Born on a Month of My Identity

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Emmanuel chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

October is a time when you think about Halloween and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  But, what many don’t think about is Italian American Heritage Month and ADHD Awareness Month. I happen to be born in a month that represents 2 parts of my identity: I am Italian-American, and I also have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, also known as ADHD. To start, I’m proud of being an Italian American. I am proud because I enjoy spending time with my family, eating a lot, and listening to Italian music. But with ADHD, I do have challenges and struggles, but I feel like it represents part of my identity because I think it’s responsible for my spontaneous, funny, quirky, outgoing behavior. And why I am known as a “certified yapper” and “flappy” in my family.

Growing up, I would listen to Lou Monte, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima, Andrea Bocelli, and Pavarotti.  My favorite songs included Peppino the Italian Mouse and Lazy Mary by Lou Monte, Con te Partiroby Andrea Bocelli, and That’s Amore by Dean Martin. When I was a child, I would go to my Nana’s house to have Sunday dinners. My nana would cook pasta and broccoli, spaghetti and meatballs, Italian sausage, and pizzelles. We also would stay at her house until after midnight on Christmas Eve (when many kids would still be asleep) and have ravioli on Thanksgiving. But, my Nana passed away when I was 13. We still maintain the traditions of having Ravioli on Thanksgiving and late-night Christmas Eve, but we haven’t celebrated birthday parties and have our Italian breakfasts outside. When we were kids, we would go over to my nana’s house to celebrate our birthdays with either take-out or my Nana’s homemade cooking. For our Italian breakfasts, my mom would pick up Scali Bread from the Farmer’s Market, and coffee from Dunkin for my Nana. I remember trying Italian Sweet Cream coffee creamer, which, back then, I didn’t really like. But now, since I am a coffee head, I can handle the taste. 

On the other hand, though, I have ADHD. I do have high-functioning autism, but I feel like my ADHD has been overlapping with that. Why? Because I have the typical struggle of interrupting others, not waiting my turn, always wanting to go out, losing track of spending, making impulsive decisions, and forgetting to respond to text messages, emails, and/or deadlines. I know that I have real ADHD because I wish I didn’t have it and could feel insecure about it, despite being a secure person. Unfortunately, I do know that people say they have ADHD, but they end up lying to use it as an excuse to avoid doing homework. But I know that the struggle is real. This is why you haven’t heard from me as much on HerCampus because I juggled with what needs to get done, and my mind is all over the place. Believe it or not, I used to be a complete introvert as a child, especially during my preteen years. But as I got older, I became more talkative about that inattentive diagnosis I got when I was in middle school. I would follow rules in school, but I would enjoy talking to my peers and making them laugh. I would have impulses to pull my phone out during classes in High School, and multitasking with other assignments during classes, especially in college, or surfing the web when I am supposed to be doing my homework. 

Overall, I am proud to be born in October. I’m not going to lie; I was aggravated when I was one of the older kids in my grade, especially during my senior year of High School (when I was 18, the adult age, for the majority of the school year, when many of my peers were 17). But looking back, I will not think of October as just my birthday month, but also Italian American and ADHD awareness month. I miss having the Italian Breakfasts and the Sunday birthday dinners, and I know my Nana would have loved me to continue that. But I know someday I can continue those traditions, despite them not being at her house anymore.