Sonja Boodajee, BFA 98, MA 05, has enjoyed a long career as a Quebec art therapist after surviving a horrific car accident two decades ago. | Photo courtesy of Sonja Boodajee
Yet today, Boodajee owns a condo, has a master’s degree and works as a creative arts therapist. She believes that her artistic ability — which was miraculously left intact — helped her heal.
“I woke up from my coma at the Montreal General Hospital, looked up and saw the curtain rods,” she says. “I got a sketch pad and a pen, and I drew them.”
Before the accident, the energetic 22-year-old was taking four classes, working two part-time jobs, volunteering in two places and training three times per week. She was involved in a wide variety of arts: dance, drama, photography, painting, drawing and piano. At the time, she had completed two years of her undergraduate degree program.
Now 21 years into her “new life,” Boodajee has worked hard to reconcile her past and present self. Despite her poor prognosis, she was committed to realizing her personal and professional goals.
After working closely with a speech therapist, neuropsychologist and learning specialist, she slowly recovered her working memory, organizational capacity and bubbly personality. She also had to relearn basic skills like reading and writing.
“We think we have control of our lives — and we do to an extent — but I think what makes us who we are is our free will and choice,” she says.