Salutatorian Brendan Mulholland conquers the odds of living with ADHD
June 1, 2016
In the beginning of the second semester, senior Brendan Mulholland learned that his hard work finally paid off. All of the hours spent on studying to ace that test, all of the hours spent on homework to understand the course, and all of the hours in extracurricular activities finally paid off. He reached the part of success in life in which not many people thought Brendan was capable of as he was growing up.
Brendan Mulholland, ladies and gentlemen, received the incredible honor of being announced as the Class of 2016 salutatorian. Although the journey was a challenging one, featured with an incredible amount of pressure and stress upon his chest, he succeeded through determination and the support from his loved ones.
“I was going to be content with just being a graduate with distinction,” Brendan said.
And he would have been content with it, but proving those people wrong who claimed he would never be in the top of his class is a huge benefit of being salutatorian. It is a huge honor for Brendan, especially when he has an attention disorder.
“I was diagnosed with ADHD in first grade,” said Brendan.
“I don’t remember exactly how I felt before then,” said Brendan, “but apparently from what people said, I was crazy, inattentive, and never showed how smart I really could be.”
People thought Brendan couldn’t amount to anything because of his ADHD, but Brendan amounted to much more than the average person can. Since his diagnosis, Brendan has been prescribed Adderall to help control his ADHD.
“There is easily a clear difference in the concentration and calmness that I have from when I am medicated to when I am not,” Brendan explained.
As Brendan grew older, the dosage in his medication began to increase, due to the fact of him adjusting to the dosage. Today, Brendan takes 60 mg of Adderall a day, which according to Brendan, is about 12-times the average dosage for the Adderall purchased as a study drug.
Despite the drug keeping Brendan concentrated in class and making sure he remains calm, ADHD has taken some serious side effects in his life. One of these side effects is that he finds it difficult to focus in class from time to time. When Brendan’s ADHD fights with his brain to pay attention to that little squirrel crawling upon the tree branch out the window, it is extremely challenging for him. He finds his brain darting between points of focus and moving objects. He fights against his mind to pay attention. Although it is a challenge, he pushes himself hard enough to achieve.
“I end up having to put my head so close to what I should be focusing on,” Brendan said, “like a test, just to cut those distractions.”
ADHD also affects Brendan’s personal life, weakening his emotional and interpersonal skills. According to Brendan, a lot of people with high spectrum ADHD have those parts of their brain around five years underdeveloped. Because of this, this can lead to many issues with emotional outbursts and the inability to maintain friendships and relationships. This is an extreme challenge for Brendan, that he is continuing to overcome as the days go on.
“[ADHD] is not being able to make real friends and shutting out everything, even eating and drinking for what you are focused on,” Brendan said.
Even though Brendan has this disorder, he refuses to use it as an excuse to be stupid or to not try in his classes. Brendan believes that many people with ADHD use it as an excuse, and this is something that is a foreign object to Brendan. To Brendan, if you try hard enough and if you push yourself hard enough, then you can focus and you can find your way.
As ADHD leads Brendan a challenge of succeeding, it also leads Brendan the challenge to fight against the stereotype painted upon kids with ADHD.
“There is a strong stereotype that kids with ADHD are stupid and will never do anything in society,” Brendan explained. “That is why I try so hard, because I am driven to overcome my stereotype.”
Brendan has overcame his stereotype and continues to overcome his stereotype. As mentioned before, Brendan is a busy kid. As he continues to deal with his ADHD and living life as a regular teenage boy, he continues to spend a lot of his time in going to school, attending various clubs, and going to cross country and wrestling practices. He spends hours in his extracurricular activities, along hours with school work, and long hours of making time for his family.
“In my mind,” said Brendan, “I would always put the time that I had into extracurriculars, use left over time for doing work in my classes, and then at the very end put in time for my home life.”
Brendan manages to balance all of this as he strives with hope, positivity, and from the love of his mother and grandmother. Brendan is truly an extraordinary kid with the power to accomplish anything. He was after all awarded most likely to succeed and most likely to cure a disease for senior royalties. That is a huge accomplishment in itself, especially as a kid who is battling against ADHD.
Through his ADHD, Brendan has managed to form an admiration for Richard Branson. Branson is a business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. It is safe to say that he is a very successful man. Brendan does not only admire Branson for his success, but he admires Branson for the fact that Branson also struggled with ADHD and was placed under that stereotype that he won’t amount to much. For Brendan, it is inspiring to watch a fellow person with ADHD become successful in the field of business and essentially become a millionaire.
“Through strive and determination,” Brendan said, “[he] was able to create one of the largest corporations in the world. Any person who is able to overcome [ADHD], even if they don’t live up to society’s standards, should be praised for that.”
In the fall, Brendan plans to attend Rose Hulman in Terre Haute to major in computer engineering and minor in business. In ten years, he hopes to be running his own technology company and be successful in that field.
It is quite interesting, actually, with how well Brendan is with computers, especially with his ADHD. Computers are difficult to work with. They contain all of this software, and a bundle of wires and program that create the functions of a computer. Since Brendan learned about computers, a fascination grew for them. Brendan believes that there is a strong connection between his fascination and love with computers to his ADHD.
“I always used to think that my brain was running at 100 mph,” Brendan said. “I always felt like I had to slow down my train of thought just to help portray what I was thinking to others. Then I discovered computers, and with them I was able to let my mind go at the speed it wanted to, the computer would always keep up.”
And those computers allowed Brendan to express himself and allowed Brendan to find an outlet for his ADHD. Finally, Brendan found something that he was meant to do. Finally, he could feel free from his ADHD.
Today, Brendan continues to keep a positive outlook on his life and is positive for the future. He is excited to begin college and is excited to begin a career with computers. He is, however, said to leave Bishop Noll in which his four years at Noll were eventful for him.
“I find myself leaving with friends and memories that I would not trade anything to give up,” Brendan said.
But Brendan also knows that there is a whole world out there for him, a whole other world than Noll where he will continue to strive with success.
“The one truth that to succeed,” Brendan said, revealing the bold truth in which how to succeed despite of difficult challenges, “you must only work past how you view yourself.”
Brendan Mulholland, everyone. Class of 2016 salutatorian.