Resistance

It wasn't until I began studying electrical engineering that I could verbalize my experience of anxiety: it felt like a resistor was overheating in my chest. This piece is my attempt to grapple with brain injury and PTSD. At 16, I suffered my 8th concussion and was forced into complete cognitive rest for over 6 months. At the advice of my doctor, I didn't read, look at my phone, watch TV, attend school, or have any conversations longer than several minutes. However, each day I stationary biked for 20 minutes with the goal of both improving blood flow to my brain -- and dissipating the heat in my chest. The brain is a large circuit, and this piece explores what happens when the circuit glitches.

Helen is a first-year student at ISMSS. Outside of medicine, she loves to dabble in physical arts of all kinds — ceramics, woodworking, and knitting chief amongst them. For this work, she draws inspiration from her background as an electrical engineer as well as her journey with chronic pain.