Ouachita Sigma Tau Delta English honor society members present at 2019 annual convention
April 03, 2019
- Ashly StracenerSeven Ouachita Baptist University students presented their academic work at the Sigma
Tau Delta international English honor society’s 2019 national convention in St. Louis
March 27-30. Ouachita chapter members presented academic papers as well as one of
the convention’s 32 roundtable discussions, a first for Ouachita.
Students presenting academic papers were Aaron East, a senior English and history
double major from Royse City, Texas; Haydn Jeffers, a senior English and mass communications
double major from Hot Springs, Ark.; Micah Overstreet, a senior English and Spanish
double major from Sheridan, Ark.; Claire Seale, a junior English major from Little
Rock, Ark.; and Paige Smith, a junior English and political science double major from
Beebe, Ark.
“The Department of Language and Literature is extremely proud of their creativity
and analysis,” said Dr. Amy Sonheim, professor of English and sponsor for Ouachita’s
Sigma Tau Delta chapter. “Their professors enjoy reading their work at Ouachita, so
it is rewarding to have their talents affirmed by unbiased scrutiny.”
“I learned how to overcome my nerves and present a paper to a room packed with students
and professors I’d never met, and I got to see first-hand just how different one person’s
interpretation of a literary work can be from another’s,” Jeffers said. “I was able
to connect with others through those differences, which was an incredibly enlightening
experience.”
Jeffers, Overstreet and Smith – along with Kaitlyn Taylor, a senior English and Spanish
double major from Taylor, Ark., and Laura Ward, a senior English major from Springdale,
Ark. – also led the roundtable discussion “Word Processors: Roleplaying the Writing
Process.” Sonheim said the roundtable was unique to the conference as it was interactive
and taught critical thinking for editors who want to empower writers to see their
own mistakes.
Additionally, and another first for Ouachita, Seale was selected by Sigma Tau Delta
and named Student Representative for the Southwestern Region, which spans from Arkansas
to Arizona. She will correspond with and visit chapters in the region, aid in the
production of regional and Student Leadership Committee publications and attend the
Board Meeting in Las Vegas in the fall.
“Throughout my trip to St. Louis, I was able to be surrounded by people with the same
loves and passions,” Seale said. “It was a fantastic experience to present one of
my creative papers as well as earn the title of Southwestern Student Representative.”
This year’s Sigma Tau Delta convention theme, “Work in Progress,” spoke to the effort
and labor that occurs within the discipline of English. In addition to their presentations,
Ouachita’s students had the opportunity to attend other paper discussions, roundtables,
workshops and hear from two award-winning writers, science-fiction novelist Nnedi
Okorafor and poet Tess Taylor.
“To get to go to an event where there are thousands of other students there and the
MVP is a poet or science-fiction writer validates English majors’ passion for words
and working with words when sometimes we feel as if we’re sort of the grammar police
of the university instead of the creatives or analyzers or the difference makers,”
Sonheim said. “We believe art makes life better, and good art makes life best. The
Sigma Tau Delta conference affirms that.
“Of these seven students, half have been accepted to graduate programs in disciplines
based on language skills – English literature, library science, creative writing and
editing – so this conference was like a B-12 shot for them,” Sonheim continued. “They
will understand that they matter, they count and that the world needs them.”
For more information, contact Dr. Amy Sonheim at sonheima@obu.edu or (870) 245-5552.
By Ashly Stracener // Photo above: Seven students from Ouachita’s Sigma Tau Delta
international English honor society chapter presented their academic work at this
year’s national convention in St. Louis, March 27-30. Front row (from left to right):
Micah Overstreet, Haydn Jeffers and Kaitlyn Taylor. Back row: Claire Seale, Paige
Smith, Aaron East and Laura Ward. Download full size image.
April 3, 2019
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