Void LaGro Advocates for Mental Health and Identity

By last December, Berthoud High School senior Void LaGro had earned all the required credits to graduate. Now they are enjoying being able to look back and appreciate all the challenges they have overcome to get to graduation.

“Mental health has always been my biggest struggle,” Void says, recalling their autism diagnosis and mental health crisis freshman year, which led to a 504 plan that was life-changing for Void.

“Your mind is just as important as your physical health. If you don’t take care of your mental health, you get isolated.”

Void says they always felt like perhaps their brain worked a little differently than many of their classmates. Still, it wasn’t until a therapist took them seriously and listened to their concerns that Void could believe in their own abilities and talents.

“Once I got that diagnosis, I stopped holding myself back because of certain beliefs about myself,” Void says. “I took honors English and some college classes. A lot of it stemmed from being able to take classes I would enjoy.”

Taking more difficult classes has been a huge step for Void, who once cared very little about their grades and more about what people thought of them. After Void started learning about the things holding them back, it was easier for them to advocate for themselves. That led to a more positive educational experience.

“I had to do summer school freshman year because I was doing so bad,” Void recalls. “My sophomore year, I got diagnosed with autism, and immediately my grades shot up. I got my first academic letter.”

Void LaGro Builds Confidence Through Self-Discovery

After that, Void found some confidence for the first time in a while and realized they were capable of doing much more than they had imagined. Another big step for Void was learning more about who they are and how they had been affected by their life experiences, including wrestling with gender identity feelings and being the victim of a hate crime.

“High school is hard enough as it is. I don’t feel like gender is something we should tack onto it,” Void says. “Gender is a spectrum; you can be whatever you feel comfortable in.”

Fortunately, Void found supportive people — including the staff at BHS — who made them feel more secure and comfortable. Another thing that helped was regularly attending therapy. Void said they have learned to take their personal therapy very seriously, which has taught them a lot about setting and attaining goals. Now Void is working multiple jobs, including working at Subway and maintaining their own YouTube channel, and is hoping to go to college to study psychology, with the goal of using some of their own experiences with trauma to help others.

“There are a bunch of things that have happened to me, but people are shaped by their experiences,” Void says. “You are both who you were born as and what your experiences do to you. If you get help, it’s easy to overcome things.”