School-Phobic to Class President
Donation protected
Hey everyone! My name is Owen and I am a 17 year old photographer.
From the time I was a kid, I have always been different. I viewed the world from an outsider's perspective and normal social relationships never came easy to me. My peers had trouble relating to me and I often felt like there was a wall between me and everyone I met. After hours of therapy and psychological testing, the doctors diagnosed me with Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of Autism. One of the major traits of Asperger's Syndrome is a difficulty functioning in social situations, and that described my life perfectly. On the other hand, my Asperger's has also made me very gifted. After years of struggling socially, I made the bold move to drop out of middle school and homeschool myself. While it worked out great for a while, homeschooling became very lonely and by my sophomore year, I needed a change of atmosphere.
The scariest decision of my life was choosing to enroll in traditional high school again. I contemplated my choice for months and finally signed up to attend. As a sophomore transfer student, I knew very few people in my new school. It was a transition that would be difficult for anybody, but for an Asperger's kid, it is a nightmare from hell.
After overcoming my nerves and getting comfortable in my new environment, I began incorporating one of my biggest passions into my school life: photography. At my first school event, I took over 3000 images and immediately uploaded them to my Flickr page and then posted the link on my Twitter page. To my surprise, within 24 hours, I had gained 300 followers on Twitter and many of the photos that I took began to appear on my Instagram feed. People were coming out of the woodwork to befriend me and for once in my life, I felt surrounded by friends who appreciated my passion and were interested in me. This was something I had never experienced in all my years of existence.
Now, almost two years later, I have photographed tons of events at my school and have more friends than I could have ever imagined. I am very grateful for all of my classmates who continually support me. They've even elected me to be their Senior Class President. While I will always have Asperger's Syndrome, photography has enriched my life tremendously and has taught me how to flourish in social situations. What was once my worst nightmare is now something that I look forward to every day.
Today, I have expanded my photography far beyond the walls of my school. My work has been featured on billboards, in magazine ads, newspapers, and even in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.
Why GoFundMe?
I am trying to turn my photography into a business so I can earn money for college. My current camera is almost dead and I need a new one as soon as possible. The shutter life expectancy of my old camera is only 100,000 actuations and my shutter has well over 1,000,000 actuations. The new camera I want to purchase will allow me to get better photos in the low light situations which I am constantly shooting in. It can shoot many more frames per second, so I can take more pictures in hopes of capturing that perfect expression and it will also greatly improve the image quality when shooting sporting events. My photography is my primary source of income and it is what I plan to use to help pay for my college tuition next year. Without my camera, it will be difficult for me to earn any money.
Simply put, photography has changed my life and made me who I am as a person today. My level of photography requires professional equipment that is extremely expensive, but it is the only way I can continue to advance my career. No donation is too small and please do whatever you can to help me out! Click the blue links below to see some of my photography.
With great gratitude,
-Owen
Click here for a sample of my photography!
Here is my Flickr page, exclusively for the photos I take at my school.
From the time I was a kid, I have always been different. I viewed the world from an outsider's perspective and normal social relationships never came easy to me. My peers had trouble relating to me and I often felt like there was a wall between me and everyone I met. After hours of therapy and psychological testing, the doctors diagnosed me with Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of Autism. One of the major traits of Asperger's Syndrome is a difficulty functioning in social situations, and that described my life perfectly. On the other hand, my Asperger's has also made me very gifted. After years of struggling socially, I made the bold move to drop out of middle school and homeschool myself. While it worked out great for a while, homeschooling became very lonely and by my sophomore year, I needed a change of atmosphere.
The scariest decision of my life was choosing to enroll in traditional high school again. I contemplated my choice for months and finally signed up to attend. As a sophomore transfer student, I knew very few people in my new school. It was a transition that would be difficult for anybody, but for an Asperger's kid, it is a nightmare from hell.
After overcoming my nerves and getting comfortable in my new environment, I began incorporating one of my biggest passions into my school life: photography. At my first school event, I took over 3000 images and immediately uploaded them to my Flickr page and then posted the link on my Twitter page. To my surprise, within 24 hours, I had gained 300 followers on Twitter and many of the photos that I took began to appear on my Instagram feed. People were coming out of the woodwork to befriend me and for once in my life, I felt surrounded by friends who appreciated my passion and were interested in me. This was something I had never experienced in all my years of existence.
Now, almost two years later, I have photographed tons of events at my school and have more friends than I could have ever imagined. I am very grateful for all of my classmates who continually support me. They've even elected me to be their Senior Class President. While I will always have Asperger's Syndrome, photography has enriched my life tremendously and has taught me how to flourish in social situations. What was once my worst nightmare is now something that I look forward to every day.
Today, I have expanded my photography far beyond the walls of my school. My work has been featured on billboards, in magazine ads, newspapers, and even in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.
Why GoFundMe?
I am trying to turn my photography into a business so I can earn money for college. My current camera is almost dead and I need a new one as soon as possible. The shutter life expectancy of my old camera is only 100,000 actuations and my shutter has well over 1,000,000 actuations. The new camera I want to purchase will allow me to get better photos in the low light situations which I am constantly shooting in. It can shoot many more frames per second, so I can take more pictures in hopes of capturing that perfect expression and it will also greatly improve the image quality when shooting sporting events. My photography is my primary source of income and it is what I plan to use to help pay for my college tuition next year. Without my camera, it will be difficult for me to earn any money.
Simply put, photography has changed my life and made me who I am as a person today. My level of photography requires professional equipment that is extremely expensive, but it is the only way I can continue to advance my career. No donation is too small and please do whatever you can to help me out! Click the blue links below to see some of my photography.
With great gratitude,
-Owen
Click here for a sample of my photography!
Here is my Flickr page, exclusively for the photos I take at my school.
Organizer
Owen Bonaventura
Organizer
Trumbull, CT
