posted 1 hour ago
My name is Andy Warrick, 26 years old. Currently studying marine studies as a graduate student at Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center (specifically the Marine Mammal Graduate Certificate). Hobbies include swimming, diving, reading, writing, some computer games, wildlife viewing, hiking, dog walks, fishing, Frisbee, golf, bowling, art, music, movies, television, and anything involving the outdoors, in general. I pretty much like and am open to everything except for huge, very loud parties and techno-pop related stuff. Parties are fine as long as they are small and give me the chance to meet new people! Farm-wise, my parents own a small grove of tomatoes and green beans, and I was a volunteer for several years at the OSU Organic Growers Club, which has given me useful experience in farm-related work. Anyone with fruits or vegetables would find me a useful hand!
I am located in Newport, Oregon, and can comfortably date within a radius of 70 miles (though I am willing to look into those farther away than this, as I do hope to eventually move to another town on the West Coast). Straight, so women only please. Age range is ideally 18-35, but I am willing to consider those older than this. I want kids at some point, and am willing to date someone who would rather adopt or who already has kids.
Dating and relationships are a part of my life that have brought great pain and sorrow - with severe tolls on my mental and physical health. Countless times, I have tried to start relationships with people, only to have them shun me and no longer want me to be part of the social scene. Many people that I have tried to befriend or date have simply stopped talking to me with minimal explanation upon realizing I am "autistic" (I have ADHD and Asperger's, which give me mild trouble with finding things to say quickly or coming up with clever phrases, so I appear socially awkward) and never spoke to me again. While my autism does cause me mild trouble sometimes, I can easily make conversation almost as well as most people, I simply may not come off as exceptionally giggly or talkative. Yet most girls I hoped to start relationships with have judged me simply by this - one even told me after being friendly to me at first that she didn't want to be around "autistic freaks" like me. In general, most people, boys and girls, in my first year at college seemed to give me the cold shoulder, and I lost so much social skills in the process that for the first year of college I could barely make good conversation with anyone aside from my closest friends and family.
Fortunately, my social life has improved since then, and I have some friends, but I still feel incredibly lonely. Although a few of the girls I briefly dated in the past do continue to view me as a friends, I want to be part of something deeper and more personal - I want become part of someone's life, to be able to I feel like I am contributing to their life in a positive way and be able to experience my own life in a more wholesome and fun way. To have people look only at how uppity or talkative I seem and never give me a chance to show my talent to them or let me express just how much I can do for them has made me feel like I am a total waste of life. I feel I am not being appreciated for who I am - people seemingly never give me the chance to show what I can be and do for them, rather choosing to judge me solely on sociability - and it breaks my heart like nothing else.
I want to be judged not by my sociability or how talkative I am, but by what I am willing to do for others. I want to help and support others in times of need, and make their lives more interesting and meaningful. I want to be able to rely on someone for support and have them rely on me in turn. I want to be able to find my literal better half - someone whom I can trust and appreciates what talents I have and looks past my flaws. I want to be able to learn more about myself through a relationship with someone - and help improve my skills in turn, along with theirs. And finally, I want both of us to be able to live as fun and wholesome of a life as possible - to be able to experience the wonders and joys of the world together, to have adventures, and to better each other's existence.
I simply want to enjoy what billions of others have already enjoyed before me - the happiness and joy brought on by having a life partner and children with which to experience the adventures of life with. To see virtually everyone else in my family have these already makes me feel completely left out and a failure, in addition to feeling downright inferior to them. All I am hoping is for that to change - for me to be given the chance to show someone that I can better their life and help them lead a meaningful existence.
All I hope of whomever reads this is that you understand the depth of what I am trying to convey, because this is just about as heartfelt of an expression as I have ever been to my close friends and family. Thank you.
