How Far We’ve Come

The writers arrived at the Beach Museum today finding our theater space looking slightly different than the rest of the week. The reality of our reading began sinking in when they looked out to see auditorium style seating, rather than our more classroom-like tables and atmosphere. The end of the week seemed to sneak up on all of us, but as the staff reflected on the journey, we were all so impressed with the talent and growth of our young writers.

The question to begin our day read: “What was your favorite part of the Young Writers’ Workshop?”

Our answers included:

• Hearing and learning from the professional writers
• Learning to write on a higher level
• Finding out I was good at poetry
• All the fun activities and our group song
• EVERYTHING!

The positive remarks written here were just the start of an emotional, celebratory final day with our writers.

The writers completed a selfie scavenger hunt across campus to start the morning, searching to find various landmarks across campus, including the Martin Luther King Jr. bust, the WW II Memorial, and the “fork” statue outside of Leadership. Check out some pictures from the morning below!

ERB

The Aviators

Apollo 11

It may have been a warm morning, but we hustled across campus, making sure to keep hydrated, and met up at the All Faiths Chapel to practice reading our writing in a new setting. Our journey around campus also entailed a stop at the Union, where our writers got a chance to seek out cool writing spaces. The afternoon arrived quickly, so we headed back to the Beach for lunch, group pictures, and final preparation for our reading.

 Apollo 11

ERB

The Aviators

We filled the Beach Museum’s theater with family, friends, and K-State professors and staff, and our writers braved reading their works publicly with grace and poise. Be on the lookout tomorrow for a blog post consisting of those individual pictures from the reading.

Today, the staff of the Young Writers’ Workshop thanks all those who help make this workshop possible. We’re all grateful for the experience and for the opportunity to play a role in the lives of these young writers.

And thank you, for reading along.

—Noelle Braaten, Program Assistant