Shattered Moments: The Fall  from  My  30-‐Foot  Pedestal

Part One of my final project consists of a series of creative non-fiction stories detailing a traumatic accident I experienced in 2009. The stories examine my physical and emotional recovery. I have also written stories about my strongest childhood memories to explore the events that helped shape the beliefs I held at the time of my accident. The stories are not linear, but span from my childhood to the three years following my accident. Through these stories, I hope to contribute to greater conversations about trauma, emerging adulthood, and identity— particularly among young people. Part Two of the project analyzes the question of trauma and the necessity of narrative following trauma. I break this section of the project into three short essays addressing different aspects of trauma and narrative: a history of trauma, the need for memoir, and posttraumatic growth. I reference three larger works within these essays and relate the authors ’ arguments and theories to my traumatic experience and to the process of writing my stories. In addition to these written parts, I include personal photographs throughout the project. These pictures, like my stories, are not linear. They are visual pieces of my shattered life puzzle, showing me before and after my fall from the 30-foot pedestal I’d created for myself. B