I was born with a slight case Asperger's Syndrome. For the first twenty years of my life I had a psychologically and physically abusive Father. The Asperger's made me different, so the kids made constant fun of me all the way through school. From this I developed quite severe Social Anxiety Disorder and low self esteem, followed by long bouts of depression.

Consequently, I've never had a job that pays anything close to a living wage. I ended up unemployed for Covid and was put on Medicaid. For the first time, I was able to obtain the therapy I needed so badly.

Then through a stroke of luck, I found out about a career office at a local College that was willing to help non-students for free. Soon, I found myself in the computer tech department at the college and quickly discovered that my creativity made me a good candidate to pursue Web Design/Development. I started receiving Worker Retraining Benefits, which pays for all my tuition and books, and I was on my way. I quickly found that this was a good fit for me, and set out to get the Business Technology Associate Degree. I'm doing very well at it. My grade point average is a perfect 4.0, I'm already half way through the degree, but I am facing some financial needs, almost all of which need to be taken care of pretty quickly since Summer Quarter is starting in just two weeks.

With a very low income I am unable to pay for the other things I need for school because all my income goes to just paying bills. My current computer is 11 years old and operates on Windows 7. Because of the creative software I need to use to complete my degree, I need to get a new desktop computer that is able to handle the memory and processor speed needs of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. They take up a huge amount of computer memory and storage, so they require a computer with above average features.

The computer I need costs $740 tax included.

There are some other items or upgrades I also need for the computer:

Memory upgrade: $190 tax included.

External Portable Hard Drive, 2TB: $75 tax included.

Monitor that handles the image size and quality requirements: $175 tax included.

With Covid coming to an end, in person instruction will be resuming. The College is 15 miles away from my home. I inherited a 23 year old car when my mom died, but in order to get me there safely it needs some repairs:

Ball Joint and Tie Rod replacement: $400 minimum

AC recharge (it rains a lot here in Seattle and the AC also powers the defog): $350

Fuel Mixture Sensor Replacement: $150

Oil Change: $50

A window repair that can wait if it has to, but: $150 minimum

Driver door lock broken, can also wait, but $150 minimum

Because I am in design, I also require a high quality DSLR Camera to create content. I was gifted a very good Nikon DSLR, but it needs some repair of the autofocus and exposure:

$220 (needs to be shipped to California)

It also needs a few accessories: $110

Combined with the education and therapy, an old friend who is the artistic director of the local Improv theater suggested that studying Improv would be good therapy. To pay for the classes I was allowed to work at the concessions and box office in exchange for free classes. Being forced to work with the public has also had a tremendous effect on my depression and Social Anxiety. Before coming to the Improv school and company there were times when I could barely talk.

Just after the first of the year, everything seems to have all gelled together. With the therapy, education which was looking promising at finally providing me an actual career that pays actual money, and the work with Improv and customer service, I was suddenly feeling much better. 

I'm still not "cured." But the distance I have been able to come is staggering. I'm finally close to being able to function like a regular person. I'm most of the way there actually. For the first time in my life, things are looking up and I'm eager to get on with life.