for a teacher and a student to have a chill relationship. He has also impacted me to become a little more comfortable with doing art because he offers constructive criticism throughout the process. -
Event: I had the right to remain silent
I expressed an unpopular opinion to a group chat where some shared the opposite opinion. They immediately got defensive and started to argue why my opinion was wrong when I never intended to argue in the first place. Those who shared the opposite opinion demanded me to explain myself, then decided that it wasn't worth arguing about without fully hearing me out and dismissed whatever I had to say. Similar instances have since happened with those people and I'm no longer close with them. -
Event: I was informed that my art isn't trashy
This could've happened anywhere between March and May of 2019. Mr. Schortgen (had him for drawing 1 at the time) told me he wanted to talk to me one day and I thought I'd done something wrong (like any other person would assume when called aside by a teacher after class). It turns out that he wanted to encourage me because I had no confidence in my work even though my work looked nice. I didn't realize teachers cared about us enough to do this. -
Event: favorite show confirmed (September)
Watching The Office (US version) has helped me realize that everyone sees the world from a different lens and you'll never be able to understand someone if you don't step into their shoes and really try. Watching The Office has also helped distract me from the real world, so I use it as somewhat of a coping mechanism, which sounds kind of unhealthy when you think about how much time I spend on Youtube. It's one of the only things that give me happiness. -
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Person: Mr. Nation
Mr. Nation is the only teacher who has been able to keep me interested for an hour. He has impacted me by being willing to listen without judgment and establish that a teacher and a student can have a chill relationship. I'm comfortable talking to him and asking questions because I know he won't be taken aback (at least not openly) by my weird questions.
- This is pretty weird because you'll be reading about yourself in the third person but congrats on ending up on here. -
Event: first protest
This was the day of the first protest about the extradition bill. I thought it was going to be a peaceful movement (I was pretty naive to believe that) but that night, a fight between protestors and police started. During the following months, riots involved more than throwing bricks and smashing shops while police chased after anyone who used violence. Since that day, Hong Kong has been split about politics, including my own family and I don't talk about politics in public in fear of judgment. -
Event: watched a youtube video that prompted me to check out what was wrong with me
I watched a video [https://youtu.be/TBV-7_qGlr4] about comedians who have anxiety and depression. One of them described dysthymia as something along the lines of "inability to experience joy" and that fit me so I did some research on dysthymia and realized that I relate to many, if not all of the symptoms.
Warning: some language used in the video is not ICS appropriate. -
Event: rewatched my favorite episode of Doctor Who
I rewatched my favorite episode of Doctor Who (Vincent and the Doctor) and realized that Van Gogh, a man who lived a pretty depressing life, turned his pain into something really beautiful and I want to be able to do that. -
Event: I read one of the greatest Tumblr posts on the Internet
I read a Tumblr post [https://thechrisgethardshow.tumblr.com/post/31345619495/for-gethard-anonymous-asks-gethard-i-know] about someone's journey with anxiety and depression. It was really encouraging because he didn't try to sugarcoat anything and just told things like they were. Another thing that impacted me that relates to this is that someone told me that they really needed this and thanked me for putting this on my Instagram.
Warning: some language used in the post is not ICS appropriate.