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Sigma Tau Delta 2023 National Convention: Day Five

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Today was the last full day of conference! We didn’t even try to make the 8:00 AM sessions. Last night, I set my alarm for 9:00 AM. Conference burn-out is real. I got up reluctantly, having stayed up so late the night before. We went to an interesting 9:30 AM session with panelists discussing literature’s connection to music through different lenses and with varied artifacts of literature: The Muppets, Chinese film, a novel titled Arabian Jazz , and two of Hozier’s songs. I really liked the panelist that analyzed Hozier’s songs through the lenses of transnationalism and cosmopolitanism—it was super interesting and also relevant to popular culture today.   After this, my roommate, Alexandra, presented her piece. She read a nonfiction piece she had written alongside two other panelists that did the same. They were all fabulous readings and featured writing that was vulnerable and strong, calling out the systems and/or attitudes in modern-day America that are hurting rather than help...
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Sigma Tau Delta 2023 National Convention: Day Four

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Today was a long (ish) day. I woke up to a dehydrated start of the day because of our little cocktail escapade the night before. As expected, we did not make the 8:00 AM session. I promptly hushed my alarm and re-set it for 9:00 AM.  When I did finally emerge from sleep, I put my hair up, good clothes on, and did my makeup in preparation of the session I was serving as chair for. I was able to greet and talk to all the panelists beforehand, and they were all very interesting and talented people. The moderator for the session was a very relatable, bright, and quite jovial woman, so I felt relaxed being the chair for this session. I introduced all of the presenters before they spoke and then asked appropriate questions during the allotted time for Q & A. The panel was poetry-centered and titled “What’s Beyond.” All the panelists read work that critiqued or confronted traditional religions in new ways that allowed them to inversely examine their own identities and how they derive...
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Sigma Tau Delta 2023 National Convention: Day Three

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 Happy Hump Day! Today was the third day of my trip here in Denver, but the first day with actual presenter panel sessions taking place. This morning, I woke up at 7:52 AM before the first session at 8:00 AM. My time management skills may need some work.  The 8:00 AM session was wonderful! We enjoyed learning to make a mini zine out of cut-outs from magazines, wrote Shakespearean sonnets, practiced an exercise called "writing without actually writing," and made mad lib poetry into pantoum poems. It was a good time, and the early morning creativity was much needed to distract me from being nervous before my own presentation.  After this, I went to a session called Editing Professionally and took some notes about some steps I could take to develop myself as a freelance or professional editor within the work force. I was only able to stay for about half of this before I left so I could get ready for my panel. By "getting ready," I mean finishing what I couldn't dur...
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Sigma Tau Delta 2023 National Convention: Day Two

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Welcome back to Day 2 of the Colorful Colorado Conference! Today was a pretty relaxed day. I interrupted my beauty sleep at 8:30 AM and got ready for the day by donning my favorite pretentious sweater and slacks. I even added a fake collar underneath the sweater to look even more scholarly. I complimented the look with some black and gold hoop earrings Griffen bought for me and some chunky gold rings (which I promptly removed—I forget I hate the feeling of chunky rings on my fingers).  After all that work, I climbed back into bed to read a book; if you know me, this should not be surprising. I finished Brenda Peynado’s book, The Rock Eaters. After that, I recorded my presentation for my slot in presenting at the University of Idaho EGA Conference, which will be held in person and on Zoom. Since I am in Colorado presenting this week, I am unable to attend this conference synchronously, but the event coordinators graciously allowed me to record my presentation and provide an email fo...
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Sigma Tau Delta 2023 National Convention: Day One

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Hello, again! Today was the day that I flew out to Denver, Colorado to spend about five days engaged in a conference. The theme of this year's conference is "Colorful Colorado," which hinges on the idea of Colorado being a colorful and vibrant state inherent in inspiring writing. Additionally, the conference is working to highlight writers of color, namely, Toni Morrison. Brenda Peynado, author of The Rock Eaters,  will also be present to deliver the Keynote Address. Peynado's novel of short stories bend genres of magical realism, fantasy, and science fiction together to explore questions of what it is like to be an "other" in different scenarios, and how we can strive to love in a world set on building walls. Ultimately, it bares the complexity of humanity and human nature as being both harsh but also marvelous and beautiful. The convention theme is one that has really interested me, and I was given the honor of being accepted to present my original work as...
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