Jenzabar University

BLC Senior: English Major; Communication Minor

Favorite Quote: “Meaning is not what you start with, but what you wind up with.” ~Peter Elbow

Commentary: No matter how difficult it is to write, you just have to keep going. You might surprise yourself or you might not; continuing to write is the hardest battle. To win the war you must not give up on your process.

BLC Junior: Media Arts

Favorite Quote: "Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.” ~Barbara Kingsolver

Commentary: Isolate your thoughts and allow them to flourish, completely oblivious to the outside world. Embrace divergent thinking and challenge conformity. In essence, pursue your creative passions with purity and an everlasting devotion to your truth for you are the only one capable of offering it to the world. 

BLC Junior: English Major, Multimedia Writing Track

Favorite Quote: “The best advice I can give on this is, once it's done, to put it away until you can read it with new eyes. When you're ready, pick it up and read it, as if you've never read it before. If there are things you aren't satisfied with as a reader, go in and fix them as a writer: that's revision." ~Neil Gaiman

Commentary: I can fall into the trap of wanting to perfect my writing in one or two drafts, even though this does not help me grow as a writer or thinker. Real growth happens when I take a step back from my writing and approach revision with a fresh perspective or "new eyes," as Gaiman says. Though my first few drafts of anything might be terrible, it does not mean I'm a bad writer or thinker; it means I have the endless potential to improve and grow! 

BLC Junior: English Major, Spanish Minor

Favorite Quote: "Read, read, read. Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window." ~William Faulkner

Commentary: My family would say that I never needed a reminder to read. As an English major, it often seems that there is pressure to have read all of the literary "classics," most of which I have not read! I appreciate Faulkner's reminder that everything we read has the ability to teach us truths about ourselves and the world, or simply teaches us how to communicate through writing. Everything that we read, just as everything we say or do, has an impact and shapes who we are. 

BLC Junior: English & Religion Majors; Communication Minor

Favorite Quote: "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug" ~ Mark Twain

Commentary: Great writing is impactful; it changes us on a personal level that almost nothing else can reach. The difference between good writing and great writing is in the chosen words. It may seem like picking between Skittles and M&M's, but in reality, you're choosing to hit your reader with a water gun filled with cold water that will wake her up.

BLC Junior: English Major

Favorite Quote: “When you’re writing, you’re trying to find out something which you don’t know. The whole language of writing for me is finding out what you don’t want to know, what you don’t want to find out. But something forces you to anyway.” ~James Baldwin

Commentary: Sometimes when I write, I’m overwhelmed with words. How can I possibly select the appropriate or ideal ones? It’s tempting to walk away from the whole dilemma. Baldwin encourages me (and other writers) to push through. The biggest lesson I’ve learned about writing is that being vulnerable is okay. Whether I am writing about something I am scared to write about. Whether I need to ask for help with my writing. Whether I must find the courage to sit down and crank out the words. As Baldwin suggests, writers must push through anyway.

BLC Junior: English Major; Communication Minor

Favorite Quote: “Perfectionism… is the main obstacle between you and a shi**y first draft…. Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” ~Anne Lamott

Commentary: I’ve often let perfectionism stop me from doing things for fear it might not be good enough. Lamott is right- perfectionism is a main obstacle for many people when it comes to starting things, especially writing. A professor once told me to aim for “good enough” while drafting. Between this advice and Lamott's quote, I am reminded that I need to start typing even if it is garbage. If nothing else, starting somewhere gets the creativity flowing, and once that river is flowing, you can hop on your creativity canoe and paddle to success.

BLC Junior: Media Arts Major; English Minor

Favorite Quote: “Write until you reach the edge of something, whether it’s the world, the community you live in, or your skin.” ~Bhanu Kapil

Commentary: Fear is that great and terrible thing that looms over us all. Don’t let it keep you from writing. Those who hear, understand, and are willing to help are those who matter. Don’t let the judgment of others keep your words hidden. I refuse to. Because when I was writing, slouched on my bed, typing away like a madman in the dark, I found something that matters. The phrase that will save the world. Those words that sliced my skin open in surprise and let fall everything that was hidden in me. I implore you to do the same.

BLC Senior: Mechanical Engineering Major

Favorite Quote: “To look at the work of your peers, and learn how to explain with kindness and precision, the nature of their mistakes is, in fact, how you learn to diagnose your own work.” ~Steve Almond

Commentary: Sometimes being able to put ideas into words can be challenging. By helping others, we can learn what we lack. In that way, by helping others, we also help ourselves.