Post #11 of my English Class: Literary Contest Awards Ceremony Reflection

On Wednesday, April 9 I attended to the 47th Annual Literary Contest Awards Ceremony. It was in one of the General Studies Amphitheaters and that place was perfect for that. First of all Dr. James Penner presented himself as the Literary Contest Coordinator and as the host of the ceremony. He also describe the contest and named each judge. Then, a representative of the Dean of General Studies spoke. Later on, the professor of my Journey in Literature Class and the Chair of the English Department, Dr. Cynthia Pittmann gave an speech about morning writing. She emphasized that the morning practice in writing is very important because you have fresh thoughts about yourself, it helps you to know what is bothering you and you discover hiding feelings and motivations. After her, the university chorus "Tuna" gave us some minutes of entertainment. they were really awesome I love especially one of the song that talks about the university and the professors and it was really nice to heard them.  

The keynote speaker was Dr. Elsa Luciano and it was really great listen to her because she said some interesting things that I never really thought about it. I like it so much when she said: "to be a writer you most are a reader" and it so true because while you read you acquire vocabulary and it stimulate your imagination for your own writing. Other thing that I really liked is when she talks about writing about the things that you want to learn more about it, because I never see it that way and most people write about what are they are good at it. Finally, I was surprised when she said that she have a group to share blogs because I am doing that in my English Class. Also, at the end she ask me about my blog and request my blog link.

Finally, they mention the winners. The contest was divide in three categories: poetry, essay and short story. In each category they had three places and two honorable mention, but in poetry the first prize was named Mark Wekander Prize for Poetry because the contest was dedicated to him. Overall, I think it was a awesome way to attract the students to write. The activity it must be memorable for the ones who won because it is such a prestige to won a contest of the English Department for writers.