(Photo credit to artist: Anasha Barnes)

I’m hoping to gain a lot of experience from Elan, especially since it requires a lot from a person (in a good way) and is such a big part of both Douglas Anderson and the Creative Writing department. Experience is the key to what allows people to grow and shape into who they are meant to be. I’m hoping to gain at least a little bit of that from Elan because high-school is the prime time to be growing as a person and I know Elan will help me with sharing my thoughts and leading when I need to. Being a confident leader has been a huge struggle of mine for a while. I know Elan will change that.

My position is Junior Digital Media Editor and the biggest thing I’m looking forward to is learning how to grow and expand in the digital world. I’ve never really been a big person to use media as a way to connect to others, so it’ll be very interesting to see how being a part of the Digital Media team will teach me that. Another thing I’m definitely excited about with being on the Digital Media team is having a huge part in how Elan is seen as a whole. That sounds like a huge responsibility, but for me it’s also fun. As someone who runs two of the media pages, I get to
choose the art and what to say. I was very hesitant about taking this job at first because I was like, “Really? Is this for me?” Now I’m beginning to get used to everything I have to do it and not stress as much about what I’m doing.

The main thing that motivated me to join Elan was new experience. I’ve been telling myself that I’ll always put myself out there and do things I don’t feel comfortable with, and being on Elan, I believe, will challenge that. I’ve always had great experiences in Creative Writing, but I also needed something that would be a long-term challenge. Even though I said I’m feeling better right now with what I am doing, not everything is going to be like that all the time. I realize that sometimes it’s going to get stressful or I might be put on the spot for something and I’m willing to accept that because of the experience it will give me.

I see Elan helping me grow a lot. I’ve never really been a person who shares my ideas that much or someone who feel comfortable with leading all the time. I’m always very quiet and shy about sharing my thoughts and feelings. To be on Elan you do have to share sometimes so not everything is building up and you go into a spiral of things you don’t want to do. Being a part of Elan is giving me that chance to grow as a person and fill that role of being comfortable with my ideas and sharing them.

– Catriona Keel, Junior Digital Media Editor

When deciding whether or not I wanted to be a part of Elan I truly took into consideration what I could bring to the publication. For the last five years, I have been writing constantly for my assignments in my creative writing classes. It’s hard to remember a time when I wasn’t in a writing program. It’s become such a normal part of my life and I thought I would continue with the classes I have been taking these past few years. My expectations were I would gradually continue my way through my creative writing courses, adding to the knowledge I already have until I graduate, to possibly take more creative writing courses in college.  And I certainly have been, but Elan brought something different to the table.

Elan gives me a space where I am able to interact with other people’s work, which is extremely beneficial to me. When reading Elan all the work is so professional and well put together, I knew I wanted to be a part of that. To be able to collect all this work from my peers and students internationally and compile it into something that I will be able to keep forever is such a special opportunity. It was something I couldn’t pass up. I knew I had to try to play a role in this publication.

Throughout my time going to an arts middle school and high school, I have always found myself drawn to fiction. It’s something that has always come naturally to me: the ability to create a well-rounded story. Fiction is what I grew up with and found myself forming a liking to through elementary school. Writing has stayed present in my life mostly through fiction, so I knew that being the Fiction editor would be a good position for me.

I only began writing creative nonfiction in my first year at Douglas Anderson, so in the long run it is fairly knew to me, and I found myself having trouble with it. It was like I had made a barrier between how much I can reveal and how much I can keep to myself. Fiction gave me an opportunity to hide behind a character. Last year, when I began reading more creative nonfiction my appreciation for it grew but I still found myself unable to truly reveal moments of my life in a convincing and relatable way.

This is why I think being the creative nonfiction editor for Elan can help me. Reading more creative nonfiction that people like me have written will give me an opportunity to strengthen my skills with the genre. Since I do not have a class that I am writing or reading creative nonfiction in this year, I think this is a good opportunity for me to continue to learn more about it and try to improve my ability to write it. My position in Elan comes with something I am comfortable with: fiction, and something I am uncomfortable with: creative nonfiction. I believe that through my time in Elan I will be able to come to understand both better, and hopefully improve my own.

– Anna Howse, Junior Fiction/CNF Editor

One of the biggest treasures given to me by being on the Elan staff is a complete submission of the art community in my own city. Outside the walls on an art school, where often times it feels like I’m being smothered by teachers telling me the importance of art, Elan has shown me the community it directly aids. I’m no longer a student in a school for creative writing, taking classes to deepen my craft. I’m an artist whose work and dedication is folded into a binding book. Elan has drawn me out of the comfort zone of my school and placed me in middle schools advocating for literature and art galleries presenting amazing art to people who want to see it. I look at local artists differently, at Jacksonville differently, and myself different. Invaluable as precious stones, Elan has demonstrated to me the absolute need I have for art and the need the world has for it too.

Unlike a math or even an English class, the skills I’ve gained in Elan have shown me more about myself than anything else. For example, I can become a leader but I can also be a supported and follower. The many, many, many ups and downs we have had a staff (sometimes we can’t always work as solely friends) has enabled us to meet a professional level of respect. I don’t feel like my voice is snuffed out, and it empowers me just as much when I see my friends succeeded in Elan too. Often times we forget that compromise sometimes can only be reached during discussion, and I think the Elan staff has grown in professional ways along with compassionate ways. We’ve been able to brainstorm together, compile resources together, and create beautiful events (and obviously a beautiful book!) together.

When my time comes to walk away from Elan and let a new year continue without me, I hope to have gained a deeper involvement in my community. I want the artists at my school to be recognized and for the books we produce in Elan to be stretched all over Jacksonville. I hope to gain more knowledge on how to engage with our audiences, to understand the mechanics of marketing a product people in this day and age don’t seem to notice much, and to develop a bigger voice for young artists than the four walls of the Elan room. We already know our voice is loud and our material is powerful, we just need to get it out there.

Along with all the regular responsibilities us Elan staff members have, the seniors have gained junior counterparts to be there for the entire process this year. Last year, some editorial roles had juniors – like the Layout and Design Editor and the Editor in Chief – but this year I, Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Editor, have my own! She’s already proven herself to me that she wants this position to grow just as much as I do, and that she’s ready to take our important editorial role by the horn. I want this mentorship to be a place for her to examine what I do and how I do it so she can soon fire back with her own understandings of the role. I can already tell she’s strong-minded and dedicated, and I’m aware that she won’t need as much help as I would’ve wanted desperately last year when I was a lone editor. It’s going to be a learning process for both of us, me learning how to actually be a mentor to someone and Anna learning to become an editor, but I have no doubt she’ll be successful and give great points and ideas to each discussion as she’s already beginning to do. I plan to never leave her in the dust confused, and I expect her involvement will be just as important as mine in each project we tackle together!

– Valerie Busto, Senior Fiction/CNF Editor