It is a pleasure to thank the many people who made this study possible.
It is difficult to overstate my gratitude to my Capstone advisor, Ron Krabill. With his enthusiasm, his inspiration, and his great efforts to explain things clearly and simply, he helped to make this study fun for me. Throughout my capstone-writing period, he provided encouragement, sound advice, good teaching, good company, and lots of good ideas. I would have been completely lost without him.
I would like to thank the many people who have taught me especially Jeanne Heuving, for her kind assistance, wise advice, and helping me examine the potential of creative writing as a therapeutic tool, particularly in terms of its influence on myself and personal development. I wish to thank my graduate teachers, Bruce Burgett, Ben Gardner, Kari Lerum, Kanta Kochhar-Lindgren, J. Eric Stuart, and Elizabeth Thomas, for their assistance and advice, and for helping me with various projects, and so on. I would additionally like to thank Professor Burgett for taking the time to walk me through difficult periods I faced within the program.
I wish to thank in addition Vicente Rafael and Joseph Lavy, for providing additional insights that contributed to my overall learning process. I am especially grateful to Professor Clarke Speed who was particularly insightful and helpful. In addition, Professor Speed helped me realize that school can be fun and engaging.
I would like to also thank the graduate office staff, Andrew Brusletten, Lisa Olason, and Leslie Schiffman for their assistance in helping me through the process, as well as my undergraduate professors, Alan Wood and Darrell Udd, for providing the letters of reference in addition to teaching me -- by teaching I mean giving instruction as to better ways of perceiving the world.
I am indebted to my many student colleagues for providing a stimulating and fun environment in which to learn and grow, and, for helping me get through the difficult times, and for all the emotional support, comraderie, entertainment, and caring they provided.
I am grateful to the MACS staff and librarians, especially Jackie Belanger, for helping the program run smoothly and for assisting me in many different ways.
Most importantly, I wish to thank my family, Carlos Ferreira, Amanda Hemmons, and Ryan Hemmons-Ferreira. They bore the brunt of my project, supported me, helped me, and loved me. To them I dedicate this study.
