Jennifer Shirley wrote a book of poems and photographs as her senior project to cope with PTSD from losing her brother. Her research paper focused on how literature can be used as a therapy tool, relating to how her poems serve as her own therapy. She overcame obstacles in publishing her book, including accepting others would read her intimate thoughts. While her topic related to psychology, she discovered she wouldn't enjoy bringing work home, so plans to study physical therapy instead while continuing writing.

1. 1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
April 12, 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
Dear Judges:
My name is Jennifer Shirley and as a senior here at Creekview High School I am
excited to continue my education in post secondary school. I will be attending Western
Carolina University in the fall. My goal is to pursue a degree in psychology in order to
make a difference in the lives of others. With that career in mind I chose to publish my
book as my product. I chose to publish my book as a way to cope with my own Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder that came about from the loss of my brother in 2004.
My book, “The Rest is Still Unwritten”, is a collection of poems and photographs
that I have written and taken. My research paper focuses on how literature is used as a
therapy tool. This relates to my product because my poems are my own therapy tools to
cope with my grief, anxiety, and depression. From my research I learned that literature
used as therapy has a specific name which is bibliotherapy. Also, poetry therapy is a
specific type of bibliotherapy. I overcame many obstacles within publishing my product.
I ran into several obstacles while publishing my book. The major obstacle that I
overcame was accepting that other people were going to read my poems which are my
inner most thoughts and feelings.
My topic is how literature can be used as a therapy tool and that is what I wrote
my research paper on. My topic directly relates to a career in psychology. I have also
discovered that I do not want to pursue a career in the field. I have found that I would
have a difficult time leaving my work at work, but I would still like to be able to work in
a field where I directly improve a person’s well being. With that in mind I have decided
to pursue a career in physical therapy, but I still want to keep up with my writing.
Overall, I feel like senior projects are very beneficial. They are a lot of work, and
are very time consuming, but I feel like I have learned a lot about myself and my future.
Thank you so much for your time.
Sincerely,
Jennifer A. Shirley