Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
This chapbook is a collection of medical narratives. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease as a teenager, suddenly forced to navigate numerous medical procedures and professionals who made me feel like I had done something wrong. The trauma from those experiences weighed me down for decades, impacting my self-esteem and preventing me from adequately advocating for myself in medical settings. I was introduced to Poetry and Medicine when I chose to take the course to fulfill an Honors credit, and it provided me with an outlet to share my experience in the form of short stories and prose. The process of writing this collection was profoundly cathartic for me, allowing me to externalize those memories, process them, and move on more than I was ever able to previously. My hope is that folks will read the collection and realize that they are not alone in living through medical trauma. Perhaps they too will feel inspired and choose to write their stories. I certainly feel less isolated, knowing that the pain I had been holding secretly inside of myself now has a purpose in the world, no longer a shameful part of me but instead a tool for healing.