As part of the Arts, Creativity and Innovation Weekend festivities, students, faculty and friends gathered for an open mic session in The Vault at Bernstein Hall on April 5. Over the course of an hour and a half, a diverse range of student voices shared original works in poetry and fiction, from personal experiences to political reflections through imaginative world-building.
The scheduled list of speakers came from the London English Study Group, Professor of English and Creative Writing Jennifer Brice’s Creative Writing Workshop as well as many skilled friends, whose writing demonstrated depth, originality and emotional resonance.
One of the most impactful moments of the afternoon came from senior Naheeda Akhtar, who shared a fiction piece about Operation Searchlight, a military operation that affected the lives of many families during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Akhtar’s prose combined urgency with grace, and the narrative not only preserved the weight of historical memory but also underscored the importance of telling generational stories.
Sophomore Amanda Ariunzaya, an art history and film studies student, performed a heart-wrenching and emotional piece about the relationship with one’s mother. She emphasized the complexity caused by hard-working mothers and young children who desire their mother’s attention, crafting a narrative of admiration and longing. The piece drew tears across the audience and illustrated the power of one’s literary voice. The final line, “I cry like her,” resonated deeply as the audience wiped away their own tears, offering a moment of emotional recognition for many.
“I’m grateful for the chance to perform this piece,” Ariunzaya said. “I explored themes of motherhood and reflected on my own teenage angst, and channeled that energy into an understanding of the complex relationship between a mother and daughter.”
Senior Hannah Goff explained her literary process in developing a poetry-based senior thesis.
“It was really a lot of trial and error for months, and working with detailed descriptions of my scenes to find what worked. I even talked to [Brice] who gave me the idea for the motif of makeup in my first poem,” Goff said.
Goff presented a poem about sneaking ripe raspberries out of garden bushes with her sister. The vivid storytelling and imagery in the poems were expressed through Goff ’s lyrical alliteration. Senior Zoe Kurtz followed a similar pattern, presenting a collection of haikus that demonstrated careful wordplay and vivid imagery. Each short poem created a moment of reflection for the audience. The structures of the haiku did not limit their expressiveness as their voice and tone elevated their unique imagination.
Junior Luke Lostumbo shared a fun and whimsical short story about a first date gone wrong. The narrative was about the protagonist, who had never experienced love, experiencing romantic anticipation and disappointment. Lostumbo’s animated reading style and conversational rhythm in the dialogue captured the room’s attention, raising insights into the importance of emotional vulnerability.
“I wanted to connect with others, as we all are learning to navigate our fears, what causes them, how we reconcile it and importantly, how we resist the temptation for things that could heal it but are ultimately harmful,” Lostumbo said.
Events like this open mic session serve as an essential space within the Colgate community where creative expression and intellectual engagement meet outside the classroom. Sharing works with peers allows students to exchange their individual memory, identity and imagination. The wide variety of pieces performed underscores the complex artistic voices present on this campus. Clearly, this event left the audience feeling inspired and looking forward to the work that these students, along with many others, will produce through their courage and grit.
