Southwick and Charney (2018) describe posttraumatic growth as growing and taking new meaning from an otherwise traumatic event. Karessa Royce was at the Route 91 concert on the night of Oct 1st 2017, was shot, and almost died as a result of this. Instead of taking her tragedy and the senseless loss of lives around her and let it become her whole life, she chose to rise above. She reframed what happened to her and instead of having the event called something like "the shooting or massacre" (which it was), for her it was "the life change". Her "life change" changed the trajectory of her life, she continued college (when she had just thought of dropping out), she joined a safety board, pursued public speaking, and learned what it meant to peacefully protest. She described growth as a "check mark", going low and then rising above where she was and going higher. This is a powerful way to describe posttraumatic growth in my opinion. Her talk is powerful but is a reminder that we can be victims of tragedy or we can be survivors.

Royce, K. (2018, June). Post traumatic growth: surviving a mass shooting. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/karessa_royce_post_traumatic_growth_surviving_a_mass_shooting?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare.

Tara Westover, the author of the book “Educated” is someone who has experienced many instances of mental and physical trauma in her childhood, and has demonstrated resilience and exhibited post-traumatic growth factors. Previously when I was reading her memoire, I could not believe the terrifying experiences Tara had faced in her childhood. Tara was raised in Idaho with a father who was a survivalist. Her father was also distrustful of all forms of government. Tara was completely disconnected from society. She had no medical records because she was never taken to the clinic or hospital. She had no school records because she never attended a school. Tara was emotionally and physically abused by one of her four brothers. She experienced many physical injuries while working in her father’s junkyard, but was left to be healed at home. Among all the psychological and physical trauma, Tara was able to rise above her challenging circumstances, taught herself English and Math to pass the standardized college exams, and was able to enter college at the age of 17. She eventually received her PhD from Cambridge University and wrote a memoire of her life. Among the five post-traumatic growth factors, Tara demonstrated exploration of new possibilities and immense personal growth. When she speaks of her life now, she demonstrates appreciativeness to her parents to some degree, and also to being able to step out of her sheltered life and learn about the various viewpoints within society. To me, Tara is a prime example of someone who not only demonstrated resilience but also rose above her upbringing, became emotionally and physically liberated from the constraints of her past, and was very academically successful.

Westover, T. (2018). Educated: a memoir. New York: Random House.

Westover, T. [CBS This Morning]. (2018, February 21). Tara Westover's journey from off-the-grid childhood to Cambridge [Video] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTLK5AEVCEc

I found this story on YouTube that I thought included many people that were demonstrating the five posttraumatic growth factors. The story is about the Oso Landslide in 2014. The story outlines how Josh Trujillo, a photo journalist, bonded with the community after the disaster and how he tries to tell their story. The story shows the devastation of the disaster, demonstrates how the community came together, and rebuilding the highway. It is personal to me because I had had plans to go see family near there and I was supposed to drive that highway that morning, but instead I picked up an extra shift at work and postponed my trip to what I thought was just going to be later that evening.

IN Close. (2014, September 26). Voices of the Oso landslide: Witness to disaster [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuhXEjRl1XU

Kay Wilson survived an attack by two Palestinian men after watching her companion get killed in front of her. With 13 deep stab wounds from a long serrated knife, she walked over a mile to safety and medical treatment. A trained Jazz Pianist, Wilson played 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' in her head as she made her way down the thorny hills, barefoot and bleeding, gagged and with bound hands, to safety in the National Park picnic spot. She tried to distract herself with this song of longing for something better and beautiful and worked on a reharmonization in her head until she got to safety. Later she recounted that she "...certainly was not going to let broken bones, a punctured lung and emotional trauma ruin the rest of her life.” After recovering from her wounds she considered the song in her head and began working towards finding that kind of better world in this world. She now speaks to global audiences about dispelling hatred, no matter the source, whether it be from Israeli's to Palestinians or the other way around, and speaks all over the world about conflict, trauma, and finding meaning, purpose and growth after surviving. She works everyday to bring peace into the world after finding that her trauma led her to be a force for peace and goodness.

Maital, S. (2020, February 16). Kay Wilson, trauma survivor, jazz pianist, and peace activist [Photograph]. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/kay-wilson-from-improbable-terror-survivor-to-resilient-activist-617791

Daver Sanderson is a survivor of US Airways Flight 1549, which crash ditched in the Hudson river On January 15, 2009. The aircraft was struck a flock of birds shortly after taken off from New York City's LaGuardia Airport, losing all engine power. The flight was not able to reach any airport for an emergency landing. The pilots glided the plane to ditch in the Hudson River. All 155 passengers were rescued. Daver Sanderson was one of them. Traumatic events such as airplane crashes can impact on an individual’s psychology dramatically. The story from TED Talk shows that Daver Sanderson was able to grow despite going through a devastatingly traumatic event by using his coping skills. In the video, he stated that there were three ways people can deal with the stressful phenomena – “physiology, internal dialogue, and focus”. Physiology is the body movement such as stretching one’s body or doing exercise; internal dialogue – people may question “why this happens to me”; focus – people can focus on how to get out of the dangerous and stressful situation or staying with panic. People can choose to stay with positive attitude or complaining. As Daver Sanderson said in the video “You choose grow or wither”.

TED, (2017, May 7). Bouncing back: An experience with post-traumatic growth syndrome [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LojjHV7FEJY.

Luma Mufleh is a Muslim of Syrian descent who emigrated from Jordan. She applied for and was approved for political asylum after college because of her social position as the daughter of a refugee and also because she was gay. (In some countries, people are sentenced to death for being homosexual.) She says, " That was the hardest decision I've ever had to make, but I had no other choice." She had no homeland and felt alone. After graduating from college, Luma wanted a place to call home, so she moved from state to state in the U.S. until she finally arrived. There, kind people offered to pay her rent, provide her with food and a suit for job interviews, but she only felt lonely and helpless. But when she met a woman who accepted her at her lowest point and gave her a job, she realized what was important. She started by washing dishes, cleaning toilets and working in the kitchen, and learned the value of being humble and working hard. But most importantly, I felt valued and embraced. Later, she met refugee children playing soccer barefoot with a battered soccer ball. She remembers that she had played soccer in Jordan just like them. That summer, Luma created a soccer team, the Fugees. Since then, the soccer team has grown into something much bigger: a school, a tutoring program, a summer camp, a college prep program, and most importantly, a community and support network. As she engages with refugee families, she hears stories of their harrowing paths. Yet, she says, "What I get to see every day is hope, resilience, determination, a love of life and appreciation for being able to rebuild their lives. " I felt that Luna was strengthened by the people who were desperately trying to live their lives even though it was hard. Knowing the loneliness of losing one's homeland and the suffering of many refugee families, I believe that this is why she is able to devote all her efforts to creating an environment where people are respected and accepted.

Mufleh, L. (2017, April). TED Don't feel sorry for refugees — believe in them. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/luma_mufleh_don_t_feel_sorry_for_refugees_believe_in_them?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Andy Chaggar experienced terrible tsunami in 2004. When he and his girl friend, Nova Mills, were in a beach bungalow, the earthquake happened. Without understanding the situation, they were caught by tsunami. He has never seen her since then. He said tsunami was too strong to swim as if he was washed by a washing machine. He was fortunately rescued by others but he felt that his girl friend would be killed by tsunami when he saw lots of dead bodies. It was really hard for him to overcome the damage of this terrible experience, but in 2005 he started to work as a volunteer and do something related to disasters including tsunami, such as charity. He said he could not find meaning in his job after tsunami, so he decided to change it and help people who was in the same situation as him. In the last of this video, he says he now leads a happy life because he can do what he wants to do and is supported by his wife and friends although he never forgets terrible tsunami and Nova. I think he shows us post-traumatic growth and its factors are finding a meaning in his life and support by others. I think being honest to his feelings, changing his job and finding what he wanted do after tsunami made him more resilient. I also have a Japanese friend who experienced the big earthquake and tsunami in 2011, and he also find a meaning related to tsunami in his life. He also shows post-traumatic growth and tries to tell his experience and importance of our life as a musician. Therefore, like these two men, I think changing trauma into a lesson of our life and doing what we want to do with meaning we find strongly contribute to post-traumatic growth. However, when we are alone with trauma, I think we cannot find and continue to do what we want to do with meaning. We would not get out of shadow of terrible trauma by ourselves. As Andy shows, I think being supported by others who really understand and encourage us also contribute to post-traumatic growth and it is important to have appreciation for our life.

AFP News Agency. (2014, December 26). Survivor recounts horror of 2004 tsunami [Video]. You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDcg78u6NaM