Emilie is a second-year Grebel Resident in the Honours Psychology and Business Co-Op program, minoring in Peace and Conflict Studies. She enjoys writing both fiction and nonfiction. “Generally, it takes a good prompt for me to get on my way with fiction, but when I’m there I love it, and I tend to take more pride in the finished piece.” However, Emilie explained how non-fiction provides her with a “different kind of satisfaction,” as she puts personal stories, emotions, and experiences into meaningful “words, articulated, existing outside of the mind.”
As students were in the midst of fall 2019 term papers, the GrebelSpeaks team brought their writing expertise to Grebelites in an interactive and peaceful setting. They set up a corner of the dining room dedicated to writing at the College’s evening snack time. Emilie said “the original concept was that people working hard all afternoon could get their paper edited while they had snack. We are editors of the newspaper after all, and I do very much enjoy editing things!” However, after more thought they decided to “nurture a more welcoming environment where people could drop in and hang out for a while.”
“More participation happened on the spontaneous side of things,” noted Emilie. The Writing Café provided topic suggestions to create a way for Grebelites to stop by and de-stress with impromptu creative writing. “I’ve found that a lot of people will participate if they are directly invited to do so.” The prompts were successful and many off-the-cuff poems written during the Café were featured in the next issue of GrebelSpeaks.
Grebel’s Larger Leadership Team (LLT) supports Grebelites as they establish new mediums to support each other and build community. The LLT includes members who represent various clubs and interests within Grebel, including GrebelSpeaks, athletics, and the Peace Society. Grebel student initiatives cater to a wide range of interests, so there are always new ways to make friends and build up the community the College is known for.
Emily hopes the Writing Café will be a reoccurrence around Grebel. “I think there is a lot of room for the idea to grow. As long as it continues to engage members of the community I can see the event itself or a variation of it continuing on after I’ve graduated.” The goal, after all, was to create a “relaxed space where people can write as much or as little as seems fit. A space where someone could drop in and use one of our writing prompts, get creative, or have their paper edited.” This goal was met and appreciated by all who took part. Remembering the beauty of writing in the midst of final projects encourages an appreciation for writing-as-a-method as students return to their academic assignments.
By Elizabeth Robertson