So, readers, how many of you have ambitions? I’m not talking about dreams of becoming a banker, or an engineer. No, I’m talking about those dreams you had as a child. Like when you used to say, “I want to be the president of the USA.”
Those were the times when ambition was unbridled, and our imaginations roamed free. On April 16th we were graced with the presence of someone who achieved her dreams and becomes a famous author: Melissa de la Cruz. Thanks to the Mochila Review for bringing her to campus. Though it isn’t filled with heartbreaking hardships, her story gave hope to writers and aspiring novelists. It wasn’t a tale of luck like J. K. Rowling, who has written an incredible series herself, but it was very realistic. Melissa started out writing while working as a programmer. After her writing started to take off, she then went back to school and acquired an MA degree in English. And now look at her; she’s written 45 books. Some of which have been adapted to television and movies. While adaptations seem to take on a slightly different light than the original text, it is every writer’s dreams to see their work come to life. And Melissa de la Cruz shows us that this is actually possible; even if you have to publish almost fifty books to do it.
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By: Daniel Holaday
A lot of people ask me why I’m pursuing a degree in English. Luckily, I’ve been supported in my journey by my friends and family, but it isn’t always that way. We can’t deny that the world needs engineers, doctors, scientists, and business men. These roles, and many others, are extremely necessary to our modern society, but does the study of our written and spoken word insignificantly compared to these others? Over the last few years of my studies I have learned two things: One, people are having a more difficulty than ever when it comes to actually expressing thoughts and ideas. Two, the world would be a lot more boring without content developed by creative writers, designers, and directors. My cousin is an engineering student at UMKC. I love him, and always try to do whatever I can to assist him in his efforts to succeed. That being said, he is less than skilled when it comes to writing his papers, and sometimes he doesn’t have the right words to convey his point. As a future engineer, his words need to carry a certain weight. Especially because engineering firms compete for high-level contracts all the time. During a presentation to a client, one wrong or misplaced word could be enough to lose their patronage. This applies to all company/client relationships. So, there is an ultimatum: either work extensively on your own language skills, or utilize a language specialist. By Daniel Holaday
Things are getting pretty dicey around this time of year, Missouri Western. Deadlines for project, papers, and even the dreaded finals are at our doorstep. Fear not, for if we continue our course through this field of strife there is a silver lining. Well, two silver linings. One, you’re that much closer to achieving the goal of owning a piece of paper. I would hope that you’re an expert on whatever that degree says you are, but so long as you have gained the required skills then it’ll likely turn out fine. Two, summer is just around the corner. We here in Northwest Missouri, are so tired of winter, and it’s been a long and dreary one. Usually, I’m a fan of the cold, but this season has been jarring. More times than I can count, we’ve had alternating warm and cold days. We, as humans, adapt to weather conditions to a degree. However, when the weather bounces back and forth like an eight-year-old on a Halloween sugar high that adaption is thrown out the window. If you think I’m crazy look at mother nature’s April fools gift of snow on Easter. I’ve lived in Missouri for around fourteen years, and I’ve never seen snow on Easter. Plans were ruined, and roads were slick. Not a great Easter by most standards. So, from all of us here in Missouri: Mother nature, please just move on with the seasons. By Daniel Holaday
Attention Missouri Western, we are in the home stretch. These semesters can wear on some of us, but the horizon is in sight. Whether you are cheering or cramming, I think everyone is looking forward to a time where no deadlines need to be met. To those of you that have survived this year, I commend you. Many of us college students have things outside school as well that add to the burden we have to deal with. Families, jobs, volunteer activities, and regular chores are things that everyone has to do to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Personally, I think that the mothers that are pursuing an education are incredible. In the majority of cases, I’ve seen them working, raising kids and doing their school work. My own mother went to college, but never received anything higher than an associates in general education. I love her to death, and I have seen the amount of work she does to keep the family running smoothly. If I take that and apply what work she does for the family, and then add on work and college, let’s just say that many of us guys out there would go insane in a week’s time. So, for those of you that still live near or under your mother’s wing, do something nice for her. Make her breakfast or handle some of the chores for her this week because she did a lot to get herself and you here. By: Daniel Holladay
Hello, again Missouri Western. In the last post, I spoke of several interesting mascots from various high schools. I asked questions like, why would you choose that? But then it dawned on me, why did we choose the Griffon as our mascot? With the help of Jackie Burns and our librarians, I found a yearbook entry from 1923. This yearbook tells a metaphorical story of why the Griffon came to MWSU. “Junior College needed a griffon to guard the ‘dreams’ that their 'treasurers of high ideals and hopes…meant someday to realize,'" Frances Flanagan writes in Missouri Western State College: A History 1915-83. This sounds nice, but I still wondered: why a Griffon? Mythical beasts such as dragons or phoenixes would make splendid guardians as well. According to Flanagan, there is actually a very good reason. A student from the class of 1918 by the name of Norman Knight chose the Griffon because it is the "[m]ythical guardian of buried treasure...” The first things that came to mind when I heard 'buried treasure' were pirates. But, that was definitely not where Knight was going with this. He believed that “education is a buried treasure obtainable only through hard ‘digging.'” So, we got the guardian of buried treasure to ‘protect’ those who wished to work hard to unearth an education. which is awesome if you think about it. By Daniel Holaday
I was thinking about some things this weekend while I was preparing to write this blog. To be more specific, I was thinking about the different mascots and team names that we give ourselves in schools. I have gone from being a Husky, to a Trojan, then I became an Eagle before bearing the moniker of a Monarch. Now, I call myself a Griffon. Aside from the title of Monarch (which can be defined as a king or a butterfly), I believe that all of my school mascots have been pretty awesome. The thought occurred to me that others may not have been so lucky, and that’s when I decided to google the worst school mascots. On the Buzzfeed article, "25 High School Mascots That'll Make You Say 'Wait, What?'," it was apparent that some school founders might have benefited from the creative help of writers. Before I get started pulling names out of a list of 25, I don’t think these are bad names or mascots. I just find that they don’t carry the same weight as when someone says, “Here come the Griffons!” For reasons of common immaturity, I’m going to start and say the Cornjerkers made my top five. Coming in fourth place, we have a team named the Poca Dots, yeah, their mascot is a Polka Dot… In third place, the Kewpies. Their mascot is a baby, which is sure to incite fear from the other team. Following in second, we have the Nimrods. They literally named themselves idiots by common understanding. And my first place pick out of this list, the Zizzers. It’s not even a word, come on people. By Daniel Holaday
Welcome back Missouri Western writers and readers. I was thinking, does it ever occur to anyone that writing affects us in incredible ways? I would go as far to say that fiction has affected us all more than we know, or maybe it would be more accurate to say more than we think about. Many of us know that stories like Star Trek and Star Wars have inspired scientists and engineers to make innovations. These innovations have led to devices that have now become an integral part of our society today. These range anywhere from the smartphones most of us carry every day to programs like FaceTime and Skype, which are inspired by the data pads and screens that the captains used to negotiate with enemies and allies alike. All of which originated as the idle musings of Science Fiction authors and screenplay writers. What I find even more unbelievable is that fantasy is also playing a role in today’s society. Creatures that have no place in our world pop up in movies and games alike. Even more impressive is the fact that sports teams have employed people to dance around and behave similarly to these mythical beasts. Our University is no exception as we claim the mighty and wise Griffon as our avatar. This Mascot and University icon is on almost every building, piece of paperwork, and monument that we’ve constructed. To me, the most fascinating part of this whole thing is that someone long ago conceptualized the Griffon. This early author developed a mythological creature that has now been immortalized by our University. Now, everywhere you go on campus, there will always be our proud symbol: The Griffon. By Daniel Holaday
Hello Missouri Western students, aspiring authors, and casual readers. We here at Canvas are excited to announce our new blog. What’s Canvas you ask? Well, that’s a great question. The short answer is that we’re a literary magazine that publishes works from Missouri Western students, staff, and alumni. We accept various types of literature such as: sheet music, short stories, poetry, artwork, photography, creative essays, excerpts from a chapter book that you might be writing…etc. If it’s creative, can be formatted to fit inside a book, and is approved by the members of Canvas, it can be published. Why should you care: That’s another valid question, and I’ll counter it with this: how does your resume look? Let me be clear, I am not going to mock anyone for what they have compiled about their life onto one or two pieces of paper. If you have a perfect resume, that’s great, but you know what would make that paper pop for perspective employers? In case you haven’t guessed where I’m going with this, I’m talking about marketing yourself as an individual who has had their work published. There are thousands upon thousands of resumes in circulation with retail or fast food on them, but there are far fewer that hold the accomplishment of being published. So, if you have any creative pieces you’re interested in submitting for publication, email them to [email protected] for review. |
AuthorDaniel Holaday is the blog writer for Canvas, Missouri Western State University's literary journal. Archives
April 2018
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