Michelle Webb, High Plains Student Representative
Salutations from Hays, Kansas. I am Michelle Webb, your newly elected Student Representative for the High Plains Region. Being initiated into Sigma Tau Delta only last November, I am new to the organization, but I am very excited to represent you this year. The High Plains Region is, and always has been, my home. I was raised in eastern Colorado, in a tiny town called Stratton, settled along I-70. I moved a bit farther west into the plains, graduating from an equally tiny town, Wiggins. I love prairie life and found that at Fort Hays State University, (FHSU), I could continue living in a place that feels like home.
I am a senior this year, but no worries; I still have another year to tackle. I have quite a class load, as I am majoring in both English and secondary education as well as minoring in mathematics. Let’s just say my education has been interesting as I’ve had to switch gears—and sometimes grind them—between math and English classes. I will graduate in spring 2011 and enroll in FHSU’s master’s program for the summer term. I eventually plan to attain a Ph.D. in English and teach at a university much like FHSU.
In terms of who I am, well, let’s just say there isn’t much I don’t enjoy. I am a type of person who loves a challenge and who will try anything once. I read for hours by the pool in the summers, and I love jumping dirt bikes and four wheelers on my track back home. My life doesn’t function unless I have my iPod, and I am obsessed with the 1970s band Fleetwood Mac. My favorite area in English is grammar, which would explain why I love both English and math. To me, nothing is greater than diagramming a sentence, teaching/discussing syntax, or correcting those who stray from the rules. Okay, I won’t really correct them; I’ll smile politely as a small piece of me dies inside.
I have some exciting plans for our region this coming year, and I can’t wait to get started. When Azar Nafisi presented at the St. Louis Convention, she got me thinking about ways to “save” literature. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how powerful our project could be; our chapters can band together and impact several communities across our seven-state region. The plan is called The Literature Project, and you can find out more about it in my other article, “Bringing Literature to the High Plains.”
I have set up some ways for us to communicate this upcoming year. The first way is through Facebook. In a friend search, you can type in “Sigma Tau Delta High Plains,” and add that “person” as a friend. You can post any news or keep up with other Sigma Tau Delta chapters. Another way to update our region is through a new blog I have created. This blog will be used to track our progress of The Literature Project. The URL for the blog is http://sigmataudeltahp.blogspot.com/.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at sigmatd.hp@gmail.com. I would love to get to know all of you more, so drop a line or stop by my Facebook page for a quick hello. One of my goals this year is to enhance communication among our chapters, so please keep all of us in the High Plains Region updated on your chapters’ plans and activities. Enjoy what is left of your semester, and hang in there. Summer is just around the corner! - Your SR, Michelle
Janine Brooks, High Plains Associate Student Representative
Hello all:
My name is Janine Brooks. I am the new Associate Student Representative (ASR) to the High Plains Region of Sigma Tau Delta.
I hope I may be an example to others in Sigma Tau Delta who identify themselves as being nontraditional. I returned to college at age 36; I then graduated from the College of St. Mary in 2008 summa cum laude, a Distinguished Scholar, and the recipient of CSM’s first ever ‘Honors’ Medal. I elected to further my education when I was hired by the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) to office-manage its chemistry department.
Presently I am a graduate at UNO working on a master’s degree in English, early British literature and an advanced writing certificate. I hope to continue my studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and earn a Ph.D. in women’s studies. Although I enjoy writing literature, particularly fantasy, I hope someday to work with old manuscripts in an effort to reconstruct the lives of women from the past.
If you link up to me in Facebook, you’ll soon realize that I advocate for change in the state of Nebraska when it comes to the care of children with profound mental illness. I also advocate for adults with autism to receive services that would allow them to live independently in the state. These two causes are dear to my heart as I have an adult-child with autism and dementia and understand the problems these individuals face as both children and adults.
As ASR, I want to encourage better communication between the chapters using the technological tools available to us so that we may better support one another on a regional level. This may sound like a lot of effort on your part, but really it is not.
First, you need access to a computer so that you can have at your fingertips www.English.org to read the newsletters and apply for the scholarships (due at the end of October).
Next, if you have an account on Facebook, you should at least link to the Sigma Tau Delta High Plains group so that you can participate in conversations and keep up-to-date on happenings going on around the region. (If you do not have a Facebook account, perhaps it is time to consider one? (You’d be amazed at how useful you can make the thing be if you want it so!)
Last, you need to occasionally post your ideas or thoughts on the Sigma Tau Delta High Plains wall (or respond to others' posts on the wall) so that others can hear you, and so that great friendships can begin! (In group settings, some people like to call this networking.)
Sadly, I have exceeded the length that I am allowed to write, so I guess I will have to hold my breath now until the fall newsletter. Keep in touch through Facebook. - Your ASR, Janine |
