In this portfolio, you are able to explore my growth through the FIQWS course through my essays and assignments which show my personal looks on my own life experience, healthcare narratives, and literary works. 

My favorite assignment in this course was definitely the most tedious and difficult to write: the research project. In this paper, I took a deep look into the practice of physician assisted suicide and how society’s behavior and outlook towards older individuals can lead to serious dangers that play into it. This essay garnered a lot of comments from my classmates and professor, and definitely required a heavy amount of revising to come to the state that it is now; I hope you enjoy it – however imperfect it may be. This assignment (and its many parts), along with my outsider narrative, metaphor, and critical lens essays are visible on this website. I did find it easier than many of my classmates, however, to find sources that related to my topic, and I think that this can largely be attributed to how prevalent of an issue it is, how it is related to common psychology research, and how I tried to maintain a broad scope regarding which kinds of references I decided to include (research papers, perspective pieces, personal narratives, and websites defining certain phenomena). 

In my outsider narrative essay, I discuss what it felt like to grapple with imposter syndrome and fear of inadequacy in an academic setting as I prepared to present a research project at a competition. This experience is one I am sure most people can relate to to some degree, and I found it very difficult to try to fully develop an image of my physical setting and thoughts during my experience. I hope that any space left to the imagination allows the readers to apply their own experience onto it and connect with me as they read. 

If I were to offer any advice to anyone taking this course in the future, I would most certainly recommend to only write about things that interest you; sometimes, you may find yourself struggling to fully commit yourself to an assignment because you are uninterested, but looking deeply into the intricacies of a passage you are reading or a personal interest can always bring you that drive. Another tip I would recommend is to focus on individual paragraphs in works that you struggle to understand or conceptualize. This will allow you to think very critically on one, honed in, topic, and develop some strong ideas about it. 

My metaphor essay was one of the most fun to write; I focused on the metaphor of Dracula and vampires when it comes to anatomical, economic, and political corruption. I refer to Kyle “Guante” Mhyre’s “To Throw a Wrench in the Blood Machine,” which I think is an impeccably written, fascinating, and impactful short story that I would definitely recommend to any readers. I also refer to Eula Biss’ On Immunity, which takes a really interesting and unique look on vaccination and associated social trends. If you’re into horror, this paper might be of the most interest to you, with lines such as “Dracula is depicted “arriv[ing] on a boat,” “summoning hoardes of rats,” and “particularly terrifying,” and “To start off, the “blood machine,” refers to a Dracula who is on a “reign of terror,” “tak[ing] control of the village’s resources, its watchmen and bureaucratic machinery, creating a system that will more efficiently identify victims and supply him with fresh blood,”  being included.

My critical lens essay was particularly thought-provoking to write and demanded that I take on a different perspective (that of Arthur W. Frank’s “Chaos Narrative”) as I explored a film I first watched in middle school, Five Feet Apart. 

I hope that my comments and writings are of interest to you and are thought-provoking. Thank you for reading and all the best,

Nicole!