A Note From The Editors
By Rachel Bing ‘15, Kaitlyn Sharp ‘14 & Dana Wolthuizen ‘15
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the 34th edition of The Writing Anthology.
We are very excited to share this year’s publication with you. After reviewing nearly fifty submissions, we selected the following thirteen pieces to be featured in the anthology. The difficulty of this selection process is a testament to the excellent quality of student writing at Central College, and we are proud to see all the hard work put in by our peers.
The strength of many of the chosen essays lies within the powerful connections the writers make between different themes, experiences, and concepts. As a result, we wanted to design the anthology in a way that would reflect the connections between the ideas presented in these diverse pieces. The first seven essays are centered around how humans and objects are affected by external factors ranging from art, political conflict, death, and religion. In the next five pieces, we feel that the authors explore how they affect our natural environment and in turn how it transforms us.
The author of the final essay wrestles with her identity and the change within herself as she matures. We can learn valuable lessons from each author regarding how we as humans are altered by our external, natural, and internal environment. We hope you find the progression of this year’s edition meaningful while reading these exemplary pieces.
Each year we select an author as the recipient of the John Allen Award for the best example of student writing. This year, we are pleased to announce that Mycaela Crouse will receive this honor for her insightful essay grappling with her sense of home and its social and natural history in “Vandalia.”
We want to congratulate all of the student authors: thank you once more for your exceptional work. We would also like to thank the professors who took notice and submitted these essays to the Writing Anthology. We specifically offer thanks to our faculty advisors, Dr. Walter Cannon and Dr. Paul Kovacovic. Your expertise, guidance, and support throughout this process have been greatly appreciated.
Additionally, we would like to thank Professor Mat Kelly and all of the talented artists for their outstanding contributions. We would particularly like to thank Kathryn Zaffiro, who provided the cover art with her piece “Bubble Colors.” Finally, we would like to thank Steffanie Bonnstetter, project director for Central College Communications.
Again, thank you to all who made this year’s publication possible. We simply couldn’t do it without you.
Happy reading!