Graduation on the Horizon

         On Monday I worked on redoing my Excel Capstone project. When I got back I studied for two ten minute study blocks with a break in between to use the bathroom and get a snack. I went to the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group again with Jack, Tyler, and Dr. Mayfield and she told me there were several girls registered with her office who might join making there more girls this time then when I started the JCCC group. Suddenly I decided to keep my mind open in dating. We came up with the idea to cook meals together using solar ovens which are environmentally friendly and I paired Tyler and Jack together and Dr. Mayfield and I and we took four minutes to each get to know three things about the other person.

I went to the graduation picture with President Ambrose and the other second year THRIVE students and during study hall I made a toilet paper roll diorama of Tashilhunpo monastery in Tibet and worked on three napkin rings made from toilet paper rolls. When I went to the Rec Center two people saw me after I put some bottles in the trash in the recycling said they thought it was very awesome how I always recycled those things. After I did it after I ran on the treadmill for about an hour, the girl swiping cards looked back at me smiling and one of the people who said it was great how I recycled those things said it made her day to see me do it and I realized I would be a lot more accepted if I was myself than if I tried to be who people want me to be. When I went up to get a snack on the first floor of Ellis I saw the TV lounge and realized what a great communal feeling it can give and how my group can have that. Later Tyler came back and gave me some chips he bought me from the vending machine and I gave him a dime and we considered him all paid back for that dollar twenty-five I lent him. I also realized potlucks can also lend to a good communal feeling.

The next day I studied for two more fifty minute study blocks and during my break I enjoyed a Mexican caramel sundae for Cinco de Mayo and after my studying. Later I went to the Union bookstore and got some more construction paper and I did my take-home exam for my Transition Planning II class. I went to Fun Before Finals while I was at the Rec Center and I enjoyed slides, rope tosses, and archery. I also promised Tyler that I’d listen to five songs from him playlist the next day. The next day I studied for another two fifty minute study breaks with a ten minute break in between where I used the bathroom and I took out the trash. 

True to my promise to Tyler I listened to five songs from his playlist and he gave me some duct tape, printer paper, Hershey’s kisses, and a picture of him and his niece as going away presents. I took out our recycling and I found another pebble. I used the duct tape Tyler gave me to fix up and decorate my binder with the Buddhist mantra Om mani padme hum in Phoenician which I written without vowels which I learned from Daniel Tammott, a man with autism, in his autobiography I Was Born on a Blue Day five years ago and I went to Rocking Entertainment with Autrey later and I agreed to go to Hasting’s with him tomorrow. I also went to Crazy Dog’s.

The next day I found another pebble and I went to Hasting’s with Autrey and I got a Lego set of Gollum’s cave from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a book called Screenwriting for Dummies, and a Japanese Gilded Panel Kit from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We went to the Dollar Tree afterwards and I got two soap trays for the soap on Tyler’s and my sink and shower which I could put plastic bottle caps on to make them last longer. I added the bottle caps to my soap dishes and built my Lego set. I also started working on my Japanese Gilded Panel Kit and I got invited to a THRIVE graduation party with Jack at his home. I also learned about taking notes on people’s reactions to my screenplays and I went to Tyler’s dance performance in which he did really well.

At the dance performance in one of the dances I saw a girl from my Essential Managing Information class, Regin and after the performance I told her I thought she did really well. After that Tyler, Mary, and I, along with another student from THRIVE Oscar with Tyler’s parents to Sonic where we bought ice cream. We also all agreed to hang out during the summer and Tyler’s mom said she could take me home with Tyler and when I talked to Mom she agreed for us to do that. A little anxious about my Geology exam I saw the Disney channel show Dog with a Blog where the father tells his kid that if you’re in the present, somehow you’re prepared for anything. The next day I watched Twin Lords with Jackie Chan with Tyler and I worked on my Excel Capstone project.

 

On the first day of the next week I resubmitted my Excel Capstone project and found out it was really just a day to redo any of our projects and I didn’t end up getting a better grade on any of the projects I did (in fact on one I did worse) but I passed with a C. The next day I found a button on the bottom of the Ellis stairwell and I turned it into the lost-and-found. I also was encouraged to slow down when I was eating and in life when I saw some apple pie and I wrote a haiku about it in my poetry journal. I also heard Kriti was thinking of starting a student group for the THRIVE program and she thought I should be its president. I was flattered but with my full course load and the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group next year I thought I might be a little busy but thought I would be able to contribute to it. I also made several flowers from soda cans and gave one of them to Tyler as a going away present. Later that night my dad said he thought I’d do fine on my exam and I took notes on people’s reactions to my screenplays. 

As I ran on the treadmill I read on my phone about a singer/songwriter with Asperger syndrome named Maja Toudal from Denmark who was quite beautiful and I realized that people with autism don’t abstain from socializing because they are withdrawn but rather due to a lack of social skills or acceptance due to their disability. Tyler and I saw Cassie and Mckinsey at late night in the cafeteria and we sat down with them and I learned that after graduation she will be going back to St. Louis. The next day I told myself an affirmative phrase before going to my exam and I went there and thought I did pretty well. When I got back Kimmie asked me if I could go to a Q&A with the governor in the Collaboration Room and I said yes. Later that day, Tyler and I signed up to check out on Thurdsay and I gave Tyler a journal I ordered on-line which I thought was too small for my meditation journal to Tyler. He showed me what he wrote about Mary and I to the two of us and Mary gushed. I said, “Now that’s going on my blog.”

The next day the governor couldn’t be there so we all went back to our rooms and I made some more of the pebbles I found into mani stones. I gave a flower to Amanda and I added another shelve to my shelf for my toilet paper roll diorama. I also returned my Geology textbook. I went to Crazy Dog’s one last time and packed up a lot of my stuff. The next day I finished packing and Tyler’s mom brought the two of us home.

An Exciting Prospect for the Semester Begins

When I got back, I found out my study hall days were Mondays and Wednesdays. I also found out, unfortunately, that my payments for my Geology and Lab class and my Essential Managing Information class had not been received so Kriti told me to go met with Jessica tomorrow at eight. 

                The next morning I met with Jessica and we got me signed up for Essential Managing Information at 9-9:50 on Mondays and Wednesdays and Intro to Geology at 3:30-4:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a Geology lab from 12-1:50 on Wednesdays. I went to my Essential Managing Information class afterwards and after that I found two new pebbles for my collection and turned them into mani stones. Then I made a toilet paper roll diorama of the city of Timbuktu in Mali and started making flowers from paper plates, one saying, “Do good,” another saying, “Do no evil,” and another saying, “Purify one’s mind,” forming a saying of the Buddha. Later I went to Crazy Dog’s and then I went to Hasting’s where I bought a current a current issue of Sufi magazine and a November 2012 issue of National Geographic Traveler. I also went to my Transition Planning II class at 4 which I had on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4-4:50 and there we got our textbooks.

                The next day I talked to my granddad and he mentioned my internship, which I still didn’t know what it was. He said he knew but wanted me to be surprised saying, “Oh, you’ll enjoy it!”

                On Wednesday I didn’t have my Geology Lab. I found out when my teacher dropped by the lab I was sitting in and explained that he sent an e-mail out to all the students saying it wouldn’t start until the week after next week but I wouldn’t have gotten it because I wasn’t signed up, so I sent that time deleting several old e-mails. On Friday I went to Crazy Dog’s with Tyler and that night we watched one of my DVDs called Secrets of Shangri-la about hidden Buddhist texts and art found in caves in the Mustang region of Nepal. The next day I found another pebble for my collection which I turned into another mani stone and I worked on my decorative flowers made from paper plates. I also made another toilet paper roll diorama of the city of Djenne, also in Mali. The next day I went down to Walgreen’s and bought some shampoo. Then I went to Hasting’s where I bought an issue of Total Film and Sci-Fi magazine which had front page articles about The Hobbit movie.

On Thursday of next week I got a call from Jessica and found out what my internship would be: starting the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. She told me to make an appointment with Dr. Mayfield to talk about planning it and I did for Friday at 2:30. I also got a call from Jessica that day about my Person Centered Planning time as my original one at 4:30 conflicted with my Geology class. I told Teresa that and she said she could meet me at 12:30 on Wednesday and I told Jessica that I could make it there that week because I didn’t have my lab until the next week. The next day I went to my Person Centered Planning and Teresa gave me a schedule of people’s times so I could find someone to trade times with.

                Later that day I went to Hasting’s and bought a Rolling Stone Collector’s Edition The Hobbit The Ultimate Guide and an issue of Ancient American, a magazine which believes Christopher Colombus was one of the last people to discover America, which featured on the cover an article about King Arthur’s colonies in Pre-Colombian America. I read a quote in there by Peter Jackson saying, “When you realize your film gets better with every day you work on it, it becomes hard to take a day off.” This really encouraged me as I often never get around to working on my screenplays.

                I read the Rolling Stone magazine later and felt inspired by how Peter Jackson could make a huge film career without having to move to a place like Hollywood, since I hoped to make my career and stay in my home state of Kansas. The next day I took one of my ripped socks and used it to insulate my coffee mug. On Friday I went to my appointment with Dr. Mayfield and I told her my plans for the group. She also told me of a meeting for student organizations at four next Wednesday. That night I went to Crazy Dog’s and bought some soap in town. Tyler left that day to work at his job at AMC over the weekend and on Saturday I texted him the homework assignment for Transition Planning II.  I wrote thank you notes to my grandmom and my Uncle John and Aunt Nini for their Christmas presents. The next day I went to Hasting’s and bought the current issues of Smithsonian and Shambhala Sun magazine.

                The next Monday I completed my Windows 7 tutorial at my Essential Managing Information class. On Wednesday I found out to my dismay at my first Geology Lab that I didn’t have the required textbook. After class I e-mailed Mrs. Fahrmeier, who was substituting for Mr. B in Transition Planning II and said I wouldn’t be able to make it because of the meeting. I did my assignment for that class and e-mailed it to Mr. B. Then I went to the student organization meeting someone I knew.  Mckinsey was there and she seemed glad to see me. We said hello and asked how we were doing before we sat down and heard the presentation. That night I helped Tyler with his Transition Planning II homework and the next day I switched my PCP time with Jennifer in THRIVE for Monday at 1:30 and helped Tyler with our assignment for Transition Planning II again that evening.