This journal showcases exceptional pieces of writing produced by St. John’s University students who took ENG 1000c in the Fall 2013 or Spring 2014 semester. The work displayed in this journal are pieces selected by their professors; some craft complex poetry, or cultivate personal manifestos, while others provide glimpses into their lives through memoir or give voices to their experiences through multi-media hybrid formats that they have designed. All of these students have in common a shared desire to contribute to a conversation allowing for the inclusion of writing in different formats and media in a web-based format. We hope you will give the same consideration to these pieces that the students have given to their carefully chosen words.

Rather than using a linear format where students are listed in alphabetical order, we decided to arrange the contents as a sort of collage. The pieces are meant to complement each other, drawing energy from the contrasts between them. One of the strands we noticed running through these pieces is the strength that writing affords the writer; the empowerment and transformation of the author seems to be a recurring theme. Exploration and discovery were other themes as well, as many of the authors here repeatedly generated insights and learned things in the course of their revisions. We think that these pieces will provoke thought in readers, and inspire respect for the variety of voices that writing can empower.

Thank you for reading!

Noshee Mahmood

Cara Messina

Bailey Robertson