Featured Artist 2023: Heather Fraccalvieri
I am originally from Columbia, SC, but I've lived in Greenville for ten years now. I first started attending Greenville Technical College in the spring of 2022. I am pursuing an associate in fine arts degree and a Fine Arts Certificate. My goal is to go to graduate school so that I might become a professor. I never really knew what I wanted to do before. When I graduated from high school, I was under the impression that it was a requirement to go to college. I applied to one school as a music major. Got accepted. Called the head of the department, a man I had not yet met, months before the beginning of classes, hoping he would talk me out of it. He didn't. But over the next few years I would spend hours sitting in his office seeking other advice and the answers to all life's hardest questions. Mostly, I couldn't understand half of his philosophical musings, but now I know it was because he didn't really have all the answers. Regardless, he was still a major influence in my life. As well as the guitar teacher who first gave me the number for that phone call back when I was having doubts. And my academic advisor who loved to introduce me to people just so she could say my last name with her perfect Italian accent, and without whom I would not have graduated early (or at all). And the professor who taught all my favorite classes and who shared his love for The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor with me. It wasn't until I went back to school at Greenville Tech that I remembered how much I love school. Not the papers or the power points or the exhaustion, but the community. The people. The discussions and guidance. And for the first time in my life, I knew what I wanted to do.
I have been interested in art practically my whole life, but once I got to high school, I felt a pull between art and music. I ended up minoring in music in college and getting a Bachelors in Humanities, but I think there is a natural relationship between fine art and music and literature (which is what I focused on in college) and in their respective creative processes. For me, each one is rooted in story, history, emotion and experience and there is a natural flow of influence from one into the others. And the process of writing a song is not unlike the process of painting a portrait. My art has been heavily influenced by the literature that has stayed with me and music that I love.
Featured Writer 2023: Pablo Czerkas
1. I am blessed to be of a mixed culture as I have a Polish father and a Colombian mom. My parents immigrated to Greenville in the '90s, and their tenacity to provide for my brother and me was a foundation in my upbringing, as I am truly the kin of my parents by my determination not to give up nor settle in my life. My body, mind, health, and strength have fought many battles over the years as I am a survivor of a low-grade brain tumor and secondary medical conditions. Even though these health conditions have delayed my goals, they have not limited my capabilities, and I refuse to be a victim of my body. I have learned through experience the beauty of perseverance as well as acceptance, making me truly my parents' child.
2. I have a grand affinity for the health sciences, particularly neuroscience. My mother is a survivor of multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, so I grew up in a world clouded by the unpredictability of my mom's health. Instead of blaming the medical system for my mother's ailments, I decided to pursue an education that would allow me to revolutionize it, and this journey began at Greenville Tech. The professors at GTC have incubated my growth and allowed me to become a much more insightful and open-minded academic-as well as a much better writer-than I previously was. The feedback given by my professors has always been excellent, opening new facets in my intellectual skills. With the help that GTC has given me, I feel confident that once I become a neurologist, my care toward patients and my passion to change the way we treat MS will all be because of my experience at Tech.
3. Having had a stuttering issue since adolescence, I was open to new forms of communication, primarily through writing. Writing never failed my communication, never bullied me, and never gave me anxiety compared to my speech. It was not until I became seriously ill and was hospitalized that I started to improve my writing and consider a possible future with it. But my experience in my ENG 102 class with Professor Wilfong was a catalyst for my pursuit of growing my writing abilities. My other English professors, Professor Grant, and Professor Baker, have also given me much support and feedback on my writing, and I am entirely grateful for their guidance. They are all brilliant individuals; they make a difference every day by creating better and more analytical writers. I would not be the writer I am today without their mentorship. I am also particularly grateful to Professor Hume and the English department for enjoying my work!
4. Greenville Tech is truly a magical place, and it has had a profound effect on my life. The college was always there for me, and I am proud to be a student of such a breathtaking institution.