Graduating With RA and Reflections on an MA

It's hard to believe the big day has come: I graduated with my master of arts (MA) degree in literature, media, and culture in May 2023. This has been a huge project with a long trajectory; I started my MA in the fall of 2020 during the height of the pandemic, and I've continued to work on the degree until May 2023.

I persevered and graduated

So much work, time, dedication, and resources have been allocated to this degree, and I realize throughout the entirety of the degree that RA really intersected the progression of my coursework. Because I work in literature, the form and content of that intersection is varied. Many of the authors I studied were disabled and I, myself, have a chronic illness, so this affected my approach to my degree and to what comes next.

If you can imagine, graduating during pandemic times was incredibly stressful. Having to coordinate working full-time, going to school full-time, and having to deal with a global pandemic was inherently stressful, and I know I wasn't alone in feeling that way. RA makes it so much worse, especially since I'm on Humira. But despite all of that, I persevered and graduated. It helped reaffirm that despite RA's toll on me and my body, I could still achieve my dreams and follow my passions. For one of the first times in my life, RA was not holding me back.

I'm continuing to grow and learn

The last time I graduated was in May 2019. That was a completely different time where my RA was preventing me from pursuing my dreams. Back then, I had no idea what I wanted to do; I had no graduate school offers or prospects; and the only real thing I had was my part-time job (which I was very thankful for, but it wasn't a lot of money). I felt completely disoriented.

But now, I feel like I'm on the right path. My Humira is working well, my job is going well, my MA is now finished, and I'm continuing to grow and learn. It makes me think about how much my life has changed since first being diagnosed and how much more I have left to grow and learn, too. Which then makes me consider how my work in my degree has also helped shift my perspective on RA. As a literature major, many of the writers I studied were disabled and/or had other forms of chronic illnesses that impacted their writing and life.

Drawing inspiration from famous writers

Flannery O'Connor, a prominent Southern Gothic and Catholic writer, had lupus that affected her writing routine because she was in so much pain. She would write in the mid-morning and use the rest of the day to take care of her farm. Khadijah Queen, a Black poet with fibromyalgia, utilizes different artistic techniques in reframing and rewriting poems to communicate the extent of her pain with her chronic illness. I drew inspiration from these artists and the ways in which they both understood and worked with their illnesses. In much the same way, I utilized these techniques to graduate with my MA and to continue living the life I want to live.

And that's what I will continue to do.