Sigma Tau Delta 2023 National Convention: Day Four

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 derived meaning from life and people. It was utterly fascinating, and two of the panelists in this session received awards at the end of the conference. 

After chairing my session, we had a chunk of free time that lasted a few hours, so we went back to the hotel room to idly work on homework and nap, or alternate between the two. The nap felt great and we ate our leftover empanadas before. 

After rising from our slumber, we went to our next sessions. Alexandra went to a reading of a few selections of creative nonfiction that dealt with depicting relationships, and I went to another poetry-centered session called “Body-Shaped Poems” and that featured authors reading their collections of poetry that in one way or another placed central importance on the corporeal human body toward some greater meaning or value, usually from some altered or unexpected point of view. It was fascinating, and the words these poets used were incredibly rich and vibrant. 

Next came the Keynote Address given by Brenda Peynado, author of The Rock Eaters. I finished the book on Wednesday and enjoyed it very much, so I was happy to be able to hear her speak such powerful words. She did a wonderful job and answered questions eloquently about the book. I was able to get my own copy of the book signed with a little note, albeit by standing in line for over an hour. Upon taking individually with her, she suggested that I apply for the MFA program at Houston, where she is a professor, after I finish my MA degree. She is a very thoughtful and genuine person, and listening to her was enlightening.

After this, we went back to the room to keep trucking along with homework before trivia. At 8:00 PM, we spent two hours in a giant ballroom plying Kahoot with 42 other teams. Though we were never able to make it in the top 3 for prizes (the closest we came was 8th), the questions were fun to think about; they were super specific and made us wonder if we were still good English majors by not knowing them. 

After trivia, I called Griffen and kept working on a Fellowship Application for the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society. It was a great way to end the day, by talking with him about his day. I finished the application late at night and went to bed exhausted. It might be hard to get up in time tomorrow morning. 

That’s all for today! Happy trails!