Category: Craft

Moving Forward

I’old-computerm seeing right down the barrel of InDesign already, even though the adulthood is in my peripheral vision. With a new year comes a new focus, and I couldn’t be more excited about taking the sole leadership in Élan’s Layout and Design editorial position. I wouldn’t feel as ready as I do now to fight the computer’s quirks and glitches, without the life lessons I learned from my former lead editor, Emily Leitch. I’m waiting to receive a successor of my own to continue the lovely tradition of “layout lessons.” It’s the feature that brings this staff together over the painstaking, sophisticated masterpiece that is Élan.

Last year, right at the final stage of the yearly print edition – the very last day of school – we lost our computer just as we hit save. It was probably the most tragic thing to ever happen all year. That computer was a real dinosaur, I’m sure you’ve seen one half its age at most. There’s no telling how much blood was shed from the nail biting minutes of anxious saving, how many tears fell from the disparity of a frozen screen, or the sweat drops that rolled down the furrowed ‘brow of the crazy-eyed perfectionist. That computer was the diabetic heartbeat of Élan for the first year of true continuity.

It will be greatly missed.

But this year, as I walk into the classroom empty handed, I am fully minded. I am going to do everything I know how to do to continue making our publication carry the inspirational individuality and professional beauty that our breathtaking art and writing are worthy of.

I’m here to show the world that Élan is not just an impressive magazine made in the corner of a library after school, but a true representation of the merit brilliant teenage artists deserve.

-Taylor Austell, Layout and Design Editor 

Jumping In

20140928_111635(4)-1 (2)I –like so many others on this staff- am new to Élan this year. What sets my experience apart from others, however, is that my role, my small piece of this literary magazine puzzle, is as new as I am.

After the first few days of class once meetings were held and staff positions decided on, we each were given a letter, a sort of welcome to your job/ this is how you do it kind of packet written by the amazing group of students who came before us. I was handed a packet not for my position as Web Editor, but one that was deemed “close.” I had mixed emotions about it. On one hand, I was excited to be trusted in fulfilling an unchartered editorial job, on the other hand, I felt a little like I was being pushed off of a dock before I knew how to swim.

Over the course of these first weeks, before submissions come pouring in and we’re up to our knees in department events, I’ve mostly been learning and experimenting. Running a website, I’ve come to realize, is a lot of work, a lot of trial and error. Learning the system has been a very positive experience, thanks to the lovely and talented Taylor Austell. I now know how to maintain the great standards that already exist, and have developed things I’d like to change.

I’m the kind of person who has to use the same pen until its ink runs dry, who organizes her closet not only by clothing type but color and shade as well. That being said, I jumped at the idea of enhancing our Blog. I created a rotating schedule, varied by position and grade, and decided that we should have monthly themes. September, of course, has been all about new beginnings and a fresh school year. I believe we have a website to be proud of, and our blog has great potential. It’s important that our audience not only sees the product of our labors, but can also read the product of our words. The Élan staff has plenty to say.

Feel free to walk on this literary journey with us, not only by reading the gifted student work we publish, but by taking a look behind the scenes. Share our troubles and triumphs, laugh at our mistakes as we learn and grow, and maybe –hopefully- take a little something back with you.

-Savannah Thanscheidt, Web Editor 

Becoming Involved

This year is my first year on the Élan staff and I’m so excited to be a part of something so huge. I wanted to be put on Élan for many reasons but the biggest would be that I wanted to be deeply involved with the Creative Writing department. I had never really felt like I was apart of the department in the ways I wanted to be. I never helped with candy sells or anything that benefitted the department as a whole but the past year showed me that I really did want to be a part of this in any way I could. Seeing everything the Creative Writing department does for us, such as Writer’s Festival, I was able to realize that I wanted to give back in a sense. I’m willing to put my all into the department and see what comes of it.

Last year I didn’t think there would be any way I would be put on the Élan staff because I had never really shown an interest in the department, let alone Élan but somehow I was lucky enough to be picked. I take great pride in knowing that I was one of the few lucky enough to be given this opportunity. I want to do anything possible this year to make my role matter. I want to learn and take in as much as possible because this is such a great opportunity and experience.

I was positioned as junior poetry editor this year in Élan and I’m excited to see what I can add to that role to make the poetry section even better. Not only does this give me the chance to make it better but I’m also getting to surround myself with work from other writers. I have a deep passion for poetry and being given this opportunity allows me to grow as a writer as well as an individual. This is giving me the sense of responsibility that I have always craved and I’m excited to see how far that can take me this year.

-Anna Dominguez, Junior Poetry Editor