Declared ‘life-changing’ by spectators, the popular Poetry Slam delighted a packed audience and offered thoughtful reflection on issues dear to students

Wojtanowski, Alexandria

English

HELIN Digital Commons

Students’ Verses Tug at Hearts in Competitive Poetry Slam

DOCS@RWU

Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger11-13-2014Students’ Verses Tug at Hearts in CompetitivePoetry SlamAlexandria WojtanowskiRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationWojtanowski, Alexandria, "Students’ Verses Tug at Hearts in Competitive Poetry Slam" (2014). Featured News Story. 444.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/444 News ArchiveStudents’ Verses Tug at Hearts in CompetitivePoetry SlamDeclared ‘life-changing’ by spectators, the popular Poetry Slam delighted apacked audience and o ered thoughtful re ection on issues dear to studentsDillon Stambaugh performs at the Fall 2014 Poetry Slam ImageCredit: Andrew BurgessNovember 13, 2014 Alexandria Wojtanowski ’15BRISTOL, R.I. – On a typically quiet Thursday evening on campus, one classroom broke the stillnesslast week with a raucous display of artistic creation. One of the most well-attended student events,the 9th biannual Poetry Slam reverberated the auditorium-style classroom with a thunder of poetry,cheering, and music.For a moment, imagine yourself seated inside the room, the anticipation palpable among audiencemembers and “slammers” alike. Every seat and aisle in the room is  lled, with the overspill ofspectators poured out through the hallway, raptly listening to slammers they cannot even see fortwo hours. For the slammers, the energy in the room re ects their minds’ feverish frenzy as theyprepare to perform, a feeling of electricity surging through their veins, testing their  ght-or- ightresponse.But their mettle was already proven via try-outs to make the cut for the Poetry Slam – a highlycompetitive production that has gained so much popularity since Associate Director of the Centerfor Academic Development Karen Bilotti and Omar Reyes ’11 launched it in 2009 that the event nowtakes place each semester wand draws a big audience. All 17 slam poets turned in powerfulperformances, leaving the hardest decision of the night to the judges.Those tasked with the scoring – senior Tim LeBel, Student Senate president; junior PelumiAdegawa, vice-president of the Multi-Cultural Student Union; Amish Trivedi, adjunct Professor ofWriting Studies; Laura Choiniere, service coordinator for Student Accessibility Services and nine-time Poetry Slam judge; KC Ferrara, director of the Feinstein Center for Service Learning andCommunity Engagement; and senior Hy Dinh, a mechanical engineering major with a love ofliterature – apportioned 60 percent to written content and 40 percent to performance. SeniorGrace Ahl, a previous slam champ, hosted the event, which was sponsored by the Writing Center,Student Programs & Leadership, Multicultural Student Union, WQRI, Media Services and StudentAdvocacy.Encouraged to stand up from their seats when they felt moved by a poet, audience members‘voted’ for their favorites with their feet. By the end, everyone stood to applause all of the night’sslammers, which saw sophomore Jared Clough claim victory as slam champ a second time – the  rstas a freshman sweeping last fall’s Poetry Slam. And as further testimony to this venerated campusa air, spectators later pronounced the verses uttered by student poets to be heart-rending and “life-changing.”From among the many talented student-poets that evening, here is a sample of the slammers’ verse:“We used to be able to adapt without portraying our emotions through sel es and Snapchats,without hiding behind our voices on Twitter and Yik Yak until we successfully delete our identity… Every day we become more numb to what’s real, convincing ourselves that we are lesscon icted by ignoring the fact that we are now more addicted … I am  esh; I am machine. Now Iknow what it means to be a paradox.” – Jared Clough ’17  Women are never allowed to speak candidly about the demons that haunt our minds; we tellpretty lies and spin metaphors out of the strands of the truth … we don’t want to make anyoneuncomfortable because of the horrors that make us afraid to leave the house at night … I am sofucking sick of comparing myself to a garden, or a temple, when an ashtray of a boy made mefeel like nothing that beautiful.” – Grace Napoli ’17  “If it weren’t for depression I would have never opened my heart up to the world and I’d still bethat cynical kid dragging my feet, cursing the air that I breathe. Sometimes it’s important toremind yourself, I’ve come a long way.” – Perry Maltese ’15  “She walks with self-consciousness, seeking prominence. Her ca eine- and nicotine-inducedheart is colder than her wet moccasins … She groans over her paper on female behavior andsub-tweets about her haters like ‘kk talk to you later.’ Her baby blue eyes gaze at the worldaround her, cutting diamonds with looks that could slash tires and deep-fry  ounder. And sheseems weak, but she’s hardly asleep in her seat.” – Jon Perlstein ’16  “And then I realize I’m by myself. Alone. In the dark, staring at the moon and wondering if youare, too. And I hope you are. Because at least for that moment, we’re together.” – RJ Sco eld ’15  “Ignorance is trained, it’s not ingrained in our brains. It’s the way we are raised: to see the ugly,not the beauty in the faces of the hungry. They deserved it, they earned it – a life of endlesspoverty. You tell yourself this noble lie to clear your conscience instead of your pocket.” – JenIacobino ’15  “What’s so wrong with being vulnerable? Why are we all so uncomfortable with sharing thethoughts locked inside the back of our minds – the things that pump our fears and insecurities,from our beating hearts to our numbing extremities. If you ever need a remedy, for depression,anxiety, or something petty, talk to a friend; and if you can’t  nd any, you can come tell meanything, ‘cause there’s no reason to leave words unsaid.” – Nick Andrews 16’  “Words that have no place in conversation because their mention stinks like a bowl of spoiledmistakes. Set  re to those words in your head like a bundle of sticks and watch, smiling with avictorious sneer, as all the hate they embody dissipates into a glorious gust of wind, bringingforth some change.” – Connor Sweet ’16  “Adulthood places its hands on everyone eventually … I’m not going to lie – being an adultscares the living shit out of me. But I know who I am, and your youth is a fever you can’t cool. Andyeah, age is a number. But I’ll tell you what – all the cigarettes and scratch tickets in the worldaren’t going to make me old before I say so.” – Nicola Alexander ’18  “If you see a man in a turban or a woman in a headdress, let’s stop whispering ‘They’reoppressed.’ Let’s stop thinking that they’re a threat. Let’s show them some damn respect. Let’strust them as equals and friends. Just because they pray to a di erent heavenly father, doesn’tmake them a martyr. It doesn’t make you a target. If fear is your main prescription, than visit adi erent doctor.” – Jesse Ramos ’14 (intermission slammer and former host)

https://docs.rwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1443&amp;context=weekatroger_featured_news

Students’ Verses Tug at Hearts in Competitive Poetry Slam

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

HELIN Digital Commons

DOCS@RWU