🧠 Psychology Is My Second Language

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🧠 Psychology Is My Second Language

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what intelligence actually means.

Miranda told me the other day that she thinks I’m really smart — and honestly, I didn’t know how to take that at first. My brain immediately went, "But I can’t do half the stuff I used to in college," and it spiraled into that familiar self-doubt pit. I have a degree in electrical engineering, yeah, but after everything I’ve been through — the trauma, the suicide attempt, the depression — sometimes I feel like I lost parts of myself in the aftermath. Like those four minutes changed my brain.

But then I remembered something important.

When Miranda was taking her vet assistant classes, she used to bring her homework to work. And you know what? She asked me to help her. Psychology, biology — she trusted me with it. And I didn’t just stumble through it — I understood it. Psychology came naturally to me because I’ve been living it. Between therapy, psychiatry appointments, self-reflection, and this blog, I realized something:

Psychology is my second language.

I may not always feel academically sharp in the traditional sense anymore, but my brain is fluent in real-life emotional intelligence. I speak trauma recovery. I translate coping skills. I know the dialects of burnout, identity, survival, and healing. That’s not something you forget. That’s something you earn.

So no — I haven’t lost my intelligence.

It’s shifted.

I’m not just capable of remembering facts from a textbook. I’m capable of understanding people — myself included. And maybe that matters even more right now.

If you’re reading this and doubting your own mind, I want to remind you: you’re not broken — you’re rebuilding. And you’re allowed to redefine what smart looks like for you.

I’m doing it, one day at a time. And I’m proud of that.

– Caleb

Still smart. Still here. Still learning.

✒️ Written by Caleb P.
Creator of Chronicles of a Quiet Fighter
Neurodivergent. Survivor. Storyteller.
Fighting quietly, healing loudly.

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