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It is literally my last day in Élan. I won’t enter this room again as Editor, next time I come back I will be a reader. I can submit for as long as I am 18, and I can’t wait to see when the next edition becomes available online. I won’t know exactly how the pieces will be read, and I won’t be standing there arguing over a cover or a page layout. All I have to do is continue to support the magazine. I couldn’t have lead this magazine without the support of the staff. They were so committed, and all work that you submitted this year was in the best hands. They care about this department and publication so much, even when we would slam our heads on the key board and scream about how done we all were- we weren’t really done. All of the staff parties and book launches and we still would never be done, because writers never really finish a piece, and this magazine lives on, so we as long as we have readers and a committed staff Élan will thrive. So thank you for writing, thank your for reading, and above all thank you for believing in us. –Jenn Carter, Editor in Chief

Next year I put my feet in Emily Leitch’s shoes. I’m afraid her shoes may be a few sizes too big to fit my size fives. I’ve tried them on a few times, walked around in them a little bit, but my heel might just slip out of the back. I’ve learned a lot about the tedious process of layout from my own experience with InDesign, but I wouldn’t have learned some of the most important things about placement and design without the help of my senior editor. We had to figure it out together, test the water a little bit, since we were both new to the process. Through this, my eye for what Élan is has effloresced into something intimate because now it means so much to me. The hardest part of this year was definitely starting from scratch and maintaining the continuity and the branding of the book. Once we established our image and tweaked the templates we had a really good idea of what we were going for. I am so proud to be a part of this delicate process because the caliber of our book’s art and writing deserves every bit of dedication and reverence from the staff. I led the design of our spring edition and really got the chance to get my hands dirty in the printer ink and keyboard dust. Designing the book takes a team and without my team of editors there is no way the book could have achieved the greatness it did. I could not be more proud of our print edition. The greatest prize was to see our work evolve into something tangible and professional. I know it will leave a big legacy for Emily Leitch as she departs for college; she deserves every bit of it. I hope that I can stand up to the high standards she’s placed so that next year’s editions can be just as meaningful to the legacy of our book. It’s time to start walking in her shoes. -- Taylor Austell, Layout and Website Editor

Going into this year I was extremely excited to get back into the swing of things. At the end of last year the staff had a really good routine of updating the blog, laying out the book and creating a brand for ourselves and was on the road to launch the new and improved Élan! I have to say that this year has been nothing but good. We have made goals for ourselves and now we are well on our way to accomplishing them. As a senior, I feel like that leaving the staff at the end of the year will be bittersweet. Of course it will sad to leave but I will feel very proud of what I am leaving behind. Taking a lead in both Homecoming and Marketing this year has really inspired me to look into careers like Marketing and Public Relations as well as Event Planning. Mrs. Melanson always says that being on the Élan Staff is like having a job without getting a paycheck. But, being so heavily involved in the planning of Homecoming and really jumping into the Marketing process has made me reconsider my possible career choice. Having marketing meetings, planning and executing our ideas is something that I look forward to and receive extreme satisfaction from. I get a little adrenaline rush when I get to sit down at a table with my agenda flipped to the notes section, my pen in hand.  I think that being on the staff has inspired me to do what I love and what makes me happy. I love the global idea of branding, planning, and being able to work in a team. I look forward to going to Élan and to pick up right where we left off the previous day. I feel that I accomplish a lot personally as well as working with the rest of the staff as a whole.  There is always a sense of true appreciation after leaving second period every day and it’s something that I am going to miss next year. -Madison George, Social Media Editor

I have a thing for rule breakers. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye basically gives the middle finger to background introductions. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road completely ignores the existence of quotation marks. William Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury jumps from perspective to perspective of a dysfunctional family. In a way, the writers that break the rules become the “Gods” of fiction. Their brave and daring choices burn a mark in eternity. Personally as an artist, I try to foil and warp the rules of writing as much as I can. I picture all these rules in a little cardboard box: use punctuation. Use correct grammar. Use one point of view. Have a “proper” beginning, middle, and end. The most ridiculous rule I’ve heard is that writers shouldn’t use alliteration in fiction. The reason for this is that “The story matters first. Don’t try to make the language all frilly. Focus on the plot and characters, etc.” However, I find exquisite worth in a complete story that involves sound devices. I write to make art, not color in a checkbox of “correct tenants of fiction.” Sound devices in general provide so much interest. It is more than okay to be poetic in a fiction paragraph. In fact, it is beautiful. A textured paragraph is like a jalapeño chip. It’s seasoned and spicy and hot. It’s jumping with flavor. As a reader, it makes me want more.  As a writer, it makes me want to create more. Now, I can’t say all this without some disclosure. I’ve trained at art school for writing. I wouldn’t be able to understand the worth and purpose of breaking outside the box if I didn’t place myself in water to swim the basics. Overall, writing comes down to two main things for me: passion and intent. Passion creates life in a piece. I spark on a thing I care about and from there I flavor it with seasonings, such as personification, sound devices, symbolism, etc. Intent comes from deep, spiritual realization. A discovery at the end of a reading journey really wraps the bow on a whole story. It’s the perfect touch. It’s the purpose for reading. It’s the purpose for creation. At the end of the day, I find a purpose within my existence to be an artist. I don’t care about “what’s right” and “what’s wrong.” Stories belong to something that’s larger than society’s box of rules. Traveling the road of “safe fiction” in the land of writing is alright but I’m done being a tourist. If stories are islands, my goal is to climb to the top of a volcano, and splash in the hissing lava. I want to make the words on the page flicker, and I want to make them burn. -Kat Roland, Art Editor

I have never been the type of girl that liked flowers. To me they were always over used and underappreciated. I didn’t have a need for them. But last year my grandmother took me down to black creek and listened to the water flow by and I saw a pink Lotus. It was the first flower that I had ever seen that made me feel something. I felt at peace. Before we left I plucked it from the water and took it home with me. I let it dry out and kept it in a jar on my dresser. After awhile of waking up to it every morning I started to become curious of its meaning. I learned that the lotus represented being at peace in muddy waters. Those few words sparked something in me. I had always been the most negative, cynical person in the room, never giving anything a chance to work out. I was tired of feeling that way but I didn’t know how to separate myself from that familiar, warm lifestyle but that flower and its secret meaning showed me that there could be beauty in the murky as long as you could be at ease with your surroundings. I began to carry that meaning around with me everywhere I went. I let that entire philosophy tangle its way into my life because I had nothing left to lose if it didn’t work out. That was the best decision I ever made. Ever since then I’ve taught myself to breathe before stressing, listen before speaking. I’ve taught myself to accept things as they come and look at things in the brightest light possible. I’ve changed so much in the best year and all my changes have been for the better all because of one simple dried up flower. -Anna Dominguez, Junior Poetry Editor

Lately I have been feeding my identity as a Latino writer by way of absorbing as much Latin American literature as possible. It has been a daunting but rewarding task. In my quest, I have read books of fiction by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, such as the renowned 100 Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera, and currently Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Though I have mostly read fiction, I hope to delve into the realm of poetry fairly soon. When engaging with Latin American texts the common thread of Magic Realism begins to make itself known. This particular genre is very rich and vivid but not for everyone. Due to its fantastical nature and imaginative leaps some claim that it is far too unrealistic, unreasonable, and makes little sense. However, many Latinos agree that the perspective and tradition of Magic Realism speaks directly to their people and collective voice. In Marquez’s 100 Years of Solitude, it is perfectly acceptable that ghosts should appear to give the living company, or that butterflies should follow a character faithfully and, in turn, follow his lover. For me, the beauty of the genre borders poetry, with its slow lulling narrative, and truth concerning matters of life and love. Having been to Mexico several times throughout my life, the genre matches the rhythms and rituals of living and the way people interact in that country. The tradition of this kind of writing fascinates me.  I have tried my hand at writing in this way and will continue to experiment with this style. For me, it seems that reading and writing about the Latin American experience is not only refreshing and exciting but rings true to preserving my culture. -Aracely Medina, Senior Poetry Editor