Why Did They Shoot?

Editor’s note: This piece was originally written by Kathryn Monsewicz during the Spring 2019 semester. It can be read in its entirety here.

“God did tempt Abraham….” reads Genesis 22: 1-18. God ordered Abraham, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”

The Activists

Editor’s note: This piece was originally written by Taylor Patterson during the Spring 2019 semester. It can be read in its entirety here.

I dig my sneakers deeper into the soft slope of the earth, the victory bell visible between my dirt-stained knees. This is where student protestors stood on May 4th, 1970, before they knew of the tear gas, bloodied bullets, the sound of death. I look out over the field, a group of men play lacrosse in blue penny jerseys, a woman tying a hammock between two oak trees. 

My Tatyana

Editor’s note: This piece was originally written by Valerie Royzman during the Spring 2019 semester. It can be read in its entirety here.

When my grandmother died, I wonder if her imaginary friend died with her. Actually, he wasn’t a friend at all. He traveled with her from Znamenka, Ukraine, to Toledo, Ohio, in 1993. He slept on her perfectly smooth, blue couch and left it wrinkled when he was done.

The Ground Remembers

Editor’s note: This piece was originally written by Cameron Gorman during the Spring 2019 semester. It can be read in its entirety here.

My mother took me to the May 4 Museum, on Kent State’s campus, before I was a student here. She wanted me to see the history of the place, to feel connected to it. I can’t remember exactly what she said, but it was probably something like this: “It was an important moment in history! You’ll be part of it.” After all, soon, I would be a student. Me, in a Kent State T-shirt. A Golden Flash.

Peripheral

Editor’s note: This piece was originally written by Mariah Hicks during the Spring 2019 semester. It can be read in its entirety here.

I still remember the address of this home that carried a significant part of my childhood experience. The house was located at the end of a cul-de-sac in the neighborhood of Deer Run, where the moist red dirt held the soles of my feet as I tangoed beneath the summer wind.

From Vietnam to Kent

Editor’s note: This piece was originally written by Adriona Murphy during the Spring 2019 semester. It can be read in its entirety here.

When I was about 8, my family decided to drive to Myrtle Beach for a family vacation. The road trip was filled with the usual things: too much junk food, cartoons, Disney music and plenty of petty family arguments.

Local Theater Shines a ‘Light’ on Independent Cinema in Northeast Ohio

Editor’s note: This piece was originally written by Cameron Hoover during the Spring 2019 semester. It can be read in its entirety here.

“Who’s your favorite director?”

The question caught me off-guard. I was sitting at the Nightlight Cinema in Akron’s art district at about 7 p.m. watching artistic director Brittany Dobish meet with local artists regarding how she wants the doorway to look for the theater’s fifth anniversary.

I Just Want To Listen And Be Sad

Editor’s note: This piece was originally written by Valerie Royzman during the Spring 2019 semester. It can be read in its entirety here.

In May 1971 — a year after members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed Kent State students protesting the United States military’s bombing of Cambodia, killing four and wounding nine — James T. Lawless turned to words.