2018 OMOT Literary Works

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2152.5/6484

This collection contains literary works submitted for the annual On My Own Time Employee (OMOT) Art Show. OMOT is open to all UT Southwestern employees and students. Literary categories include:

Fictional Short Story
10-Word Story
Creative Non-Fiction
Open Verse Poetry

Authors of winning Literary Art submissions will be invited to read their works aloud during Literary Night at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in October. Winning entries will also be published in a Business Council for the Arts Program.

Questions? Contact omot@utsouthwestern.edu for more details.

News

The following submissions received awards during the literary judging process:

2nd Place, Open Verse Poetry: The Duck Farmer by Reina Patel
3rd Place, Open Verse Poetry: Ecdysis by Jennifer Wang

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 23

Ecdysis, revisited
(2018) Wang, Jennifer
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: This is a companion piece to my poem, "Ecdysis", which views a burlesque dancer from a scientific lens. This time I flip the script and view the biological act of ecdysis (the shedding of skin... in this case by a snake) as a performance.
going
(2018) Cao, Janie
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: This poem was inspired by a patient I saw on the neurology stroke service when I was a third-year medical student. Her clinical course made me think about death as a process rather than a state of being. The "dot" symbolizes both the lesion in her brain that grew over time and a state of seeming finality.
UTSW HAIKU
(2018) Mason, Eva
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: I work in a wonderful lab under the direction of Dr. Ruth Gordillo, the Metabolic Phenotyping Core, and like many things at UTSW, it is interdisciplinary and integral to our community functioning as a whole...like each part of our body.
The Dying Man
(2018) Cao, Janie
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: I was part of a student organization called "No One Dies Alone" that had volunteers visit actively dying patients whose family/friends could not be present. This story is a reflection on my experience.
In America
(2018) Howard-Dunn, Erica
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: A recent trip to Africa. In the moment i thought i was telling the truth, but afterward I realized i subconsciously lied, out of fear of hurting him.
Kindergarten
(2018) Shanks, Cari
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: When I was in kindergarten, my best friend was a lovely African American girl who had beautiful braids and wore multi-colored barrettes in her hair. We were both 5 years old, full of joy, and never had the slightest idea we were anything but exactly the same -- little girls who shared a love of books and playing and the sweet comfort of friendship. We never realized there was anything different about us. It took the comments of others to draw our attention to our skin color. It didn't matter to us.
This Can't Be Happening
(2018) Cassill, Carolyn
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: As a student in a Clinical Psychology program housed in a medical center, I'm often confronted with the similarities and differences between physical health and mental health. There is still such a stigma attached to mental illness, but I think that if you get past the biases you can see it like any other chronic disease, such as cancer or diabetes. I wanted to explore these similarities through a narrative describing someone's reaction to being diagnosed with a chronic disease.
Secret Thoughts
(2018) Rodriguez, Rudy
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: It is human nature to assume we are at the top of the food chain and we have control over our environments. To transcend this skewed mentality requires thinking at a higher level. This poem is my attempt to put things into perspective. Although scientific advances have opened our minds, we must also remember to open our hearts. To be truly human is to love and have compassion. The last verse contains Latin, German, and Spanish. The German line is Stanford University's motto; roughly translated: the winds of freedom blow, the Latin line: I struggle and emerge, the Spanish line: eeny, meeny, miny moe (children's counting rhyme). The gestalt of this poem: Although we are here by chance, we have a purpose. It doesn't matter the road you take, you must tell your story, you must connect. Be significant, even if it's just to one person. Make a difference.
Beach Campout – How to Kick Your Friend in the Head and Get Away with It
(2018) Rodriguez, Rudy
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: This story is an exerpt from a book I wrote for my children describing fond memories I have that range from my childhood to current day. Interwoven in these stores is my love for family, science, math, music, camping, adventure and story telling.
A new life
(2018) Hudgens-Haney, Matthey
The Duck Farmer
(2018) Patel, Reina
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: While traveling on a houseboat with my family in South India, I woke up one morning to an intriguing scene in the waters around me. I could not let the inspiration pass without documenting it in some form; hence this poem was born.
A Doctor's Emotions About Death
(2018) Sreeramoju, Pranavi
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: You will understand my inspiration to write this piece when you read it. Death as a human experience has bothered me in my work from time to time and it was a whole new experience when I came up close and personal with experiencing loss myself. I probably need to share that I did publish this on my blog couple weeks ago. www.PranaviMD.com
Crushing Summer
(2018) Boykin, Randall
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: I had a dream about one Summer in San Angelo during college.
memory stealer
(2018) Dorsey, Olivia
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: This work was inspired by those closest to me and those who I have never met. My work draws upon my research into my family's history.
Nature's Life Formula
(2018) Rodriguez, Rudy
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: This short story is about life. It encapsulates evolution both physical and mental. From microorganisms mutating to survive and thrive in new environments, to immigrants making a new life in a new country, to scientific and medical advances. We all stand on the shoulders of those before us. Tenacity, adaptability, and knowledge transfer allow all things, thoughts, and ideas to take on forms that are more complex. It's nature's formula for life.
Your Eyes
(2018) Horn, Deborah
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: Just wondered if I saw something in another person's eyes, what would they see in me.
There's Always Someone There
(2018) Henson, Faye
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: Depression is often difficult to deal with. Many people don't understand what you are going through, how you feel, and half the time, and at times you don't even understand it. So many times we hide our feelings, we're so good at it. We smile, we laugh, but on the inside we're crying, and it is exhausting. In those moments that you are fighting those thoughts that things won't get better, that you're alone, that you're unloved, you have to remember those moments will pass, that you are strong, and that you can get through anything. You also have to remember that, though you may not feel it, or know it at that moment, there are people out there who love you, who care for you, and want nothing more than to help you through. This was written in one of those moments. As I was working through writing, I was able to find peace, and I wanted to share this with anyone out there who may be feeling the same, to remind them that they are not alone, that they are loved, and that there is always someone there for them.
The grass is always less sterile on the other side
(2018) Pendry, Robert
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: This poem, which takes the form of a Renku (or Solo Renga, a series of haikus that come together to form a story when read sequentially) was inspired by the musings of a frequent hospital patient, a chronically ill person- the author, who underwent a series of prolonged hospitalizations and medical procedures over the period of about a year, noted the exhaustions, realizations, and idiosyncrasies of this experience.
#MeToo
(2018) Howard-Dunn, Erica
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: The #MeToo movement
Memories
(2018) Afuwape, Yemi
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS WORK: A piece of art that was a collage of postage stamps strategically placed to create images of planes flying in the sky over an open field.

Browse

Browsing 2018 OMOT Literary Works by Issue Date