Today I earned my second stripe! I’m so excited and proud of this, because we hadn’t done stripes since my original instructor left in June. He gave me my first stripe in April (an “attendance stripe”) and I wasn’t due for another one yet when he did his farewell belt promotions. Our new Checkmat instructors came in August, and these were the first promotions they held. It’s so encouraging to be told that yes, I am learning things and successfully demonstrating them in a sport that is so very difficult for my neurotype to wrangle. This February will also be my one-year anniversary since starting BJJ, and while I know that stripes/promotions are not a race, for once I actually feel like I’m keeping up.