COLLECTION NAME:
Graduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
Walking with Grace
Creator:
Utomo, Grace
Subject:
Thesis (M.F.A.) -- Writing
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Writing
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
“I was hit by a car when I was a twenty-three-year-old violinist. Doctors predicted my severe traumatic brain injury, two strokes, and internal injuries would end my life that night. Instead of portraying these events via a traditional memoir, I’ve written an episodic work that captures scenes from my post-accident life and questions what it means to heal and show grace. Walking with Grace focuses on the period after my accident when I developed apparently undiagnosable seizures. A neuroscientist at Stanford University claimed the seizures were psychogenic since I’d recovered without psychotherapy. This was a misdiagnosis, but it confined me to my house for four years. While my faith and family were stretched to the breaking point during this time, eventually we built a life that didn’t depend on others’ opinions. The thesis begins in 2016 when I permanently lost the ability to play violin through a hand injury. The narrative concludes in 2020 when I discover I can play the piano one-handed. This construction uses music to question if my emotional recovery occurred through willpower, or if it happened gradually as I acknowledged my feelings of loss and learned to embrace a new beginning through music and faith.” --Abstract
Keywords: grace, faith, accident, music, recovery, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury.
Keywords: grace, faith, accident, music, recovery, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury.
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design (eLearning)
Date:
2022-05
Format:
1 online resource: 1 PDF (Thesis, 88 pages)