#facultyprofile

From Struggles to Success-The Story of Tim O’Donoghue 

We all have struggles in school. Especially when we are starting off in a new school with new teachers and new ways of teaching. Some of the hardships we all face include getting to classes on time, making friends, managing school work and many more day to day challenges.  School can be hard for some people, but it could be harder for people with learning disabilities. This was the issue with Mr.  O’Donoghue.  

Massachusetts native O'Donoghue was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age. His energetic nature combined with his unique way of learning always set him apart from the others. With or without dyslexia his brain always worked in a different way. Mr.O’donoghue and his family realized that he needed extra support so he made a scary transition to Darrow. This transition is what he needed to pave the road of success.  

One of Mr.O'donoghue's many struggles at Darrow was being organized. Whenever he had classes he would always have to ask for extensions on his work because he could not keep his papers organized. I know first hand that being organized is not the easiest thing to do. Keeping track of all the papers, on top of projects, assignments, sports commitments and everything else in life is challenging. This was the case for young Mr.O’donoghue. He remembered one time when he struggled with his organization so much that he “ran to Keller’s father full of tears asking him for an extension because [he misplaced [his] papers.”

Even though Mr.O’Donoghue had trouble reading until he was 12 the struggle of trying to learn new languages was still there. In high school Mr.O'Donoghue also never had to take a language. Since he had dyslexia it made it hard to learn languages even if it was English. When his teachers found out about his disability they removed him from doing any language courses. Once he could properly read he made up for all of the years that he had lost in reading. Whenever Mr.O’Donoghue had free time you would always find him reading a book. He said, “Once I could read you would never find me without a book”. 

He spent three tiring and hard years at Darrow and he superbly completed those three years in 2011. Although he might not have learned as fast as the others, he was able to find ways to make things make sense in his own way. In and outside of the classroom, O'donoghue always cut his own path, and he continues to do so today. 

Today you can find Mr.O’donoghue as an AMP mentor,  House Parent, and Coach at Darrow. He helps students who struggle in school just like he did. While returning to his home state he said “I’m excited to land back on the mountainside and assist young learners on their paths of self-discovery.”