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Last year for Valentine’s Day I wore black to mourn the loss of the true meaning of love (and also to mourn my happiness since I was single). This year, I will be visiting my boyfriend’s house and eating popcorn while forcing him to spend hours watching Hallmark movies with me. However, even though I am in a relationship I have a special part in my heart where I harbor my detestation of the popular love holiday. So here are some things about Valentine’s Day that I do NOT love: 1. All that free chocolate makes everyone fat and then the next couple of weeks everyone will be complaining about how fat they are 2. We are forced to consider our own perpetual loneliness if we are not in a relationship 3. True love has become an over-sized, over-priced Walmart teddy bear 4. It is my father’s birthday but everyone who is not immediate family is too busing buying into consumer culture to care 5. Flowers die and make a big mess and use water that could go to kids in Africa 6. Hallmark movies are addicting and are the cause of many sad, lonely people who realize no one who loves them 7. You should love your significant other every day NOT once a year when you remember that your Facebook status says that you are “in a relationship” 8. Love is the essence of transcending the material world, so stop celebrating it with more credit card debt 9. Sexism 10. Saint Valentine was also the Saint of Plague and Disease (Food for thought). So although the day now passed,  just remember Valentine’s is another day of the year and you have every other day of the year to love and be loved (or mourn your loneliness). -Stephanie Thompson, Head of Marketing

This past June I made my way across the Atlantic to visit one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Coliseum. While waiting for my ticket to be purchased to get inside, I made my way to the many vendors set up with various tchotchkes, postcards, and more. A man with a cardboard box hung around his neck approached me and tried to get me to purchase one of his knock- off Rolexes. I told him over and over “No, thank you” but he just couldn’t take that for an answer. Since he hounded me with so many offers, I decided ask him where he was from. He told me that he and many of the other vendors were from Somalia. I then asked him why he was here in Italy, he nonchalantly replied with one word, “Money.” "I need a passport and she needs school: to read.” he said. The man then proceeded to point to a little girl behind him who looked to be about three years old. This was all they had, just a worn out lawn chair, a box of fake Rolexes and what little hope they had left. Thinking about the life I had left for two weeks back at home made me realize how good I had it. My father wasn’t trying to make ends meet by selling watches outside the Coliseum gates. And I knew how to read. I had never been thankful for being able to read. Now with the holidays around the corner, families coming into town, I cannot think of a better tradition to end the holiday season with; being thankful. My friends, my school that has allowed my love for writing to be nurtured, my home, a country where I can speak freely, my mother, my father, everything. Every opportunity that has been put at my feet even if it ended in failure. Everything. And after that trip I began writing in a journal one good thing that happened to me each day- which I still do. Whether it is passing my math test, waking up on time, or learning something new, I know I have something to be thankful for every day. So as I close out this year and ring in the new one I hope that this tradition will continue to open my eyes and allow me to take in so much more of this world. -Madison George, Social Media Editor

The freshness of January is beginning to filter out with the rearing of February’s chilly-weathered days. As we writers sit, bundled in sweaters and scarves and rubbing our hands together for warmth, we know one thing is quickly coming toward us: the dreaded cliché love poems of Valentine’s Day. February is often a time where poignant prose can begin to slip into a gooey, gushy wreck of words. It is understandable for writers to feel the need to put their emotions on paper, but before we begin giving our poems away, we must make sure that they truly evoke what we intend, and we are not just simply writing things we have heard millions of times before. I have found that a key to writing poetry is to not force your words. Poetry shouldn’t be regarded as something extremely strenuous—your words should flow naturally. Often times when I write a poem, I will begin simply by writing without thinking. This often leads to messy line breaks and confusing phrases, but those can always be cleaned up during editing. The most important thing to think about is getting out what you have to say. Each poem must have a clear intent. Otherwise, you will turn readers away because they will have nothing to connect or hold on to. In my own poetry class, my teacher had us find lists of cliché words and then write a poem using every single cliché word in a non-cliché way. We used words such as “dreams,” “wishes,” and “shadows”—all words which are commonly associated with the same feelings in poetry. Dreams and wishes are associated with hope; shadows are associated with looming fear. This is an excellent exercise to try out when fighting against clichés. The exercise makes you turn words on their heads and examine the ways you are using them. The more aware you are of the words you use, the less likely you are to use them in typical ways. Inventiveness is always honored in poetry. The main goal is to keep writing. When you write often and consume as much poetry as possible, your writing will automatically improve. Following these tips will surely prepare you with plenty of pieces to be able to show-off—whether it be to your Valentine, or if you hold off on sharing your work until April, when National Poetry Month will be rolling around. -Raegen Carpenter, Poetry Editor

I never fully understood the meaning of community until I came to Douglas Anderson to study creative writing. Previously, I’d attended an arts middle school for theater, where I found life-long friends and transformed from a shy writer churning out pages and pages of fiction in her free time to a boisterous, enthusiastic performer carrying polished monologues under her belt. I auditioned for both theater and creative writing for Douglas Anderson—the first only to see if I’d get in, and the second with the actual desperate hope of getting in. After being accepted for both, I was forced to make an important decision I’d already subconsciously made years before. Because writing holds much more significance to my personal growth and future, I chose writing. In middle school, my theater community was my first real impression of how it feels to belong somewhere. Here, it’s different. Writing had always been just a side hobby—an art I practiced after everything else that not many people knew was as important to me as it was. But being around writers every day, given the same assignments and struggling through similar issues as I am, who are just as passionate about writing as I am, not only deepened my own passion for writing, but gave me a deeper sense of belonging that I’d never experienced before. I find my Junior Poetry class to be the most unifying. Learning tools such as sound in texture and meter in poetry and the collective excitement my class shares for these tools we’re introduced to that we can now utilize in our poetry, like keys for various locks that remained anonymous freshman and sophomore year, reminds me why I chose to further my study of this art. The community of the Creative Writing Department solidifies my passion for writing and serves as a foundation for exponential growth in my craft that I will carry under my belt for the rest of my life. -Alexis Williams, Junior Editor-in-Chief

They told me that you can never run out of ideas. That writer’s block was a myth. That you can find inspiration if you just try enough. I wish that they had all told me the truth. My biggest concern last year when I was going to be the marketing editor was how was I supposed to come up with creative ideas whenever I wanted to. And now—two commercials, a stockpile of merchandise, and one print book later—I still sometimes worry. Sometimes my fellow members of Élan come and ask me for marketing strategies. They do not know that inspiration rarely comes when I want it to, and sometimes it doesn’t even come when I need it to. I always want the ideas—for writing, for marketing—to come immediately; I want them enter into my mind before I lost the hunger for them. I want to digest them before I forget how the creative spark tastes in my mouth. When I was younger I didn’t have strict boundaries of homework, school, and deadlines. As a senior, I’ve lost some of that urge to be spontaneous, to be willing to sacrifice so much for the sake of something so simple, like finding out what happened to Harry, or if Percy made it to the labyrinth. I used spend hours beneath the covers with a book propped between my elbows, so that I could hold the flashlight and not have to worry about the pages turning on their own accord. I’ve found that sometimes inspiration comes to us when we least expect it; it guides us along the raging rapids of our thoughts so that we can plan the next Homecoming commercial or create a new t-shirt design or even just help a fellow Élan staff member with their marketing goals. -Stephanie Thompson, Head of Marketing

It flabbergasts me to realize this school year only has five more Mondays left. I can still recall my first day in Élan and the year was swollen with plethora of Mondays. Nerves and anxiety rattled my bones. It was the first day of my junior year and expectations were nothing short of homework filled nights and a restless sleep schedule. To make matters worse, I entered a class filled with mostly upperclassmen I had never spoken to. I teetered on the belief that the school year was going to be nothing to look forward to. Flash forward a semester, Élan is preparing for the annual spring online launch. This half of the year, juniors are in foreground of leadership making decisions for the book. I see this as the time period where I really became comfortable with the staff. Staying after school for days on end allowed us to drop our filters and act as if no one else was the room. We all bonded over terrible jokes and our shared love for the production on the computer screens. This was where I stopped looking at myself as part of a staff, and instead as part of a literary family. All year I have been especially nervous about the seniors leaving this magazine in our hands. Uncertainty of whether we all would be ready to take on the responsibility clouded my mind with paranoia. But witnessing the senior editors ask questions and reveal doubt made me realize otherwise. It’s okay if I don’t possess every parcel of knowledge needed to run a literary magazine. That isn’t possible for a single person to accomplish. We’re a team for a reason. Everyone withholds unique skill that when all brought together, creates the necessary ingredients to run Élan. This year alone, our class has totally flipped this magazine around and made more progress with branding our name than ever before. I can only imagine what all will occur next year. --Mariah Abshire, Poetry Editor (& Assistant Editor-in-Chief)

Right now, I am in poetry mode. In school (and at home), I am still writing poetry about weather and what people have lost, and to be honest, it can be really hard to translate that into "fiction mode." It's harder than it seems to switch from line breaks and meaningful pauses to paragraphs and key words. But the key to doing anything is practice. My advice would be to write prose poetry if you are having trouble connecting back to fiction. A prose poem is a poem in all aspects, except it looks exactly like a prose piece. This can be very helpful, as the form of the poem can help stir your mind about "past fictional experiences." Sometimes just seeing a poem in the form of fiction can help to move that block in your head that's screaming "Poetry, give me Poetry!" This is a really effective way to change your view on prose. You can still use some poetic technique in fiction. Imagery? That is what keeps fiction going, and don't even get me started on characterization. Another method to get into fiction mode: read fiction. It sounds simple and it is! Anyone who wants to be better in their craft should read what the professionals write. It just makes sense to read a piece by one of the masters if you want to be a master one day too. So go out and read some fiction. Search a topic that interests you and find a piece that is about that topic. Or find your favorite fiction writer and read their work. What you want to do is immerse yourself in what you are writing. If you always have trouble with plot in your fiction writing, read an author who has great plot technique. By immersing yourself in the classics, you will find your writing getting better over time. So to review, write some prose poetry to help your brain get into the fiction mindset, and read fiction! Once you immerse yourself in the world of fiction, you may just find it hard to leave! - Sarah Buckman, Editor-in-chief

Check out our very first monthly Vlog post! Get a look into how our Editors-In-Chief and lovely teacher sponsor feel about Élan and what it means to them.

I don’t indulge much in relationships outside of my writing. Somehow, it’s easier for me to figure out how people relate to each other when they’re fictional. I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that I have control over those relationships, I can chose how those people meet and get to know each other. Real life is a lot less simple and rarely ever in my control. I can think about a person’s significance in another’s life when I know there’s a set story to follow. Putting two characters into a specific environment and deciding on how they connect to it and each other comes in the larger scheme of things. With my personal life, I never know how it’s going to play out. I’m not sure if it is ever better for me to share something with another person or what will go wrong if I keep my mouth shut. It’s that uncertainty that keeps me from looking too far into actual human relationships. Despite that, I can easily describe my relationship with certain things or ideas. I know that I’m fond of certain things and can’t stand the sight of others, and that I connect very strongly to certain perspectives on societal issues. But take that and apply it to another living, breathing person, and I’ll be too lost to function. I’m not very good with people or the development of relationships. Most of the time it seems like both those things occur in my life by accident, while I’m kind of just dragged along for the ride. It works fine if I take myself out of the equation and throw a few characters in, make a story out of it. Then, I’m suddenly an expert in the realm of feelings and relationships and I can build them all up out of nothing. I suppose it all depends on the medium through which it happens. Real life, not so much. On paper, it’s almost perfect. -Ruvi Gonzalez, Junior Fiction Editor

Poetry isn’t a thing, but a being. It gives voices and confidence to many people that become the very artists that many of us look up to. As a poetry editor on the Élan staff, I made it my goal to commit to more exposure of the art and form of poetry. Throughout April, National Poetry Month, the staff has worked to push poetry out of corners, like lining the hall with poems and even distributing poetry grams. However, one major accomplishment met my goal for the promotion of Poetry Month was to hold a school wide slam. Holding the slam this year was extremely important to me because it was abandoned last year. It was hard for me to watch all of the preparation and promotions go to waste, to watch our audience dwindle until there was no one. This year was like starting over, like taking the hand of a child and teaching them how to walk or speak again after months of practice. Doing the slam this year became a child that whined and wrecked things until it had my full attention. The Poetry Slam grew and matured, becoming a project that held an ample audience that was ready and willing to sit and listen to poetry, letting it take over. I cannot put into words how wonderful it felt to watch each participant go up and give the audience piece after piece, as if to introduce themselves formally as artist with words that matter. The slam was a good way to promote poetry because when you host an event, the people that support are those who love to allow themselves to become one with art. Art is more than a thing, but a being that sprouts an obsession, passion, and true love: poetry. --Brittanie Demps, Poetry Editor

Sophomore year, I decided what my final words would be. Famous and noble men are remembered fondly for their last words. Thomas Jefferson, Marie Antoinette, and countless others have created a legacy through their final sentences. There’s so much pressure to put the right words together, to leave the world with a message that in essence captures a whole person. With all of this in mind, I put some serious thought into what I would say. I added articles and cut out nouns. I frowned at the definitive period at the end of the sentence and stuck my tongue out at my sorry pronoun usage. All of that culminated into what will be my final message to the world: “It was the chicken.” Short, sweet, and to the point of my greasy, characteristically unhealthy diet that will most likely be the cause of my early grave. Don’t judge. The words “It was the chicken,” came from the voice of an elderly woman from a fiction story I wrote. The words were the final statement of her will and this was her way of confessing to killing her husband years earlier. Out of every story I wrote last year, this was the only line that even my friends walked around saying after they read it. Somehow the simple, four word, foodie-induced phrase created a memorable effect. Now that I’m on Élan staff as the Junior Creative Nonfiction Editor, the truth to that statement has never seemed clearer to me. The pieces we read don’t have to have a car chase and a gruesome death. There’s nothing better than writing with subtlety that engrosses you more than the graphic detail given to how someone butters their toast. Strong writing has needs nothing but the words and the essence of the writer themselves. It’s always the not-so-famous last words that make the greatest impact anyways. --Shamiya Anderson, Creative Non-Fiction Editor

Before last year I had considered myself a fiction writer. A storyteller, maybe even a future novelist. I loved reading it and writing some of it but I never had the experience of growth that  I did with other forms of writing. I've always felt like I've never progressed with my fiction. It's almost as if I'm writing on the same level as I was in my freshman year. So, with the semester halfway over and my journey to fiction class is near I have decided to take a new approach to fiction writing. Funny. I always find myself going back to the same topics when writing. Those include children, parenting and coming of age experiences. I try to make mental notes to myself to "change it up!" But it never really happens. But I feel that this year while in my fiction class I can take a humorous route. I enjoy reading funny stories that are light hearted and witty and I think there are plenty out there that still retain literary value in terms of style and technique. Sometimes people may fail to recognize a piece's merit simply because of its subject matter. So, with the new semester on the rise I have challenged myself. Create funny fiction. Whether it be about an awkward first date or a rain dance while making a pie in the kitchen, I'm going to make my stories funny. -Madison George, Social Media Editor