By Mackynlie Conklin | Coming to a university is difficult and exciting enough, but for one of Howard Payne University’s student in particular, it presents additional challenges.
Micah McDowell, a 21-year-old senior majoring in history said that Proverbs 3:5-6 is a strong influence in his own life.
“The thing is I leaned on my understanding for the longest time with my autism, and I’m sure I will at times in the future in certain cases, instead of trusting God. In recent years, I finally realized God is omniscient–all-knowing–and I’m not,” added McDowell.
“God made me the way exactly as He intended me to be. I can’t wait to see how God uses me after I graduate. I hope I can be an inspiration to autistic people and show that people with autism can finish college.”
McDowell was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, which was previously known as pervasive developmental disorder.
“Autism is an umbrella,” said McDowell, “and I’m at the very tip of it. I want to explain to others how I feel, but it’s hard. It is hard to express in words. It can be very frustrating at times. You can think, ‘Why me?’ You wish you could be any other person in the world.”
Coming to college for McDowell was a battle, but also a fresh start. McDowell added that the biggest thing for him is starting relationships with other people.
“But there is always that fear of ‘what if they don’t like me or what if they don’t accept me?’ Once I let people in, I become more open. I bring up to people that I have autism because I want to know if they could’ve guessed it. I want to be different, but sometimes I’m not,” said McDowell.
Clay Wicklein, a junior majoring in accounting, has been friends with McDowell since the 2019 fall semester, when they both transferred in. Wicklein knows McDowell’s social interactions can be difficult and painfully awkward for him sometimes. However, he doesn’t let this stop him from pursuing friendships.
“A lot of people with difficulties like his will give up and stay in their rooms. Micah, on the other hand, still goes to social events and was a part of the Hub Community Group for a while. He has kind of used humor to laugh at himself and the situations he gets into sometimes because of his autism, not taking anything or himself too seriously,” added Wicklein.
Joshua Snow, director of student activities, is one of Micah’s cousins. Snow said that Micah is consistently a bearer of the Lord’s light. One example is how Micah uses social media to bring encouragement.
“It seems everything he posts is super encouraging like, ‘hey, how can I pray for you?’ Unfortunately, though, a lot of information on social media is not positive.
“I feel like Micah has constantly been a light on there. Micah is who he is. His genuine spirit comes out when you are around him. That’s who Micah has always been, more so as he is in college,” said Snow.
Wicklein says that Micah loves the Lord very much, and is a committed student.
“He is extremely dedicated to school work and classes. He works even harder than I do. Also, he is very kind and thoughtful, and has a very distinctive sense of humor,” said Wicklein.
McDowell is nearly a month away from graduating with his undergraduate degree, and he already has his associate’s degree. God continues to use McDowell as an inspiration and encouragement to everyone.
“I heard a statistic that four out of five people do not graduate from college with autism, and I feel like I’m breaking that stereotype with autism, and I’m proud of that,” said McDowell.