What Arnoldites Talk About When They Talk About Love

At Arnold Hall’s second Bolton Workshop, we talked about love. We talked about the new loves we discovered in Morgantown and the old loves we left behind in our hometowns. (I took the liberty of compiling lists.)

Morgantown loves: independence, weekends, diversity, new friends, all-you-can-drink Icees in the cafeteria, the locals, acceptance, seasons, college atmosphere, pepperoni rolls, Eliza’s , mountainscape, daily access to NY Times (small town and strict father), Bolton, the Rec, free sporting events, pedestrian lifestyle, Chick-fil-A, opportunities, free activities, the Meal Plan, view of Morgantown from room, the architecture of the old buildings, FOOTBALL, semester long library checkouts, Ogawa

Hometown misses: big and comfy bed, parents picking up the bill, the beach, pork rolls, cats, family, oldie-but-goodie friends, flat roads, AC, homecooking, cable, reliable mail, feeling safe (current shooting at the nightclub Karma), gigantic TV, car, mom’s food, free time, backyard, the lake, museums

After sharing our heart pangs and longings, we fit our love inside fourteen lines which took a lot of deleting because we’ve got big hearts over at Arnold. How does your love measure up?

Come join us on October 24 at 7:30PM for a Halloween themed workshop.

Did I mention cookies?

Pepperoni Rolls or Momma?

What makes you gaga about WVU? What do you miss about home? Spell out your love with a sonnet tonight at Arnold Hall, 7:30PM!

Fieldcrest's First

After much anticipation, our first workshop at Fieldcrest went off without a hitch. We had just enough students to fill the dinner table at the RFL apartment and to have a close knit experience relating home life to Morgantown life. While there's always room for more, we were content in our close group.

Doc ordered some pizza for all of us as a small treat for those who answered the call-- whether it was out of interest, requirement, or just because the RAs made such a good sales pitch. We had some good discussion about the seedy late-night life of Morgantown and how there really is no cooking like home cooking. While we all were tired at the end of our session, Isaac included (see below) I think we all would have stuck around for more socializing if it wasn't for the fire alarm going off for an unexpected drill...

(Isaac at the end of the night...)

I already can't wait for our next workshop.

Workshop Schedule...

Here's our fall line-up of workshops. Check with your RA & RFL for more info. Hope to see you there!

Bennett with Lisa Beans: Sept. 29, Oct. 27, Nov. 3, Dec. 1

Fieldcrest with Ben Bishop: Sept. 20, Oct. 11, Nov. 8, Dec. 6

Brooke with Matt London: Sept. 8, Oct. 20, Nov. 10, Dec. 1

Braxton with Andi Stout: Aug. 30, Sept. 13, Oct. 11, Nov. 1

Dadisman/Stalnaker with Justin Anderson: Sept. 7, Oct. 12, Nov. 9, Nov. 30

Arnold with Connie Pan: Aug. 29, Sept. 26, Oct. 24, Nov. 28

Honors with Rebecca Thomas: Sept. 6, Oct. 4, Nov. 1

Summit with Melissa Atkinson: Sept. 14 & tba

Calliope

This just in from Mark Brazaitis, Director of Creative Writing:

A meeting of all students interested in working on Calliope, WVU's award-winning undergraduate literary magazine, will be held on Tuesday , October 4, at 7:30 in room 130 of Colson Hall. Students interested in the top editorial positions (editor-in-chief, managing editor, fiction editor, poetry editor, etc.) as well as students interested in contributing in other ways to the editorial and publication process are encouraged to attend. No experience is necessary! Enthusiasm is a plus!

Students who are not able to attend the meeting but would like to be on the Calliope staff should email or call the magazine's faculty sponsor, Mark Brazaitis, at Mark.Brazaitis@mail.wvu.edu/304-293-9707.

Preview

We're kicking off our second workshop for Braxton Tower tonight, Sept. 13! We'll be in the Residential Annex. 7-8pm. See you there!

Preview: Have you experienced the PRT? The bus? What's your transportation story?

Flashy Nonfiction

I’m not going to lie; I was nervous as I walked up to Honors Hall on Tuesday. This being my first Bolton, I didn’t know what to expect. What if no one showed up? What if everyone hated the prompt? What if everyone was just plain mean?

My fears were quickly put aside as I stood in the RFL’s book-lined living room. A girl walked in, holding a notebook to her chest. “I can’t wait to write,” she said. I knew then that everything would be fine.

Six students put their homework aside for an hour and joined us at the dining room table. Eating cake and cookies, we wrote in between bites. The topic: dorm life. The rules: 50 words or less. Flash nonfiction. We discussed the importance of each word in writing, and I reminded them how flash fiction or nonfiction makes the writer pay attention to each word. When dealing with only a few words, each word has to carry its own weight. Frivolous words get thrown out quicker than a bowling ball in a sinking canoe.

The time came to share, and after the first student read, I wondered if they even needed any reminders on writing. They covered it all: roommate admiration, budding romance at an open mic, the enticement of chanting coming through open vents, the description of a flyer on a wall, the wonderment of living alone, the dangerous ground of hair spray in bathrooms amongst girls. Each of them reminded me of something that I forgot to mention in my mini-lecture: the importance of a final line. All of them had one final poignant sentence. Yes, I know, the whole students teaching the teacher something has been done, but at times clichés are true.

I left that night almost skipping out of the dorm. After all, any night that combines writing and cake is a pretty successful night in my book.

Next up: Fiction on October 4^th.