Humans Of CSE Sep

Can you introduce yourself and tell us about yourself?

Anonymous: Hi I’m a first year student doing computer science.

Anonymous: I’m a 3rd year computer science and commerce currently in my second last year.

If you’re comfortable sharing, how does ADHD impact your day-to-day life as a student?

Anonymous: I find that ADHD impacts many different areas of my life - and this in turn also affects my student life so it’s really annoying. It means I can’t focus as much on my lectures, and I really commonly find myself behind on schoolwork due to a lack of motivation. I also find it hard to receive prescribed medication, making it more difficult to help treat it.

Anonymous: Honestly I didn’t really think about the impacts of ADHD until recently, but I feel like if something isn’t interesting to me I wouldn’t want to do it, so the general perception of ADHD is kind of accurate. With CS specifically the hardest part of doing work is getting started, but I think the fact that I’m actually interested in CS helps a lot with it. The way that I generally approach any uni-based work is that in the first week I will get 10% done, but once that initial hurdle is passed, I’ll typically finish my work pretty fast.

How has your experience at UNSW been as a student with ADHD? Do you feel it’s different from your peers?

Anonymous: I feel like ADHD varies across multiple people so in general different traits would be affected differently within different people. In my circle of friends, however, I feel like we have a lot in common with our experience with ADHD, and so I don’t really feel excluded in any way.

Anonymous: I can not watch lectures. I generally find myself just supplementing lecture content with google or notes written by other students. Something that also decreases my motivation is when a course does not have face-to-face tutorials. Just recently I did COMP6080 and I found it very hard to stay on top of things because of the lack of deadlines of the labs, which comes with a lack of any real incentive. I do feel because of this as compared to my peers, I am working at a disadvantage. Especially at UNSW, without extra support the bare minimum is really unsustainable for me.

Are there any stereotypes/ misconceptions with ADHD you wish more people understood?

Anonymous: A lot of people tend to think that people who have ADHD are just lazy, but that isn’t true at all. I wish that people would understand that ADHD is physically a chemical imbalance within the brain and so it can’t be helped. While ADHD is something that can be treated and learned to be lived with, it’s not something that can be fully cured.

Anonymous: When people think of ADHD, they typically only think about the AD (attention deficit) side of things, like getting distracted and procrastinating, but people don’t tend to think about the HD (hyperactivity disorder) part like fidgeting a lot, and so I feel these behaviours can really commonly be written off. I also wish people knew how broad of a spectrum ADHD really is, across different diagnoses the behaviours vary a lot.

Has your understanding of ADHD evolved since you were first diagnosed? If so, how has it?

Anonymous: I was diagnosed pretty late at 16 years old, but I don't think my understanding has changed much. People are definitely more accepting of ADHD being in females nowadays though, which is nice to see.

Anonymous: Until I was actually diagnosed I didn’t know that ADHD was a thing, so I had to walk myself through the process and gradually become more aware of the symptoms of ADHD myself. Like I said before it isn’t just an attention deficit, but also hyperactivity and being impulsive. I didn’t actually realise how much it had affected my relations, my academic performance and my work until I was diagnosed. I think a lot of the things I thought I was just bad at were actually at least in part a result of ADHD, which turned out to be a big relief for me.

Do you have any advice for incoming students with ADHD on how to navigate university life?

Anonymous: I think they should only do two courses a term - so underload. It’s definitely much better for me as the workload is doable. Also apply for ELS for extra exam time and assignment time.

Anonymous: If you think you have ADHD, try to see a psychiatrist and see what options you have. Don’t ignore the resources that you have at hand. I know it’s very difficult to go see a psychiatrist but you have to remind yourself that it’s only gonna help you. In terms of academics this may differ from person to person, but I do find I do better when I am doing a course with friends, as I have more motivation to study when I'm with someone. One more thing is that I think it’s really helpful to gauge the workload expected of you before a term, whether that’s through reading community sentiment beforehand through resources like the CSEsoc discord, or even just reading the course outline.

Any closing words?

Anonymous: Be proud of what you have accomplished. In my instance, I worked really hard and eventually became a tutor for certain comp courses. It’s something I’m really proud of. If you have ADHD, you might think you can never be able to do these kinds of things but all of you have the capability to do so.

For more useful resources:

CSESoc Discord - A great place to ask questions and get advice from fellow students!

UNSW Subreddit - This is not CSESoc affiliated, however it is popular amongst students when seeking useful advice that may have been asked by past students in subreddits. Use at your own discretion.

CSESoc Outreach aims to release monthly articles that highlight the diverse experiences of students. We invite you to submit feedback or share your own insights through the form. Your stories, advice or perspectives could be invaluable to someone navigating university life.

https://forms.gle/Vt12TthoPhGSALGf8

Hayden Ho, Liem Phan