Defying Expectations By Roy D. Jones (Word Count: 491) I was shackled with expectations of failure and mediocrity from a young age. I was expelled from preschool when I was just four years old for hiding under tables (an early sign of a later autism diagnosis). My parents mourned. What sort of life could they expect for me if I couldn’t be successful at pre-school? They didn’t, however, give up on me. My parents moved forward in the best way that they knew by deciding to educate me at home. I hated my disability for a long time. I felt that it defined me by my limitations… as inferior, or less than. But, as I grew, homeschool gave me the freedom to pursue my unique interests and passions without regard to what might be considered “normal.” I have deeply explored areas of computer science, robotics, math, and electronic engineering and I began to take classes at the community college at the age of 15. I also began to see my “disability” not as something wrong with me, but rather as something unique that informs my perspective. My journey now includes: serving as chair of the Pendleton Library Teen Advisory Board, serving on a curriculum steering committee for the Oregon Department of Education, winning 1st place in the calculus level of the regional high school mathematics competition, working as an engineering intern at the Pendleton Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Range, becoming team captain of my high school robotics team, and lastly, maintaining a 4.52 GPA (on track to become valedictorian of my high school graduating class). I will always need to put in extra effort to compensate for my struggles in verbal and nonverbal communications. However, I also have learned to lean into my strengths. I have chosen to pursue a career as an Agricultural Robotics Engineer and to help farmers to use robotics to increase efficiencies to continue to feed the growing population. I have seen firsthand the work that our farmers give day in and day out to provide food for our country. I will give our farmers the tools that they need today to meet the demands of tomorrow. By majoring in Computer Science and with a minor in Agricultural Entrepreneurship, I will build a strong foundation for this career path. I have chosen Eastern Oregon University because of its intimate classroom settings, professor availability, and endless opportunities for traveling off-campus to gain real world practical experience and dive into cutting edge research. The combination of these factors will help me to succeed as a unique individual with autism spectrum disorder. Those administrators that expelled 4-year-old me from preschool so long ago could only see a problem child. They did not take the time to get to know or understand me. Their solution was exclusion. Through education and hard work, I have freed myself from expectations that I never chose. Now, I get to show them what I can do!