Dr Christian Perrin, Criminal Psychologist, Session 1 (Life a a Criminal Psychologist).

Before I had walked into the classroom, I thought I knew what I would see. Years of TV and media exposure had led me to believe that a criminal psychologist would be all done-up and proper. Like when you walk into a room and you can feel the calming yet controlling presence in the air. Something scary like that. And in a way, when I actually did walk into that classroom, I did feel that calming yet controlling presence in the air, just because I thought I would. But when I saw his casual yet professional demeanour, I knew that TV had led me awry once again. Throughout his presentation, I had stopped listening from time to time, to wonder about what he was doing at that moment. Is he analysing us right now? Is that skill something he can just turn on and off at will? I’m hungry. Does he have Patrick Jane-esque friends? I was fascinated by his profession. Personally, interacting with criminals had always interested me. Knowing how they think, in what they believe, why they would do what they did. In relation to writing a piece on his presentation, I was thinking of an opinion piece on his stance on the justice system, or a feature on how he went from flunking computer science to a career in criminal psychology.

 

Pauline Markey, Primary School Principal, Session 2 (Fostering Children – When Things Don’t Work Out).

When Ms Markey was telling her story, my mind couldn’t properly process the emotions she was sharing, as I had rarely experienced anything nearly as tragic as what she had gone through. I understood the sadness associated, I recognised the frustration she had, but I could never fully wrap my head around it. After the session, the idea that even though something worked out for someone, it might not always work out. Even if there’s a 90% success rate, you still have a chance to be that 10%. The main angle I’m considering for this piece is a feature of her story and how she tried to overcome the challenges, but ultimately failing; not all challenges are destined to be conquered.

 

__________, __________, Session 1 (Cancer Survivor and a Bumpy Road to Parenthood).

For most people, surviving cancer would mean the worst had already passed. But when ____ told her story, she made cancer seem like a tiny obstacle in her path towards this exact moment. (will continue when can listen to recording)

 

Ella Joicey, Student, Session 2 (Diagnosed with an Invisible Disability).

(Had already started on a proper piece)

Ella Joicey, an 11th Grader at UWCSEA East Campus, is on the road to recovery from ulcerative colitis. She started feeling her symptoms towards the end of 8th Grade, thinking that lethargy and weight loss was common for girls at her age. She did not seek nor receive any help until her parents noticed that something was wrong the following summer, which began the gruelling process of getting diagnosed. It took five months of flying back and forth between Myanmar (where they resided) and Bangkok (where the hospital was) to get a proper diagnosis: ulcerative colitis. A disease which causes long-term sores and ulcers in the digestive lining of your large intestine and rectum. Treatment took two years of more flying back and forth between Myanmar and Bangkok, taking pills and getting checkups. She left every Friday night, and came back every Sunday night, so as to not miss school.

But she did miss school, in her own way.

Ella had disappeared from the yearbooks, as she could never attend the school events. She missed out on parties and hanging out with friends. She was restricted to the confines of her own home, desperate to experience the outside world, but knowing that she was too weak. She was trapped.

Throughout her recollection of her memories, there is this theme of hiding her disease from the rest of the world. She didn’t tell any of her friends. She didn’t seek special treatment from teachers. She wanted to be treated as nothing had happened at all. Whilst listening to her story, I thought that this theme had stemmed from a denial of anything bad happening to her at all, but when I asked her about her ‘desire to be normal’, her answer made me realise it was something much simpler: “But don’t you wanna feel normal? Don’t you wanna feel like you’re everybody else, you wanna fit in right? You don’t want to be the weird kid who has to go- who has the stomach problem. Like… no one wants that.” She continues on about how she doesn’t want to receive special treatment or be looked at differently. She just wants to be the same, to fit in. To not be looked down on with pity. That’s why she disliked it when her teachers treated her softer than the other students. Why she didn’t want to tell her friends. She just wanted to appear normal, like everybody else.

 

Graham Rawle, Author.