SPRING 2010 - The University of Texas-Pan American

RESEARCHStudent Successcreativity celebratedA Poet EmergesLauren Espinoza, a senior English major, was chosen as one of25 young poets in the nation to be featured in an anthology titled,“Time You Let Me In: 25 Poets Under 25,” edited by awardwinningpoet and writer Naomi Shihab Nye.“I was so excited to find out that my poetry had been selected,”Espinoza said. “I immediately called Emmy Perez, my poetryprofessor, and thanked her so much for all her help. Findingout my poetry was going to be published really humbled me andmade me feel like what I was doing was worth it.”The 24-year-old McAllen native said she felt very fortunate tohave the opportunity to take graduate courses as an undergraduatestudent, which she feels helped her in her writing.The anthology was published in February by Greenwillow,an imprint of HarperCollins. The book is available for order atwww.amazon.com and www.harperteen.com.Emmy Perez, assistant professor of English said, “It isn’t veryoften that work by such young writers is selected for publicationby such a well-accomplished editor/poet at a major publishinghouse.”Nye has written two acclaimed novels for teens and was aNational Book Award finalist for her poetry collection, “19 Varietiesof Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East.”“I hope weachievedwhat weset out to do...”“Finding out my poetrywas going to be publishedreally humbled meand made me feellike what I was doingwas worth it.”A Day in the ParkThree UTPA students were recognized for their work as authors andillustrators of a children’s book that first started off as a class assignmentand now can be found in some local libraries.Beatriz Guzman Velasquez, senior art and English major from Mission,illustrated the book while Bonnie Garcia of Mission, an English graduatestudent, and Jose Canales of Pharr, a recent graduate with a degree in English,wrote the 17-page storyline titled “Little Louie’s Big Adventure.”The book tells the story of a kingfisher and the migrating bird’s excitingjourney through the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission ashe searches for his cousin who lives there.Area librarians and state park officials honored the student’s accomplishmentsat a ceremony on Dec. 3, 2009.The students said the project became more than just a class assignmentand a learning experience. It also taught them about the importance ofcommunity service. In this case, it was to help raise awareness for the statepark. Garcia said they had their audience – the children – in mind throughoutthe whole process of writing the book.“Having the opportunity to actually go out and see how we can benefitthe community was great,” Garcia said. “I hope we achieved what we setout to do, which was to get children interested in the park. If children followthe map in the back of the book and walk through the same path, theywill see everything that is portrayed in the book. The book has a connectionto some place local that few books tend to have.”A few copies of the book were printed and distributed to local librariesfor children to enjoy and learn about the park.Los Arcos 16