We Grow Together, or Year in Review for Sigma Kappa Delta, Psi Alpha Chapter AY 2024-25

Hi all --

I am at Sigma Tau Delta's national conference, which is also where Sigma Kappa Delta meets. Yes, this means I'm currently in Pittsburgh, PA, where I have rejoiced in being able to see trees for miles–not a common sight in the Permian Basin–and enjoyed these large, savory empanadas at an Argentinian restaurant. Sigma Kappa Delta is the English Honor Society for 2 year colleges; I have plenty to tell you about what Odessa College's Psi Alpha chapter has achieved this year. (If you're interested in what we did last year: What we achieved in 23-24.)

First, though, I have to tell you about this conference. There is an energy here unlike any other I've been to. It is packed with undergraduates and graduate students who have already told me about Renaissance literature, modernism, what constitutes a borderland, how to support a literary journal, their original fiction, and more. Officially, it's been barely four hours. Everyone here is eager to illustrate how classes and curricula work for them. Even the best scholars would envy the obvious attention to detail and concern for developing one's thoughts. You can see it in small things sometimes, like how the audience will celebrate every single word a speaker says.

At the opening ceremony, Pittsburgh writers Clare Beams and Diana Khoi Nguyen spoke. Clare Beams read the title story from her collection, "We Show What We Have Learned," where a teacher disintegrates in front of her young students over a series of classes. First an earlobe falls to the ground, then later a chunk of her shoulder. I don't want to spoil too much. The kids have a word–"metal"–which accurately describes the spell she casts. Many discussed Beams' last line, the future is gated and there are tolls to be paid, well after her presentation. Diana Khoi Nguyen talked about her brother's suicide–leading up to it, he was cutting himself out of family portraits–and how she found herself writing within the spaces he left.

I don't think I need to encourage you more to read both writers.

Today, I plan to see some students present and hear Pulitzer winner Natalie Diaz read. Below, I'm writing what our SKD chapter has achieved as one part of my presentation. Another part will detail how our faculty advisors have grown this year.

We Grow Together: Year in Review for Odessa College's Sigma Kappa Delta, Psi Alpha Chapter

I should preface this year in review by saying we're not done yet. There's still a book club meeting where we'll discuss Rilke. A poetry night we're planning. And another issue of the literary journal to publish.

This was my first year as Senior Advisor. I can safely tell you that a lot of my time was spent worrying. Honestly, I'm still worried. It's not that I think someone is going to light a room on fire or something. It's more that we're continually presenting these opportunities to meet, to think together, to celebrate each other. And in a world as abusive as ours–and make no mistake, most of our lives is undoing the damage of unchecked cruelty and aggressive carelessness–I'm concerned that some we need to reach can tune us out.

I can say we've been fighting the good fight in ways that are frankly incredible. We had just begun the school year in August and I don't think we officially had a meeting. Still, two of our members went and volunteered with the Literacy Coalition. When students do that kind of thing, it's humbling. You're just thinking as a teacher about how much more could be done if everyone chipped in a little bit.

The truth is we started the year off in a big way. I remember sitting at a table with Antonio, who represents us at RSO meetings, and Dylan, our resident poet and advisor. This was right before I. and J. volunteered for the Literacy Coalition, and we were just trying to advertise to students who we were, get some to sign up for e-mail updates, and create energy at the table while making sure the wind didn't blow everything away. It seems like such a little thing–every club runs a table at a student activities fair, right?–but it's how you do it that matters. I have no doubt the energy from us doing that has translated into everything else we've done.

We ran a poetry night in fall. We had a Friendsgiving and ate well. We've had two book club meetings, where we've discussed volumes of poetry. We pick favorite poems, put them on a screen, read them aloud and talk about them together. Many of our members participate in the theater department's Cabaret Night. They're getting comfortable with public settings; speaking in front of groups is second nature to many of them. We had a fundraiser with a theme centered around the loot boxes you get in video games. We sold Japanese toy erasers and plastic easter eggs with a literary quote, sticker, and piece of Hi-Chew (official Odessa College SKD candy) in them. The campus showed up for us big time; I'm still in awe at how many contributions we got. We are currently helping with a book drive for a hospital. There are babies which need to be cuddled and read to, and we're trying to get a reading room stocked.

And I haven't even mentioned the literary journal yet. Yes, we published a literary journal, OC Oraciones. This meant collecting submissions, creating and using an editorial process, making decisions about layout and design, and holding a launch party that was one of the most moving things I've been a part of as a teacher. Our contributors read what they had to say aloud in front of family and friends and got feedback in real time from the faculty. You could tell in an instant that college became real for people who had no idea what it was before. You can and should read Issue 1 online.

For me, as Senior Advisor, two things are true. First, how little I actually do is kind of shocking to me. Mallory, our librarian extraordinaire and advisor, took care of the Books for Babies paperwork; J. did enormous work with the boxes for collection. Josh, another advisor, and the editorial board run OC Oraciones. All I do is check in and ask if they need anything. I did virtually nothing to help with the launch party. The other advisors are making sure everyone gets attention, things get done, smart things are actually said, and events which require food have plenty to share. When it comes to meetings, I'm saying less and less, even if it doesn't always feel that way sometimes. I just provide a rough structure and make sure everyone gets a chance to talk. I depend on our members who know student government rules better than I do to understand what the club needs to do.

And that leads to the second thing. If you asked me to tell you what leadership felt like before, I wouldn't have had any clue about this. Yeah, I'm still worried, but there's another feeling. I have to make sure that the people doing the work are represented. That means I do more watching than anything else, but not the kind of watching a micromanager does. In the case of an English Honor Society doing this level of work for an area which values oil far more than literacy, it's something closer to witness.