The Grip is that one strong hold on something or someone. This book is about holding on to things, to people, to ideas and what impact it may or may not have to hold on. It is also a glimpse into the author's cultural beliefs that remain no matter how more or less superstitious or modern she has become. The book is called Self- Help because there is always something to learn and help oneself to when others are speaking.

Coming to the US as a foreign student, I never expected to defend myself against the crimes committed by "computers" and for which I received penalties. After giving me runarounds and refusing to release my diploma on time and for clearing my immigration record so that I would set out to a country that would be willing to accept me, here I was being labelled "Overstay" as if I planned to have Weber State delay my exit at least out of Utah where as I speak I am in limbo for immigration problems that would have not found me here had Weber State chosen to do the right thing to start. It should not be such a hassle to study abroad....

Here is a woman who flees harm, among other things, she is fleeing assault with a rifle in her native Lesotho. She chooses to come to the US as a student She finds a sponsor to pay for her tuition and living expenses in the US. The sponsor extends financial support to her and her family, but withdraws when an alleged Weber State "glitch" puts her into "illegal status" derailing financial plans she and her sponsor initially had. She battles the "glitch" to clear her name but the entire time, she battles intensely with the fear to be returned back to the place where she was offered no protection even when threatened at gunpoint. This book is a record of her journey to maintain her sanity in a highly politically charged debate in Utah. Indeed the order of events in Silenced Appeal speaks to her mental state and condition, which is the PTSD she was diagnosed with on January 20, 2011 by Dr. DeCaria, PhD, Pyschology, in Utah while her book was published on January 20, 2009 before she learned of her diagnosis.