Kelsey Linnartz: Part Two

Student Wrestles With and Overcomes Learning Disability

by Lucy Worley

December 6, 2016

Last week we started sharing the story of former TTUISD student, Kelsey Linnartz, whose family moved to Italy her sophomore year in high school. Through the experience of living abroad and consequently taking classes online, Kelsey realized that she had a learning disability.

Diagnosed with ADD and a learning impairment in math, Kelsey ended up learning a lot more about herself than she anticipated when she first left for Italy.

”If I had not been enrolled in TTUISD, I might not ever have discovered I had a learning disability. I had previously been able to slide through the cracks in big classroom settings, but as soon as I started my online courses, I knew I could not do that anymore. I wanted to just blame it on the curriculum, but my little sister was also using TTUISD and was excelling in those very same courses, so that is when I realized I might be struggling for a different reason,” Kelsey said.

Once Kelsey was able to come to this realization and embrace the fact that she was going to have to learn in a different way than those around her, she started to see progress.

”TTUISD put me under a microscope, in a good way. It put me in a situation where I had to take ownership of my education. But even more than that, it gave me a chance to be human. At my school back in Texas, I had the reputation of being the girl whose life was always put together, who was always upbeat and bubbly. Struggling academically did not fit into that identity, so being away from my school on the other end of the world really took that pressure off me.”

Kelsey's parents hired tutors from the local university in Bologna to come over once a week and Mrs. Linnartz started to structure Kelsey's days more rigorously. All of this helped but ultimately the real help came after the Linnartz Family moved back to the states later that year. Kelsey began seeing a counselor her junior year and learned ways to operate and thrive with her disabilities. She admits that was a hard first step to take, but it has proven to be worth it.

”During my last year of high school, I was able to implement the tools I learned in counseling. This put me in a much better place academically before starting college.” Now a sophomore at Texas Tech, Kelsey looks back to her time in TTUISD and recognizes the weight of what she learned in that season of life.

”As a TTUISD student, I learned what was realistic for me and how to plan accordingly. If I had not learned that then, I would be struggling in college now. For example, I know I do not work well under pressure, so I can not procrastinate. When a professor hands out an assignment in class, I know I am responsible to make sure it gets completed on a timeline that is reasonable for me. That is not something I think a lot of students realize going into college, but thanks to my experience with TTUISD, I am much more self-aware.”

Texas Tech has proven to offer exemplary assistance with her disabilities. Kelsey uses Texas Tech University Disabilities Services where she gets extended times for exams, someone to help her take notes in class and even has access to a testing center for a more relaxed atmosphere to take tests in.

When we asked Kelsey why she seems so comfortable talking about her learning disabilities, a subject that a lot of students approach as a taboo topic, she responded, “Finding out I had a learning disability finally gave me permission to not be okay, which I think is so important when you are struggling with something like this. It's important for students to know that being vulnerable and honest is the best way to move forward. Hiding and not asking for help when you need it is never the way to reach your goals.”

A large misconception about learning disabilities is that they are linked to intelligence, which is rarely true. Once students can push past this stigma, they often find themselves surrounded with resources that make a world of difference.

Kelsey shared that through her experiences, she has learned that a significant number of people suffer from learning disabilities but few ever speak up. Kelsey's hope is that in sharing her own story, it would encourage others to be brave enough to do the same.

Moving forward, Kelsey dreams of running her own nonprofit clothing line. Inspired partially by the fashion scene she experienced in London and Paris, but mainly from her desire to make a difference in others' lives, which is something she may not realize she is already doing.