A World of Gratitude To:

Thank you to the following for providing their time in making my vision come to life and helping me take on the most mentally and emotionally draining work I've ever done. Thank you for believing in me. I owe you the world.

Mentors

Emily Swanson-The Choreography

Ali Shapiro-The Poem

Fritz Swanson-The Recovery Narrative

Dancer

Anna Colaianne

Thank you additionally to anyone who has been a part of my healing process---family, friends, my fellow Capstone colleagues, and the strangers that simply smiled. You know who you are, and I am a stronger person because of you.

Ali is a graduate of the MFA program in poetry at U of M. She teaches composition and creative writing classes for the English Department Writing Program, the Sweetland Center for Writing, and the Stamps School of Art and Design.

Fritz Swanson teaches writing at the University of Michigan. Nikki was a part of his English 325 class in the winter semester of 2017.

Emily Swanson is a professional dance educator and choreographer residing in Plymouth, MI. Starting dance at 3 years old, she has almost 25 years of dance experience and over 10 years of technical dance and performing arts training. Before graduating from Eastern Michigan University with an education degree and dance performance minor, Emily studied all styles of dance from various studios around the Midwest. Emily has taught and danced with Nikki for over 5 years.

Anna has danced for 14 years, and is currently a part of the PCEP Varsity Dance Team and Metro Dance Company's competition team. She is graduating high school in 2018 and is planning on studying political science in college. She has danced with Nikki for 8 years.