John Coleman, Class of 2018

 

John Coleman attended Montgomery County Community College after graduating from DVFriends. He transferred to Millersville University in 2020-21 to complete his degree in Music Technology. An avid musician, John has also been busy creating original music and released his first album in January 2020 titled Whinter Seezyn, which can be found at https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/frostbyt3/whinter-seezyn. John says the songs on Whinter Seezyn are about growing up -- the transition from being a kid with a lot of freedom and creativity to be your self and explore to getting older when your decisions have more serious consequences and you have to deal with people being more critical and sometimes negative about your ideas. John also designs the merchandise that goes along with his music.

 

After completing his degree, John sees himself working in a studio environment helping to produce music in many different genres. He loves songwriting and will continue to create original material, but he would also like to provide creative and technical support to help others bring their songs to life.

 

In 2020, John wrote the music that plays under the DVFriends video found on the About page of this website.

I came to DVFriends in 9th Grade and came from a public high school.

My ADHD made it hard for me to focus, especially in the classroom environment in my public school that had a lot of kids. I wasn’t able to get the attention I needed from the teachers and often I was not able to get my questions answered, and therefore, I fell behind in class. I also have Tourette’s, and that definitely made me feel like an outcast in public school. I was picked on, and at that time I hadn’t even been diagnosed with Tourette’s so I didn’t really understand what was happening.

It was much easier at DV. With smaller classes, it was easier to get my questions answered, and the teachers at DV made time for me during and after class for extra help when I needed it. The students and faculty at DV were also more accepting of my Tourette’s. Everyone at DV has an LD, so it didn’t seem so unusual. Everyone at DV was very welcoming and understanding.

The two-column note system I learned at DV helped me take notes in a more organized way. I still use two-column notes in college. I also appreciated the accommodations I was able to get at DV for exams, such as extra time and isolation. DV teachers really understood and supported my learning style.

Definitely the musicals. It was so much fun to be able to both act in and write music for the musical productions. I loved music class with Tim Simmons -- his perky nature helped keep me engaged -- and I enjoyed science with Sandy Clayton. I got the chance to play Ultimate Frisbee at DVFriends. I don’t consider myself an athletic person, but Jalal encouraged me to play on the team and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes I still play frisbee with friends on campus at college. I appreciated the way that teachers like Jalal were so understanding and allowed me to figure out how to balance musical rehearsals and athletics so that I could do both and not have to give up anything.

The friendships that you make, the connections with the teachers, and also learning from one another. At DV I learned that LD is not just ADHD -- there’s a whole spectrum of learning differences that people are living with. I learned a lot about myself also at DV -- about how I learn and how I think. And, I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Meeting for Worship. Like a lot of my classmates, I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but now I miss the opportunity for peace and calm that those times of silence provided.