This blogger just can't stop!

This probably goes without saying, but I like to stay busy. Even if I'm on break. While I've been up to all sorts of things the past three weeks (from caroling and rock climbing with the Boy Scout troop my dad is a Scoutmaster for, to seeing family and friends, to exploring the new central branch of the Madison Public Library), I've also been blogging.

Well, yeah, duh, this blog, right? 

Okay, you're partially right. This blog (I've written some pretty neat posts recently if I do say so myself) along with two others.

What? Two other blogs? Are you crazy?

Not crazy, just...a girl who...who can't stop blogging! These other two blogs are Coe affiliated. As someone who knows her way around Blogger and Wordpress (another blog platform) when I've involved in a group with a blog, I'm sort of the de facto head blogger. And that's fine by me.

The first blog I worked on over break was our Writing Center Blog (yeah, go check it out). This has been a tricky blog, mainly because the audience is so wide. In an ideal world, this blog should appeal to current consultants, past consultants, potential future consultants, and anyone else that somehow ends up on our site. There has been many brainstorming sessions and a super helpful session at the writing center conference in Tampa, led by the Berkeley Preparatory Writing Center and one of their alums, Talie Tebbi. After that session, I got to speak with Talie one-on-one and she helped brainstorm ways to improve our blog. I was so thankful for her helping us and I think that this break gave me just enough time to come up with a blog plan for 2014! I finally figured out the blog is a sneak peak into the Coe College Writing Center culture, and when you think about it that way, lots of potential blog posts come to mind and you also reach the audiences you are interested in reaching.

On top of that, you should check out the Writing Center blog because fellow Wisconsinite, Brittney, is currently live-blogging her experience from Tybee Island. Dr. Bob has a tradition of taking a group of students to Tybee Island (in Georgia, right near Savannah) for an intensive, week-long staff development class (aka the semester long Topics in Composition adapted for beautiful Georgia weather and condensed into a week). All consultants I've talked to who had done the class have said it's some of their fondest Writing Center memories.

The second blog I've been managing is a bit more complicated just because we are trying to figure out the most efficient layout. It's for the Coe Review and has become more of a blog/website/archive of past issues. We finally got our newest poetry issue online and also a pretty neat photo gallery of pictures taken at our publication release at the end of the semester (a shout-out to my dear friend, Haley, for her rad photography skills). I think I'm finally ready to move from this past poetry issue into planning for our upcoming fiction issue!

I feel like I need to blame someone for this blogging obsession, but it doesn't really feel like work for me. It allows me to write (which I love) and on a platform where lots of people can see it. I'm proud of all three blogs and have high hopes for them in 2014.

I'm Published!

Happy holidays!

Hope the holiday season is treating you well and you're not dealing with too much snow. In Wisconsin, we were fortunate enough to have a white Christmas. The cold temperatures and accumulating snow have made the weather perfect for ice skating and lots of shoveling.

But the point of this post is not to describe the weather in Mt. Horeb. Instead, my good news is that I was published on an online blog.

Woot!

The blog is called the Silver Tongue Times, Rhetorical criticism for the engaged citizen. Basically, it's a blog run by rhetoric scholars committed to explaining cultural messages in today's world through the lens of rhetoric. The blog aims to explain rhetoric in layman terms, so that anyone, no matter their knowledge of the "great rhetors" (think Plato, Aristotle, Gorgias, etc), they can understand what the author is doing in their message.

I found this blog through my Rhetorical Theory and Practice class. Taught by Jane Nesmith, a professor who I've had before, we examined what rhetoric is and how we use it today. It was an excellent class and I definitely learned a lot. One of the overarching messages from this class was that rhetoric allows you to be a spectator of a message. It allows you to step back and see how the moving parts are working together. So think of watching a sporting event, like baseball, football, soccer, etc. For most of those events, you are sitting above the field, looking down on the game. You can see each individual player and watching their singular movements and then the movements of the team as a whole.

Our final project of the semester was to write a post that fit the submission guidelines for the Silver Tongue Times. We had to take an article/speech or video and write about what the rhetor was doing and if they were doing it effectively. I chose an article I found at one of my favorite online websites, The Slate. It was an article that was pro-selfie (you know, the popular thing to do on social media now a days. It's also an official word, thanks to the Oxford English Dictionary). So I wrote the piece and thought, "Why not submit?"

I emailed the piece to the blog and heard back fairly quickly. Matt, the founding editor, said they would love to publish the piece. We emailed back and forth with some revisions and submitting a brief bio and they published it on Monday.

My article is "The Selfie Culture: Where A Picture Is Worth A Million Likes" (yeah, you should definitely click on this). I'm really proud with how it turned out and so far, my family and friends have really enjoyed it. Let me know what you think!

I really enjoyed writing this and analyzing current culture is something I like doing in my spare time (when I can find it). I hope to write some more articles for the Silver Tongue Times and Winter Break is the perfect time to do that!

Reading sonnets from a 1796 book. No big deal, right?

There are so many great things about the New York Public Library. While the Mid-Manhattan has books that can circulate, the Schwarzman Building (right across the street and the one with the lions) has several amazing collections.

These collections require scheduling an appointment and being very careful because many of these manuscripts are rare copies or extremely dated.

While many of the collections sound fascinating, there was one collection that really stood out: The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle.

The Shelley is Percy Shelley aka the husband of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. 

The Shelley's were prominent during the British Romanticism, aka the 18th and 19th century. Which is basically a specialty (so to speak) of mine.

Also, guess what period Mary Robinson wrote her sonnets and other works?

The 18th and 19th century.

So the collection was perfect. And is perfect. I had the opportunity to visit it on Thursday and actually spend some time reading from the collection.

I read Sappho and Phaon (the sonnet sequence that will be the focus of my thesis). Guess when it was published and made?

1796.

Yeah. It was a beautiful small book. And I was so thrilled to be in the collection. While visitors walked past the room and attempted to get in, I was actually in the room, surrounded by rare manuscripts from the 18th and 19th century.

Incredible.

I'm planning on going back on Saturday and read the rest of Sappho and Phaon as well as some letters Robinson wrote and her memoir.

I'm so excited. (If you couldn't tell!)

Research, Research, Research!

I'm a little embarassed to admit, but although I've been working at the Mid-Manhattan Library for three months, I've spent little time in the Schwarzman Building (aka the ones with the lions).

But...with my thesis research slowly starting, I finally had a reason!

I found several good books located in the Rose Reading Room. It's the reading room that is (pretty) recognizable.

Look familiar? 

It's a beautiful room and very quite. It's a great place to study.

When I walk in, I head toward the center of the room to request my books. Librarians actually grab the books I would like to use. I submit a paper slip with the book title, author, and call number and then twenty minutes later, VOLIA, the book appears.

I had forgotten how much I enjoy studying in a library (it's been a while!). And Mary Robinson is a fascinating woman. While not many people know about her, she made a large impact (in my opinion) on the literary world. I won't go into my speech about how awesome she is (I'll save that for another blog post during the summer) but starting this project in the Rose Room seems so appropriate. And perfect. 

Here's some photos of my studying because I felt the need to document it:

I'm hoping to spend a few more days in the library reading as much as I can before I leave. It seems like every day I add more and more things to my list of things to accomplish before I leave the city!

Fourth (and probably final) blog post for NYPL

Tada! Another blog post:

This one is all about the Veteran Oral History project. It seems appropriate that this post is being published right now. Today, I finished up the final resource page for the ten veteran oral histories that are currently online. It was a big project and one that I learned so much from.

It was a bittersweet moment when I finished the last page today. I have been working on this project since my first day at NYPL. Just like the project has grown, I've also grown over the past several months.

Okay, I'll stop being so sappy.

But since I only have a week left in the city and three days left at NYPL, I think this was my last blog post from NYPL's account. So so so glad I could be a guest blogger :)

Looking ahead to SENIOR year

Senior year? No, that can't be right.
But it is.

While I'm in NYC, I've been planning for next semester and one big project I just finished was my senior thesis proposal.

It's an English one (no surprise there) about Mary Robinson, a 18th century British author who wrote sonnets.

Perfect for me, right?

I've spent the past couple of weeks working with Melissa, one of my English professors and also my thesis advisor, to create a proposal. Assuming it is approved by the English department (there's a really really really good chance) then I will take an independent study next fall and spend all summer researching and beginning to write the paper. Finally, in the spring, I will defend my thesis.

Intense.

But I'm really excited. I think it will be a good challenge for me and a way to harness and showcase my skills as an English major!

So. Much. Blogging.

I'm at it again, blogging that is. 

Got another post up on the NYPL's website. This post is about the Music & Memory drive I am helping to coordinate. It even has a fancy title: Harnessing the Power of Music.

Woah. 

Mandatory photo of recently published blog post:

Happy reading! :)

Papers, papers, papers

School work is truly taking over my life. This is what happens when I take four writing emphasis classes in one semester. Whoops. Oh well, you should know by now that I love to write.

I'm currently knee deep in research for two ten page papers. The first is for my Honors class. It is about novels about the Vietnam War by Vietnamese authors. It's a fascinating topic. I've read two pretty influential novels by the so called "victors" and then have read lots of criticism about American fiction on the Vietnam War as well as criticism on Vietnamese fiction. This paper will be my final project and assignment in this class. I completed a rough draft before Thanksgiving Break and now am working on the revisions. Next week, I have to give a short presentation to my class about how I conducted my research and what I learned. It will be pretty informal but it will be nice to share everything I've been learning about to my peers.

My second paper is for my 18th century literature class. It's on a short story by Eliza Haywood called Fantomina. It's a great story and if you haven't read it, you probably should. A quick and fun read, I promise you. But I'm taking about disguise and gender roles of the time. I've just started researching; I've read a lot but now I need to start fine tuning this research and turning it into a paper.

So needless to say, I'm keeping busy. But I enjoy it, I promise. I feel that I've evolved as a writer since I was a freshman. Both these topics interest me and I know that I wil turn in fantastic papers. Might get a little stress in the next three weeks but hey, it will be okay.

#weeklywednesdaywisdom: Writing Exercise

Happy Wednesday!

I don't know if you guys can tell, but I love writing #weeklywednesdaywisdom. Maybe it's from working in Admissions for two weeks now or helping Professor Eichhorn get the FYS program ready. I'm excited to meet you all in the fall and I'm also excited that I get to write this weekly post to help you guys get ready for all the fun you'll have on campus.

But enough about me, time to focus on you. That's the point of this feature, is it not? Today's topic: the writing exercise. I'm sure some of you have already completed it, and if you have, good work! Way to get an early start. For those of you who have not, never fear, there are still two more sessions this summer; one in July (16-19) and in August (3-6).

Since I did my writing exercise on campus, handwritten, during Orientation Week, I hopped onto Moodle to check out what your format is. It looks like it's the same thing I did when I was a freshman, but online and you are able to type it up and think about it. Lucky you! Here are my pointers for those who have not taken the online writing exercise.

Read the guidelines ahead of time: On the bottom of the Moodle page is a link to a page of guidelines. READ THEM. Doesn't seem that hard but people sometimes skip over that step. Make sure you understand how you need to submit your document and what the committee is looking for.


Utilize as many days as you can: What's nice about this assignment is that you have several days to complete this assignment. For me, some of my best writing is done when I write the paper the first day and then come back the next day or even the day after that and review what I've written. Just an eight to ten hour span between writing the section and then rereading it gives your brain enough time to refresh itself and give you a new (and better) perspective on what you've written. Or, don't even write anything on the first day; use that first day to read the prompts and start to think about how you're going to tackle them.

Reread what you've written before you submit it: This might seem self-explanatory, but after working with first-years last year as a Writing Fellow, revision isn't always covered in high school curriculum. I am a firm believer in revision; yes, your first draft is good but it's simply that, a draft. A reread and revision allows you to better define what you're trying to say and clear up anything that isn't as polished the first time around. REVISION IS OKAY. Throughout your years at Coe, revision is going to be a big deal. Many professors let you write a paper and then give you the opportunity to revise it and submit it again for a better grade. Might as well get into the practice of revision before you even step foot on campus.

Don't stress out about the writing exercise: If I were to guess, some of you are freaking out about the writing exercise. Yes, this is important, an exercise you should take seriously, but at the same time, a freakout is not necessary. If you are freaking out, take a deep breath. Everything will be okay. Do your best, because that's all we are asking for.

And, if you have more questions or concerns, Heidi Heaton (heheaton@coe.edu) is just the person to ask. She's actually my roommate (been my roommate for the past two years) and is an all around wonderful person. Heidi is the student overseeing the three writing exercises so she has the low-down if anyone has any concerns or problems.

Best of luck on the writing exercise. I hope you're all having a good summer and if you have any questions, let me know! :)

#summerwriting
#writingswag
#preparingforcollege

Savy Studying Saturday

Finals start next Saturday!  Woah, woah, woah.  There is much to do before my first final rolls around next Saturday at 8 AM.  So today is a work day.  I am currently sitting in the Starbucks in Cedar Rapids with my friend, Ashley, writing papers.  We are both English majors and we are working on our Literary Analysis papers.  If you remember, I'm writing mine about the sonnet sequence Delia and she is writing her's about William and Dorothy Wordsworth.  It's nice to have someone to study with because they are perfect study breaks when you need one!  My paper has greatly progressed and I know I will spend many, many, many hours on it this week revising and perfecting it.  Well, I think my study break is up, back to the Renaissance!

Firoozeh Dumas Comes to Campus

Okay, so if you remember back to my summer posts, I had a post about Firoozeh Dumas -- she is and was the first speaker in the Marquis Series this year.  I got the opportunity to talk to her several times while she was on campus and her being here was definitely a great way to start off the week!  (Picture from Firoozeh's website.) 


Monday:

She came to campus and spoke to the freshman in the morning.  Her presentation to them was on the history of Iran which she tied into Persepolis (the first-year common book).  I met her for the first time shortly after she spoke to the first-years.  Professor Eichhorn, my FYS professor from last year, called me and informed me Kayla, my Writing Fellow from last year, and some first-years were talking Firoozeh to the PUB for lunch and I should join them.  I did and we had a grand old time.  This only pumped me up for her presentation (the formal Marquis Series' presentation) I was going to later that night.  

Her presentation was fantastic that night.  Firoozeh is very funny and this speech was more about how she ended up publishing two books: Funny in Farsi and Laughing Without an Accent.  (Side note: She's currently working on a third tween fiction book!)  Both books are memoirs about her life adventures.  Funny in Farsi deals with her and her family moving to America from Iran and the various things they run into, such as the language barrier.  This book is also filled with anecdotes about her family members.  The message I really got out of her speech was to never give up.  She started writing her stories down when she was in her 30s and it took many years and a few rejections before she found a literary agent who wanted to help her publish her books.  As someone who hopes to be published someday, that was inspiring and encouraging to hear.  

I of course bought her book after her presentation and had her sign it for me.  We briefly discussed my name and the abundance of "l"s.  

Tuesday:

I woke up early, as usual, and went to Topics in Composition (the Writing Center development/staff training class) which I'm not actually enrolled in this semester but Firoozeh was going to be there so I wasn't going to miss it.  This was an open question and answer session where we hit on a lot of different topics.  Firoozeh was extremely personable and friendly; we learned a lot about her and I'm sure she learned a lot about us.  I think my favorite moment during this session was when Firoozeh was talking about her love of libraries (I'm sure some of my readers are saying, "Of course Hailley loves this section."  You know me too well).  She was telling us about this one book she read about a girl who dives with horses (part of a circus like show) and then the girl became blind but she still continued this stunt.  This true story takes place during the Great Depression.  As Firoozeh was telling us this, I remembered I had seen the movie version of this story which is called Wild Hearts Can't be Broken.  I raised my hand and said, "You know that's a movie, right?"  Firoozeh didn't know a movie (made in 1991) existed and was quite excited to see it.

 I went to class, worked in Admissions, and then went to the Writing Center to have tea with Firoozeh.  There were about 10 girls, Dr. Bob, and Firoozeh.  This time we went around, introduced ourselves and talked about our life dreams and goals.  It was a casual yet exciting conversation.  We laughed a lot and shared a lot of stories.  It was decided that I'm the unofficial mayor of Coe because apparently I know a lot of things on campus.  Which is good because then I can let you know on this blog and keep my friends on campus in the loop.  An hour went by and unfortunately, tea was over and Nicki (freshman Writing Center consultant and also my 6th floor neighbor) had to take Firoozeh back to her hotel.  We said our goodbyes (I even got a hug!). 

In my opinion, Firoozeh is so inspirational.  As a writer and as a person, I felt rejuvenated Tuesday afternoon as I walked back to Murray; I was ready for anything (which to me last night meant a lot of reading for my classes).  I think my favorite part of the whole experience was just getting to know her in a short span of 24 hours.  She called me by name Tuesday morning and gave me a hug when she was leaving.  She was just so great and personable, I’ve come to admire her a lot. 

      

   

Cedar Lake Walk

One of the classes I'm taking is Cultural Studies; it is taught by Dr. Bob and it is also known as the Walking Essay class.  We are looking at the culture that surrounds us and other cultures we haven't experienced yet.  This class also gives me the opportunity to explore other areas of Cedar Rapids.  Our first walk was around Coe and we discussed the various expansion plans the college had and it was fascinating to think about how things would have looked if certain plans had followed through.  Our second walk was the Dairy Queen which is only a couple of blocks away.  During that walk I learned a lot about the various types of trees we encountered and it was also interesting to observe the houses that are basically in Coe's backyard (the northeast side of campus).

My third walk was a walk I went on with Haley.  It was to Cedar Lake.  Around the lake there is a walking and biking path.  Haley and I were lucky to have such a beautiful day to complete our walk.  It was easy to get there -- we simply walked northeast on Center Point Road and then took a left at J Avenue.  Once we got there we started on the paved path but eventually ventured off onto a foot path to see the Cedar Lake and to take some pictures.  Haley is a photographer and wanted to do a photo shoot in conjunction with our walk.  The photos turned out great (see some of them below) and one even ended up as my new blog photo!

Our walk ended up being two hours.  It was nice to talk to Haley and I wrote down a lot of great material I hope to use in my essay.  It was nice to see the Cedar Lake and I hope to go back there soon before the weather turns too cold!