Too Enthusiastic?

Seeking Advice

Long story short people are mad at me for “raising my hand too much” but no one else will step up. I think I do way too much invisible leadership as an autistic woman. (Idk if invisible leadership a term or not but I think it perfectly describes what’s happening)

My high school was ideal and trained me very well socially. It wasn’t just the examples of professionalism set before me but the support and encouragement my classmates and I all gave each other. I was very fortunate. It was also a traditionally all girls school. Basically that means my classmates were majority girls with a few exceptions of trans and NB individuals. Because of this, I’m used to a more supportive, confident, and enthusiastic academic environment. Even when we were tired, there was a sense to me that everyone wanted to be there. Not in college. Somehow, no matter how overstimulated I am, I always end up being a group leader. No matter how bad I feel, I always want to try my best. I’ve had very bad periods of poor mental health and I want to enjoy the environments that I’m enjoying. It’s not like I step up because I want to be in charge. I step up because the environment feels toxic and depressing. I end up being the one because otherwise nothing gets done. I play it by ear every time and nothing changes. I encourage other people to step up, too. My friends, the people who sit next to me who I get more of a chance to talk to, who are coincidentally girls now that I think about it, tell me they appreciate it. I don’t just get myself participation points, I help and encourage the people around me, too. Why is it always me? I was a little annoyed but I would brush it off. It paid off sometimes, not in grades I don’t care about grades (I should it’s a character flaw), but in appreciation and seeing that I could help. But now I don’t want to help these people. I think a lot of people in my class actually hate me because of this. My teacher loves my effort, I asked her. But I’ve heard from people (unprompted) that people are annoyed, specifically because I raise my hand too much. They give me no further reason. That’s all I get. They don’t recognize all that I try to do. They don’t think about all that I’m experiencing. I try to see these things in other people but they don’t and they don’t care. After examining this I really think that part of this is me being a confident and knowledgeable woman. Why does no one else care? Is there a specific way I could be raising my hand wrong?

Posted Dec 10, 2025, 3:01 PM UTC

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