For junior Brianna Lichtenauer, preparing to enter the Sigma Tau Delta international literary conference was a hectic process.
Upon the suggestion of Adjunct Instructor of English Marti Mihalyi, Lichtenauer spent the days before the deadline combining two works she had written for classes.
“I spent the whole day before scrambling, trying to get them done,” she said.
However, her work paid off.
Lichtenauer, one of two students to attend the conference, received second place in the creative non-fiction category at the conference in Pittsburgh, Pa., for her work “The Absence of Words.”
“It was kind of a brief glimpse of my life with my grandparents and how important they were to me,” she said.
Lichtenauer said her reaction was one of “complete and utter shock” when she learned of her award on the last night of the conference, which lasted from March 28 to March 31.
“I probably sat at the table for a good three minutes not understanding they’d just said my name,” she said.
On the other side of the country, another group of Baker University students were at the National Undergraduate Literature Conference at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.
Professor of English Lucy Price, who accompanied five students to the conference, said the students did well even though there were no prizes awarded at the conference.
“To hear the speakers, to hear other students, to see what other students are doing – I think all that is a valuable experience for undergraduate literature students,” she said. “I think our Baker students realized that they measured up really well.”
Senior Courtney McClain had her poem, “Identity,” selected to be in Weber State’s literary journal, “Metaphor.”
“This is the first time that someone from Baker had been picked, so that really was recognition and honor,” Price said.