Sigma Tau Delta 2023 National Convention: Day Five

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 helping. The panel was followed by an engaging Q & A session; everyone was very intrigued on the pairing of these writers in this panel. 

After this, we went back to the room so I could change from a skirt to some pants and a sweater because I felt freezing. We spent some free time ranting about how humanities majors have to struggle to get funding for any initiatives/conferences; we both went through a strenuous period of hustling our departments for funds to pay for this experience and represent our universities. While we both got a bulk of the trip paid for, we deduced we were both probably still paying for about $200 each out of pocket. This isn’t counting any of the fun stuff—just rides between the airport and the hotel and food. The moral of the story: institutions should recognize the hard work their arts students are putting in to make advancements in their own field and represent the program. Funding for the work they are doing would be a great way to kickstart that appreciation. (Love, two English majors)

The last thing we did for the conference was attend the Awards Luncheon, where we were served a lovely chicken dish after a delicious side salad. Our expectations for this meal were not high, but we consider them thoroughly exceeded after the meal. 

Lots of students got conference and Society awards, and it was cool to recognize some of the people getting them as people I listened to in panels or met and networked with during the conference. After awards, we left to go back to the room, shower away greasy makeup and conference professionalism, and figure out something fun to do.

We ended up taking an Uber to the other side of town, where we visited the Downtown Aquarium and the Meow Wolf art exhibition. 

The Downtown Aquarium was our first stop, and I was thoroughly impressed; my expectations for a Denver aquarium were not that high, but I was blown away. It took us an hour and a half to make our way completely through the aquarium, and the way it was set up to be experienced through different biomes and habitats was so immersive and captivating. We enjoyed looking at tropical fish to Amazonian fish, giant eels, jellyfish, toads, big stingrays, a couple sea turtles, and some giant sand tiger sharks. The tiger sharks were the most impressive things for me to look at, because I love sharks and we rarely get to see them in captive places such as this one. It was amazing to see their teeth and eyes up close and they glided past the glass. The 7th graders I am teaching just finished reading I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis, so I have been in “shark mode” for about a month and a half now. They were awesome to experience. There were supposedly real tigers at the aquarium, too, but I think they were napping when we visited; we couldn’t find them in their exhibit. 

Our next stop was the Meow Wolf: Convergence Station Immersive Art Experience. We walked from the Aquarium to get there, which took us on an amiable path through a nearby park. It took us about 20 minutes to walk to the center. On the way there, I called upon my animal whispering abilities and touched a squirrel who came up to us. I like to think that we are friends, now. This was just a lovely tangent in our adventure. In short, we were completely blown away by the exhibit. Evidently, Meow Wolf has a few different locations around the U.S., and each has a different theme. The theme of this on was Convergence Station, and was arranged around a hub of “arrivals” and “departures” that transported you into different worlds through the use of elevators. The best way I can describe the experience is that it was like walking through a real-life sci-fi book setting. They had actors dressed up as “citizens” from each fantastical world that would go about their own thing and interact with people if we initiated it. There were also a ton of different worlds; it took Alexandra and I two hours to walk through the entirety of the center, and we were not lingering around any one place for long. The amount of imagination that must have gone into creating this is astounding, and it worked to push artistic boundaries in a way that left us feeling inspired and amazed. 

We took a Lyft back to the hotel from Meow Wolf, feeling very satisfied in our experiences. We ate some of the food at the hotel, and then fell asleep for a nap. I woke up to Alexandra saying goodbye on her way out the door to the airport, and after sleeping a bit more myself, I packed my suitcase in preparation for my early morning the next day. 

It has been a great conference, and a wonderful time experiencing all this great critical and creative work alongside writers and students who are very similar to myself. I have thoroughly enjoyed this trip, and hope I have the chance to pursue this opportunity again sometime in the future. Thanks for following along, and happy trails!