Daylan's Advice for Transition

(soft music) - My name is Daylan Bachik. I graduated in May, 2018. My favorite class in high school was actually probably it's tied between English and and math because I had my two favorite teachers in there. And also the students were great in there and it was just a great atmosphere in those two classes. So those were my two co favorites and we just really connected together and along with the other students as well. And we just, we always had smiles on our faces when we walk into those classes. After I graduated high school, I wanted to kind of work more and I decided to go volunteer at an elementary school in my hometown at an inclusionary elementary pre-K classroom. So my first day I got there, I was working with them and that's when I knew from day one, this is what I wanna do for the rest of my life. I'm wanting to become a direct support paraprofessional or teacher's aide at an inclusionary elementary classroom, either here in Call Station or back in my hometown in Waco. I like working with young children 'cause I just love seeing their, I just like watching them succeed and also watching their self confidence improve as well. And also love seeing their light bulb go off in their head whenever they get something right. And I also like being a good role model to them. So one of the big challenges that I've had in life and how I overcame it was, it has personally been my short-term memory and also a little bit of autism. Oh, my greatest accomplishments have been graduating high school with my diploma and also getting into the this PATHS program at Texas A&M finally becoming a student at Texas A&M. I was almost 17, I started attending classes at Central Texas Driving School in Waco, Texas. I took some written tests and also some driving tests out on the road. And I did great on those. And I felt the more times I was driving at that driving school, the more comfortable I felt, especially when I got out on the highway. And that's when I really started feeling comfortable on the road and eventually when I took the real test, I did really well. I passed the first time. I was a little nervous moving away from family because it was gonna be my first time living on my own away from my family. But that was also a great opportunity because that's what I can practice my own independent living skills and has really paid off. How I navigate to negative is just telling myself that, okay, it's not the end of the world. And I just need to keep advocating for myself to different people 'cause there's always, it's gonna understand me and they'll be willing to help. I just don't give up on asking. Sometimes it takes me a couple of weeks to get to know people, but once I do get to know people, I really click with them. I'm easy to get along with. It just sometimes takes me a little bit. I would just tell myself to just be Daylan and just be myself and just always never give up on my dreams. And just to know that there's light at the end of the tunnel. Even in a hard times just know that always speak up, always ask for help if you're stuck in the mud 'cause there's always gonna be people out there that will be supporting you and wanting you to succeed. So just don't be afraid to ask for help and never give up on your dreams. I just want to thank y'all for having me here today. (soft music)