PAST STAFF - WINTER 2021 

I am more Amy March than any person has ever been Amy March.

Margaret Adams is a Psychology major and Rhetoric and Writing minor from New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition to her work with Vermilion, she writes for CUA’s student newspaper, The Tower, and has recently been named Quill Editor. She enjoys reading, writing, and looking at pictures of her dog, Bella. 

Matthew Sawtelle is a junior philosophy major from Dallas, Texas. He loves poetry, and he delights the most when reading formal poets like Timothy Steele, James Matthew Wilson, and Robert Frost. When not boring someone to death by talking about the infinite rhythmical variation possible within a line of iambic pentameter, he enjoys reading St. Augustine in Latin and acting like he knows Greek. Matthew hopes to help the CUA community develop a passionate writing culture, and his dream is that Vermilion will inspire people to fall in love with creative writing. 

Quotes that describe me much better than I could:

• “I am very small. And I have no money. So you can imagine the type of stress I am under.” ~John Mulaney

• “If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is a grass in the beginning.” ~Vincent Van Gogh

• “Treat people with kindness.”   ~ Harry Styles

• “With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” ~Oscar Wilde

I hate writing about myself so I’ve been sitting in this uncomfortably cheap desk chair getting slapped in the face by my blinking cursor thinking, “Should I start with my major or my grade?” So I suppose I’ll just get it out of the way and say I’m an English major and a senior and I like writing stories sometimes when I feel inspired. 

I have written myself as many manifestations: grass, a Siren, shredded skin, a fairy, roadkill, a pair of eyes and a forearm, a spinster, a Greek myth, a red hunting hat, the sun, the moon, a math equation, and a dream thing. You are what you eat; I swallow books whole. In actuality, this is all you need to know about me. Empirically, I am a senior English major who will one day be a poet and novelist. So please, if you still want to know more about me, just read my writing. It holds the most honest pieces of myself. 

Welcome to my scattered brain that is filled to the absolute brim with useless knowledge on anything from the history of electricity to Salvador Dali's sleep patterns.  This knowledge runs on a steady stream of caffeine and is supported by my English and Biology majors.  This brain has an intense interest in all books especially fantasy and classics, music from any genre except country and beautiful and intriguing art.  I am a senior. 

Nicole Cicippio is a junior English major and Criminology minor from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. She is Creative Non-Fiction Editor for Vermilion, Managing Editor of Inventio, an undergraduate tutor in the Writing Center, and Marketing Manager for the History Club. Nicole loves getting lost in a good book, sneaking away to write, and the use of pathetic fallacy in literature. She also enjoys spending time with family and friends, creative writing, and oat milk in her coffee. Nicole hopes to one day author a book on the shelves at Barnes and Noble. 

Madeline Mustin, Dramatic and Visual Arts Editor, is a junior English major and Drama/Media Studies minor from Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to working on Vermilion’s student editorial board, she remains involved on campus through the Catholic University Orientation Program, Notes of Kindness club, Campus Ministry, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, and Centerstage Theatre Company. When she is not studying, she enjoys singing, reading, writing poetry, and exploring film sets, and she would certainly never refuse a random city adventure, Harry Potter movie marathon, or rich matcha latte to top things off! She ecstatically and excitedly looks forward to the inaugural issue of Vermilion and eagerly awaits the show-stopping, scene-stealing submissions to come! She would like to thank Dr. Okuma, her fellow team members, and the CUA community at large for embracing this new, unique opportunity to foster and strengthen creativity, love for literature, and passion for the arts.