| selves were at last exposed. Therapy allowed Sylvia to resurrect her mask ignoring all else as it’s purpose was not about looking to the future but tending to the present. By the start of the new year Sylvia was well enough to go back to Smith College and she returned for the spring term somewhat boisterous and extroverted, a strange turn from the “loner” she used to be. The summer was spent at Harvard’s Summer School studying German for which she gained another ‘A’ allowing her to continue her studies in German is she pleased. After the summer she returned to Smith College determined to devote her time to studying and writing with her goal being to win a full scholarship to graduate school. The major part of her senior year was designated for her honors thesis which she had chosen to change to looking at Dostoevsky and his frequent use of split/double personality. Sylvia spent much time researching her thesis looking not only at the literary but also the psychological side, and her work reflected her continued insight into her own schizophrenic nature. Her poetry however did not benefit from her growing awareness of herself and remained stuck in the same traditional and “academic” ways. Her poems though powerful and striking were not satisfying to Sylvia and she still had not allowed true emotion to come through in her writing. Sylvia continued to study hard and in the second semester she took a comprehensive examination in English Honors and a special qualifying examination for the Fulbright Fellowship to give her a chance to go on to further studies at Cambridge. Success was predicted and in June Sylvia gained her reward graduating summa cum laude and also won the Fulbright. Her thesis gained many favourable comments from the faculty and those who read it found it hard to believe it was written by the same Sylvia who wrote the poetry that won many prizes which was more academic than from the heart. In early September Sylvia left for England, a journey which must have sparked much insecurity inside having never been so far away from home. Sylvia spent ten days exploring London before moving on to Cambridge where she attended Newnham College. |
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| Written by Claire C.H., 2001 |
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