Table of Contents

Student Writing

More Writing at SLU

Alumni Accomplishments

The Kenya Connection

Antarctica

Paperweight Collection

Index

On Their Own

Several students engaged in independent and honors writing projects through the English department last year. Among them:

• Jessica Baker '04 worked on a novel she calls Nirvana According to Gillian, as a multi-semester independent project, with plans to convert it to an honors project this year. She commends Prof. Peter Bailey for his help and suggestions, even while on sabbatical. "The independent project has been one of my more fulfilling experiences at St. Lawrence," Baker said.
• Sarah Cook '03 worked with Prof. Susan Ward on an independent project in feature writing; her principal product was an in-depth article on the gay community on campus. "The extent to which the faculty go out of their way to accommodate students in their academic pursuits is unparalleled," she says.
• Not everybody has a grandfather who is a classical music composer. But Wendy Scharf '03 does. Her grandfather, Robert Washburn, is dean emeritus of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam as well as an accomplished composer. She wrote his biography for her senior independent project. "I've always written stories about my family, so when I learned I could turn writing my grandfather's biography into an independent project, I went for it," Scharf says.
• "Once upon a time, at a college not unlike St. Lawrence, there was a girl..." could be the opening for the collection of short stories that senior Sarah Tolcser completed for her English honors project. The stories, all with a college theme, were inspired by many of her experiences at St. Lawrence. Heather Sellers became Tolcser's honors project advisor; "she taught me a lot about plot structure and the revision process," says Tolcer, who begins law school this fall.
• Next Stop, The Silver Screen: Juniors Andy Bates, Josh Wyman, and his brother Travis Wyman hadn't had enough of screenwriting after taking both screenwriting courses at St. Lawrence. So they turned their attention to independents under the guidance of Prof. Sid Sondergard. "All three are distinguished, independent individuals who leaped at the chance to create a full feature script," says Sondergard, adding that they share a unique ability to create eccentric characters and "unusual" plots.

- Compiled by Jessica Knapp '03 and Jackie Roy '04