This neuroscientific information has assisted in uncovering the private worlds of a significant numberEndnote 22 of first-year composition students who have experienced trauma sufficient for them to develop PTSD—whether or not they sought or obtained the diagnosis. Because adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to trauma, even fresh-faced eighteen year-olds may bring unspeakable losses with them to college, losses which may leave them with a more reactive startle response and a faster SNS arousal speed for the remainder of their lives. When faced with reminders of their trauma, the distressing arousal symptoms may instigate avoidance behaviors. However, those who have been traumatized are more attracted, consciously or not, to environmental stimuli with features resembling features of their traumatic events. This attentional bias for trauma-related stimuli also makes it difficult to attend to other features in the environment that can help them to distinguish current events from past, traumatic events—or that they may have to learn to achieve their literacy goals.