Volume 39 | Issue 2 | 2020-2021

art + literature + culture

The Vitality Issue

Volume 39 . Issue 2 . Spring 2021

METROSPHERE

2

VITALITY

Volume 39 . Issue 2 . Spring 2021 EDITORIAL STAFF

FEATURED ARTISTS + WRITERS ~

Editor-in-Chief Julia Nguyên Creative Director Anniston Craddock Managing Editor livia Ruffe Art Director Parker Wiese Graphic Designer Alexandra Fabrizio

O

Photographers:

Jonathan Hidalgo Alex Ertel Writers:

Megan Anthony Alex Ertel Megan Hickins Aaron Middleton Charles Schwaebe Chèna Williams ADMINISTRATION

Kathleen Jewby Co-Advisor Peter Bergman Office Manager Meher Noorulamin Co-Advisor

Printed By

Allison Nicolosi-Risinger Mickey Turner Emma Zimmerman Vincent Piturro Samuel Karl Cass Pangell Jason Eric Miller Alexander Fraser Alicia Smith Matthew Perry Mika Futz Zoe Lloyd-Carpenter Hannah Walla Maysen Wheatley Summer Trentin Javier Flores Aliza Lelah Carlos Fresquez Cindy Loya

©2021. All Rights Reserved No part of this publication may be used or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of Met Media, except in the context of reviews.

The opinions expressed within are not necessarily those of the University and/or members of the University.

3

METROSPHERE

4

VITALITY

5

METROSPHERE

TABLE OF CONTENTS 10

Taking Flight in the Modern World

42

Monologue

Think Piece

14 16 20

Art Submission

Becoming Awarded Literary Submission

Light Leaks Photography Series

26

Can’t Let You Go

28

Piturro’s Picks

32

6

Water Sign

Art Submission

Film Recommendations

Roots Poetry

34

Late Bloomer

40

Winter’s Breath

46

Linguicism Within the World of Academia Think Piece

50

Bodies of Water

56

COVID

58

Rejection: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Photography Series

Art Submission

Interview with Dr. J. Eric Miller

63

A Generation Mislabeled

64

The Everlasting Confluence of Yin + Yang

Poetry

Awarded Art Submission

Memoir

Awarded Literary Submission

We’re Going to Be All Right

66

The Cost of Diversity Think Piece

VITALITY VITALITY

68

Ad Astra

70

Fluttering Daydreams

72

As Above So Below

78

Changing the Community with Music

Photography Series

Art Submission

Opinion

90

Fertilizer

94

Not Permitted

100

Words of Advice

102

Holding On

106

Thank You

108

Candlelight Vigil

Awarded Literary Submission

Art Submission

From the Art Department

Awarded Art Submission

Interview with Matthew Perry

82

Self-Reflection

83

Adsorption

88

Shedding Layers of Yourself

From the Metrosphere Staff

Poetry

Awarded Art Submission

A Moment of Silence

Art Submission

77

METROSPHERE

8

VITALITY

9

METROSPHERE

TAKING FLIGHT IN THE MODERN WORLD Olivia Ruffe Think Piece

In director Hayao Miyazaki’s 1989 film Kiki’s Delivery Service, he uses magic as a metaphor for the fundamental spirit of the self that is essential for modern society. But in the past few months, our world has seemed to lose any and all magic that it ever once possessed. As I write this article in light of recent and unspeakable events—some of which hit too close to home—it’s hard to even look back at such a lighthearted film and try to fit it into our society

that seems so foreign now. When we chose Kiki’s Delivery Service as inspiration for the spring issue of Metrosphere, we were thinking about a film that evoked togetherness after a year that seemed more divided than ever. Now, I couldn’t think of how to talk about this film at all. Is the magic of Miyazaki lost in a modern world? I found myself watching the film as an escape while thinking it would inspire only hopelessness. Then, I remembered where Miyazaki’s stories came from in the first place.

The premise of the film follows a young witch, Kiki, and her talking cat, Jiji. They set off from their provincial hometown to new beginnings in a faraway seaside city of Koriko. This witch, in keeping with family tradition, must spend a year away from home to gain independence and learn new skills. At thirteen, she is overwhelmed by the new society and culture. This seems to be an innocently simple plot. Yet, the film follows the story of a shojo character, in Japanese meaning “young woman” or “girl.”

The magical girl genre, or mahou shouju, had been utilized

by Japanese storytellers from the fifties onward with narratives centered on female empowerment as a means of cultural

10

VITALITY and social restoration. In the wake of WWII that saw horrific warfare, Miyazaki and other storytellers were confronted with a confused cultural and social identity of post-war Japan. They wished to empower young persons to participate in a productive and peaceful modern world. Almost forty years later during Japan’s economic boom of the eighties, this magical girl genre enabled a focus upon intelligent and adaptive shojo characters as opposed to the common heroic tales of violent male protagonists.

It seems violent male protagonists are the only main characters in our world today.

But Kiki is one such magical girl whose story has much to say about the common struggles of youth and coming of age in a modern world. The film gets at the heart of confronting adversity and the inherent challenges of growing up in modernity, finding purpose and determination, as well as seeing oneself as a meaningful participant within a community—and Miyazaki does it all without the overwhelming, antagonistic forces common to a Western hero’s journey. On its surface, the film seems too polite in its portrayal of life, but don’t let that fool you. Kiki’s Delivery Service honestly depicts the challenges a young person faces, yet with a fairytale touch that provides a vision of life with more humanity than evil.

“The film gets at the heart of confronting adversity and the inherit challenges of growing up in modernity”

This humanity is reflected most in the unique characters Kiki comes across that are defining to her coming-of-age journey. There’s Tombo, a local teenage boy who helps her out of trouble and is enamored by her magical abilities—but Kiki isn’t too smitten. He spends the film attempting to win her favor. She finds a place to stay with a kind pregnant woman, Osono, who owns a bakery and allows Kiki to run her own flying broomstick courier service out of the attic. Kiki is thrown straight into the working world. On one such delivery, Kiki loses an important gift in a dense forest after a murder of crows attack. During her retrieval of the gift, Kiki befriends Ursula, a free-spirited artist who lives in a cabin in the woods. Tombo, Osono, and Ursula, more than supporting characters, become analogies for the love, friendship, mentorship, and artistic freedom that are essential to Miyazaki’s spiritual and philosophic view of growing up.

Where you may be searching for the film’s evil forces, you’ll find that the antagonist is Kiki herself. She’s confronted with feelings of envy and self-doubt. She develops a jealousy toward the other young people in her town who hang around Tombo. She becomes self-conscious of her everyday attire: a black dress with a red hair bow.

Gazing at some expensive ruby slippers in a shop window, she longs for one day to have the money to buy them after spending her funds on groceries.

Her magic is never used for wish-fulfillment or self-serving spells. She never gets back at anyone or steals.

She must use her powers to serve her community, and she works for everything that she earns. Thus, when Tombo later visits Kiki and invites 11

METROSPHERE her to a party, she first must complete a delivery. Racing against time, she helps an old grandmother finish her herring pie and delivers it through a rainstorm to an ungrateful granddaughter at the party she was to attend. Soaked and discouraged by the girl’s snobbish attitude, Kiki goes home and leaves Tombo waiting for her in the rain. Through all of Kiki’s trials, the film shows us that the magic we possess may make us the outsider, but we can and must always find use for ourselves in our community. Our powers come from an internal rather than an external force.

This message is emphasized as the story progresses, and Kiki warms up to Tombo. They soon become friends, but Kiki is still resistant to the other teens who can’t understand her working-girl spirit. It is at this moment that a fundamental change occurs in Kiki’s character. Kiki cannot understand Jiji. Then, trying to mount her broomstick, Kiki cannot fly anymore. She is brought from the wispy skies of dreamy youth down to the hard ground of reality. She does not know why she has lost her powers, but she is spiritually defeated.

“She is brought from the wispy skies of dreamy youth down to the hard ground of reality.”

“If I lost my magic, that means I’ve lost absolutely everything.”

-Kiki

12

Ursula comes to town and takes Kiki back to her cabin with her. Here, Ursula imparts a mentor’s wisdom that speaks directly to the viewer about the struggles of creativity, meaning, and self-actualization. It isn’t the skill Kiki has lost, but her spirit.

Miyazaki’s message is revealed here: it is the soul, vital spirit, or essence of the self that is essential to humanity and that no one can ever take away from you.

“It is the soul, vital spirit, or essence of the self that is essential to humanity and that no one can ever take away from you.”

“The spirit of witches. The spirit of artists. The spirit of bakers! I suppose it must be a power given by God. Sometimes you suffer for it.”

-Ursula Here God means the breath of life itself—our lifeforce. But this isn’t one of permanence. Instead, the film conveys another spiritual version of the self as one of impermanence. We constantly grow, gain, and change while at the same time leaving things behind. By the film’s end, Miyazaki highlights the importance of moving on but not without the nostalgic remembrance of what once was. This nostalgic tone for a past gone by often underlines much of Miyazaki’s work, but this nostalgia is never a longing for a return to that past. Rather, it is a reminder that the places from which we came can be remembered in the

VITALITY present and are essential to shaping our modern identity, but we should not dwell on their return. Ultimately, the world will sometimes be quite foreign— even the places that are the most familiar to us—but we have a spirit that, after suffering, can heal. Our soul is regenerative.

Watching Kiki’s Delivery Service reminded me of these very simple lessons after a loss of basic vitality.

The film imparts on a viewer a hopeful image of the modern individual who has a meaningful personal history and important social role in their little sliver of the world. If there is anything to be taken from this 31-yearold film today, it’s that the world is cruel and life is fragile, yet both are infinitely valuable. I think many of us today may wish we could be seeing things again as children. However, in times of adversity, we can all remember something from Kiki’s little utopia that our non-utopian world can often make hard to forget. Care for your neighbor, support your community, look beyond the superficial, and, ultimately, have faith in yourself that when you think you’ve lost all the magic that you ever possessed, your vital spirit is always going to be within you, right where you left it.

“Our soul is regenerative.”

“Yet, even amidst the hatred and carnage, life is still worth living.

It is possible for wonderful encounters and beautiful things to exist.”

-Hayao Miyazaki

13

METROSPHERE

WATER SIGN Allison Nicolosi-Risinger Art Submission “I strive to be like water. I imagine that I am a river that touches everything in the world—always exploring.

The world is challenging all of us to ask ourselves what is essential and how we can face adversity […] Creating this piece was an exercise in flow and an attempt to create some peace for myself because it is hard to get that externally right now. I chose the subject of water because of the spiritual significance I take from it. In my life, I have gotten trapped in concepts of rigidity, and I’ve noticed that the world can cause people to become inflexible so they can create order in life. Water is the source of life, even if we take it for granted.

Simple and impermanent, it sustains everything and can be found everywhere, and it comforts me to think of its life cycle and its role in my life.”

“Water is the softest and most yielding substance. Yet nothing is better than water for overcoming the hard and rigid because nothing can compete with it” -Lao Tzu

14

METROSPHERE

BECOMING Mickey Turner Awarded Literary Submission: First Place

“It’s difficult for me to describe this poem. It exists in pieces that fade into each other unexpectedly. It’s about religion, about spirituality, about self-image, about gender transition. It’s about trying to be authentically myself without knowing, yet, what that will look like in the end.

It’s about self-love and the discomforting wholeness of being.”

16

VITALITY i look at the little girl in the photographs

and i don’t know how to think of her. i was her, but she wasn’t me.

is she a friend? my oldest ally,

sharing space in this body, carrying me until i was ready to walk.

is she a memory? does she still exist somewhere? it doesn’t feel as though she’s died,

but i wonder how i would know. i look at the figure in the mirror

and i see a person taking shape. not quite fully-formed,

but so close, standing with toes curled over the edge of a cliff, leaning against the wind

waiting for the breeze to fall, the fall to start,

the moment where my stomach will flip and my breath will catch,

as i see myself for the first time. i wonder

how long it will take. “before i formed you in the womb, i knew you,”

smoke in the altar bowl, full moon like a single silver eye,

and i wonder how? how could you have known me when i do not yet know me?

are you waiting, too? to see how long it takes me to Become?

are you waiting with this same bated breath, this same stuttering pulse,

heart-in-throat apprehension, anticipation? what would make this skin feel like mine?

these bones so brittle, immutable,

these hands, these legs, hair and scars and bitten-down nails

hundreds of pieces disconnected

shocked into wholeness by presence of breath, heartbeat, touch.

17

METROSPHERE i decorate myself

costume in the form of clothing, pins and jewelry like weights to hold myself together at the seams,

color in my hair and holes in my skin-painting the walls of a new room to try and make it feel like home faster. and i look again.

for a moment, i can almost focus on the Entirety, before a detail rings out louder than the rest,

shatters me once more

where i stand before the uncracked glass. i am blood and flesh,

soft and strange, cradled safely in ribcage and skull,

constrained by skin not made to be opened. but, gods, how i wish it would;

how many times have i sat and simply Looked at myself

and wished that i was not my body? but that isn’t how it works,

these vessels, full of life and love and light,

created for creation and for the Terror of being part of something. i am not a soul in a birdcage of sinew.

i am not a brain pulling puppet strings. “my body,” we say, “my body,”

like we are not Bodies, like we do not exist in muscle and marrow and keratin,

in the jolt of nerves, the salt of sweat.

in the taste of sugar on a tongue and the squish of earth between toes.

in hug and kiss and pet and run and rest and dream and breathe. how can you tell me i do not exist in every piece of this- in every piece of me? i don’t tend to see myself as beautiful,

but i shouldn’t have to be. this acne-scarred skin still feels warm in the sun.

these uneven teeth still smile, still bite.

dead skin peels from the spaces along the fingernails, but these hands are still able to work, to hold, to create.

there is no value, in shallow perfection, that can’t be found elsewhere.

18

VITALITY i’m sure others see me differently,

evaluating with kinder eyes. it’s so much easier,

looking at someone else, to see the things we like

and to forgive the things we don’t. we forget:

there’s nothing that Needs forgiven. hearts are ugly things, too,

but we don’t begrudge them beating.

19

METROSPHERE

LIGHT LEAKS Jonathan Hidalgo Photography Series

20

VITALITY

21

METROSPHERE

22

VITALITY

23

METROSPHERE

24

VITALITY

25

METROSPHERE

CAN’T LET YOU GO Emma Zimmerman Art Submission

“The death of my brother in 2019 left me with emptiness, both physically and mentally. My brother, Gus, was my vitality. Art became my means to survive and, in a way, to endure. When I paint Gus, I bring him into the present—documenting his existence and continuing his story. By cultivating the myth and legend that was Gus, in this way, he becomes immortal. My work is a celebration and inquiry of who my brother was to me, who we were to one another, and who I am without him.”

26

METROSPHERE

PITURRO’S PICKS Charles Schwaebe Coming-of-Age Film Recommendations

Coming-of-Age films are a modern cultural staple. However, they aren’t always as obvious as the name implies. Most people think about teenagers, but the genre has broader boundaries than one might expect. I sat down with Dr. Vincent Piturro, a professor of Film and Media studies here at MSU Denver, to discuss coming-of-age films and to share some of his favorites.

28

VITALITY

“I like to talk about genre as less of a description of something and more the actual films that are in the genre. A genre is not described by words. It’s described by the films in the genre.”

-Dr. Vincent Piturro Rebel Without a Cause

Release Date: 1955 Director: Nicholas Ray Piturro’s Input: [James Dean] only made a couple of movies before he died. So, he’s sort-of remembered as that character, in that late teen age, and that really kind of started to mark a changing of generations as well. Rebel Without a Cause, for example, is very much about this counterculture developing in the late 50s, going into the 60s. Very much sociopolitical.

The 400 Blows

Release Date: 1959 Director: François Truffaut Piturro’s Input: It’s a French film. It’s a great film.

Very famous, very powerful, and a wonderful coming-of-age film. European films usually tend to be quite different from American films, especially from that era, so it’s a really interesting one. You get a different take, I think, on the coming-of-age film.

The Breakfast Club Release Date: 1985 Director: John Hughes Piturro’s Input: The coming-of-age film had a golden age in the 80s. The Breakfast Club is probably the most famous of those 80s films.

Stand by Me

Release Date: 1986 Director: Rob Reiner Piturro’s Input: My favorite coming-of-age film. It’s one of those that you come home, you watch the same movie every night, or have drinks with your friends. This is one that takes place over just the course of a couple of days.

29

METROSPHERE

Donnie Darko

Release Date: 2001 Director: Richard Kelly Piturro’s Input: A film that wasn’t made in the 80s, but it looks back on the 80s. It’s one of my favorite films, and I’ve taught it in [my science fiction film course] quite a bit. I think it’s a really good coming-of-age film.

Again, it’s a film that when you’re first watching, you might think, is this really a coming-of-age? Now, it’s not The Breakfast Club or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. It’s not fun. It’s not funny. It’s kind of dour and world-ending, you know. But when you really think about it, it does fit into that group. It is also set in the same time period too, the 80s, which I think is really fascinating.

Spirited Away

Release Date: 2002 Director: Hayao Miyazaki Piturro’s Input: Anime films have always been very good at telling those [coming-of-age] stories, especially the Studio Ghibli films. Spirited Away doesn’t allow you that sort of satisfaction [that Disney films provide].

It leaves you feeling kind of, you know, edgy. Almost angry when you watch the Studio Ghibli films, and that sort of just defines what being a teenager is all about, right?

Juno

Release Date: 2007 Director: Jason Reitman Piturro’s Input: It’s a great film—very controversial. I think when it came out just because of the abortion issue and all the sorts of things that were hot topics at the time.

Byzantium

Release Date: 2013 Director: Neil Jordan Piturro’s Input: Hear me out, it’s called Byzantium. And it’s a vampire film, and it’s set sort-of modern day. It stars Gemma Arterton as an adult vampire. Her daughter struggles with this idea of being a teenage vampire because imagine being stuck in your teenage years for eternity—a fate worse than death, right? I’d find the nearest wooden bullet and take myself out. She was turned into a vampire when she was a teenager by her mother. Also, she’s angry with her mother that she never got to live a normal life (what teenager isn’t mad about that?).

There’s a really strong feminist edge to the movie.

30

VITALITY

Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Release Date: 2014 Director: Ana Lily Amirpour Piturro’s Input: A really cool small indie film that’s made in Los Angeles, but it’s set supposedly in Iran. It’s in Farsi with subtitles. Again, it’s about a young woman in her later teenage years, maybe early 20’s, who is also struggling with being a young vampire. If you think about it, the vampire setup kind of makes perfect sense for a coming-of-age film because you’re stuck in whatever age you are. You never change.

Moonlight Release Date: 2016 Director: Barry Jenkins Piturro’s Input: A more recent film that I teach every semester now is Moonlight which won the Academy Award a few years ago. It takes place over decades from the time the main character was a young boy to his late teens, and eventually to a grown man. [He grows] into himself as a gay man and gay Black man. You don’t see very much of that on-screen. So, it really really touched and connected with a lot of people that didn’t have access to that kind of stuff. Pretty cool.

Call Me by Your Name

Release Date: 2017 Director: Luca Guadagnino Piturro’s Input: Call Me by Your Name is from a couple of years ago. Really great film. Another one about a young man coming to terms with being gay. A really great conversation between father and son in that movie, which is something you never ever see on film—fathers and sons having a real conversation.

Not about a football game or whatever it might be, but this is like a real conversation with an intellectual man and a very smart kid.

Lady Bird

Release Date: 2018 Director: Greta Gerwig Piturro’s Input: I highly recommend everybody see it.

31

METROSPHERE

ROOTS Chèna Williams Poetry

I was a thing that grows.

And for the first few years, I was cared for.

Morning and night and morning again gentle hands touched me softly placed me in the sun, provided me with water, carefully picked out my soil, but they didn’t stick around.

See, the thing about things that grow is that we simply never stop growing.

We either grow or we die, we are dying the moment we are not being cared for.

I was dying every second.

Morning and night and morning again and mornings were hopeful but disappointing.

Disappointing when a cloud hid Her mighty glow, disappointing when snowflakes kissed my forehead, disappointing when

the rain pelted my branches and

the wind stole my blooms and

the darkness of midnight lasted for months.

I was battered and starved and wilting.

For years, wilting.

My head lolled on the ground, my arms shriveled, my blossoms knew no nectar,

my leaves knew no vibrancy,

my stems knew no certainty.

32

VITALITY

I was no longer a thing that grows, I was no longer a thing at all.

I was a whisper of a thing

that once was.

My body became small.

My name became empty.

My identity became l i f e l e s s.

And when there was just one last whimpering breath on my lips, I felt something.

A stretch from beneath me,

within me.

I was dead but my roots were flourishing.

They they they they

stretched for the damp soil, reached for the memories of nurture, grasped those of pain and everything I had weathered and forced me upward, refused to let me die.

We cannot let you perish, they said.

All we know is survival.

So, I would brave the weather.

I would soak up the pleasant moments.

I would face the sun, my beacon, as She travelled across the sky, and I would let my roots lift me because that is what growing things do.

33

METROSPHERE METROSPHERE

LATE BLOOMER Alex Ertel Memoir

High-school graduation. It is bewildering to consider it is almost a decade behind me. I can still remember the heat from the mid-morning sun hitting the dark-blue fabric of my gown that melded into a bigger pool of dark blue and nervous tension. My peers and I sat, being watched like fish in the aquarium for our names to be called. For one brief moment, we were the most successful person on the stage—until the next name was called and we took our seats, waiting for our lives to start. I shut out all ideas that I would be a late bloomer despite not knowing what I wanted to do next.

Photos provided by Alex Ertel

May 2012

June 2012

I got an office job. Monday through Friday, nine to five, complete with “casual” Fridays and a watercooler. I was a receptionist. I spent all day answering phones, filing papers, and eagerly waiting for my hour-long lunch break to meander around the town and find a place to eat.

Phones. Files. Lunch. Phones. Files. Lunch.

The constant rotation of paper in a bleak office building felt like I was in a Herman Melville short story. It didn’t take long for me to feel run down by routine and the monotony of the job.

Within four months of this job, I decided it was enough and enrolled at a local community college.

February 2013 Two months into community college, I had just gotten the titular role in the school’s production.

Two weeks later, I got the news that Dad had passed away. For the first year after I received the news, all feeling had disappeared. There was no happiness that was not immediately swallowed by desperation. There was no sadness that could compare to the loss I felt.

Maybe I could pretend he was away on a business trip and any moment he would pick up his phone or return home?

The denial part of things was true. I felt the loss and the pain, but there was a small glimmer of hope that it was all a bad dream. Every time I woke up, it was the same thing. He was gone. I needed distractions. In an attempt to suppress what I was feeling, all my energy went into the performing arts. I did plays and student films. I did stage management, box office, lighting, and sound. I took all the theatre classes the school had to offer. Nothing made it better. Grief wouldn’t go away.

I couldn’t ignore it. I needed to face it.

35

Third, fourth, or fifth job, who knows? For a bit, I just hopped from job to job, and the moment it no longer interested me, I left. I had given myself the space to figure it out. There was a locally-owned dog grooming facility down the street from me. One day, I popped in to see if they were hiring. I stayed with them for a couple of years and despite the menial pay, was able to save up a little bit. This allowed me to pursue my next adventure...

Dad had always told me about all of the places he would visit. He used to travel almost monthly for business and went around the globe doing things with engineering. His job was something my eight-year-old mind couldn’t comprehend, and my eighteen-year-old mind never thought to ask. When he would return home, he would fill my head with the images and stories of beautiful places around the world with the promise we would go.

I got my passport and began looking at plane tickets; Denver to LAX—no wait. To Burbank. Less hassle. Buy tickets on a Tuesday. Prices were lower. Only a carryon. No extra fees. Home for a few months to save.

California was expensive.

36

July 2014

November 2014 Abigail was studying abroad in England. She was going to have a week off and invited me and Rosie to come stay with her. Free lodging, bonding, and international travels seemed like a deal I couldn’t refuse.

Rosie and I bought tickets for London and decided to extend our trip to Iceland for the following week. It was in Iceland— standing on moss-covered volcanic rock and watching the northern lights dance above us—I decided I needed to get back into photography.

Buckingham Pala

ce

When I got home, with the little money I had left, I bought a point-and-shoot camera— the first one I had since I was fifteen. With my camera at my side, I wanted to capture the world. I began planning trips for years to come: alone, with friends, with my partner, with my family, but always with my camera.

June 2015 I bought my first professional camera! Places I walked by every day were suddenly filled with wonder and excitement if I could just find that perfect angle. Photography helped me find a new appreciation in the ordinary. However, every day I was feeling more behind. Most of my friends were in their last year of college or were starting a new career that they loved. I kept thinking about going back to school, but my anxiety was beginning to heighten. I hadn’t been to school in so long. I felt like I was behind in everything.

37

METROSPHERE

August 2015 I went to school for two days and dropped out. My anxiety was at a new high.

Feelings of incompetence and loss were eroding my thoughts long before starting school. As soon as I registered for classes, my stomach dropped. I set myself up for failure by telling myself I couldn’t do it before I had tried.

The guilt would drown me when someone would ask, “What happened?”

The stress of only going to work was beginning to weigh on me. I began to write and continued taking photos. Art was my only outlet.

July 2017 I enrolled a third time and was determined to complete my Associate’s. When I first began at CCD, I was a biology major. I wanted to become a marine biologist despite Colorado not being known for its massive oceans since the Paleozoic times. To avoid overloading myself, I went back to school part-time.

January 2018 I was taking a required English course and was meeting with my professor. It was a regular meeting that all of us were required to do as a way to check in for our final paper. My professor read through my paper and after a moment of silence, he asked what I was majoring in. I said biology. He told me he started as an anthropology major and said he thought I would do well in English. I had always loved to write, and Dad had inspired me to read since I was very young. Literature was an amazing door to anywhere in the world.

The next day, I submitted my request to change majors.

38

September 2018 My anxiety never went away, but I had learned different ways on how to cope with it. I had been doing so well for so long, but it just switched one day. School was starting to feel like too much. I ended up dropping two classes that semester, which pushed back my graduation date. It was a huge blow. This time was different though. I didn’t drop out completely, and I would still graduate even if it was one semester later. Progress wasn’t going to be linear and that was okay. I was still moving forward even if it was at a slower pace.

May 2020

Wandering through Edinburgh markets

Graduation was replaced with a virtual ceremony. Now I was the voyeur looking at the fish in the aquarium, reading all the names as they passed on the screen. I prepared for a summer off and readied myself to start at MSU Denver in the fall. Shortly after high-school graduation, I had this deep fear that I would be a late bloomer myself. There’s such a negative connotation with it that it can feel like a challenge to start something new at an older age or to start over at any point, but there is no time limit. I don’t believe there’s such thing as “too old” or “too late.” I had found myself exactly where I needed to be despite the chaos and grief. I was a lotus blooming in the mud.

METROSPHERE

WINTER’S BREATH Samuel Karl Awarded Literary Submission: Second Place

This is a poem I wrote one night while sitting outside during a snowstorm. A central theme of my poetry is often the worry that technology and modern life has alienated us from authentic poetic expression, thus the telling lines: “I realize that physics offers me no power! / That biology and politics make me so dour!” I also wanted to make it clear that the modern age is not only separated from authentic poetry, but that we’ve drifted on away from religious experience as well.

40

Thus, we’re thrown into a challenging situation: technology gives us no fulfillment and so too religion offers no answers as well; however, I don’t see this as a bleak situation. Rather, the opposite is true. The modern life gives us more possibility to express different kinds of authentic experiences. This poem is a reflection on the historic movement of poetry across time and the accompanying philosophic reflections on it.

VITALITY

Winter’s breath bears down upon a lonely hermit What joy or pain for him, does great Zeus permit?

Up to a calloused gravel grave, the traveler walks.

The dead and the lost, do they too have poetry talks?

As I sit in this darkened sphere, with hazy blue smoke drifting slowly upwards, I ask myself, in a grieving way: “Poor souled fiend, are you not like the herds?

Your soul begs and pines and weeps and smiles.

Yet you, are you that soul who lives and beguiles?”

Alas, I to myself speak true.

Am I no more than an emoting hue?

Does this beating heart have the tint of Blue?

Does poetry, even once, compel me to do?

Did machinery and clothes ever lead me to rue?

Alas! My own thoughts drift onward, floating slowly up in the hazy evening chill.

It’s wintertime, you see, And Zeus is off to Ethiopia for holiday And Jove is in the manger on a different day And my purse is clinking in a rather joyous way And business is on halt these months, and today!

Today, O! I feel the bitter cold alongside me Wherein the fluttering of God and Economy Subside slowly with the pang of a chill upon my Spine and my feet weep in the frozen Earth.

Today, poetry has welcomed me back unto her hearth And the wide blank sky offers me a pen to ink And hollow gilded books offer me nothing to think And the shallow heart of the Earth ceases beating And I, my own breast, commence to heating.

Oh! Wide and wise divinity, I feel as though there is no more enmity Between us two. At last! In this grave hour, I realize that physics offers me no power!

That biology and politics make me so dour!

Freed from these, I see the great wonder Of a world where poetry shows me her dower!

Blue the sky where flies Faust on a mantle.

Though Zeus is gone, his here is torrential.

Oh! Power expressed at last. Zeus! Grant me Not to have a past, but be charity embodied.

Gone, the hermit passes by the grave unweeping.

A smile upon his face shines out, one he will be keeping.

For the grave unmarked, noted a life worth leaving.

And poetry talks with the dead, shows him much of being.

41

METROSPHERE

WE’RE GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT Aaron Middleton Monologue 0:00

42

7:48

VITALITY Stand-up comedy is not as easy as it looks. You’ve got to learn how to write jokes that people find relatable (which is way easier said than done) and then practice those jokes night after night in front of strangers. Usually, those strangers are inebriated in one way or another. Not to mention, you’ve got to get over stage fright before you can even think about memorizing jokes that people may or may not enjoy. It’s a lot of late nights with little pay. To top it off, there is always someone funnier than you no matter how funny you

are. So, why does anyone try to make it big in the arts? Is it for recognition? A big payday? Perhaps, it’s because we think we have something important to share with the world.

Well, whatever it is, that road is not easy, and it’s not for everyone. That being said, it is a noble pursuit. So, the next time you see a comedian performing stand-up comedy, just remember that person is pursuing a dream. Whether the dream becomes a reality or not, it doesn’t matter. Focus on the now, and support those who need it.

So, take a seat and have a listen

43

METROSPHERE

You may not like what’s happening, but just accept it, and let’s try to

LIVE TOGETHER...

44

VITALITY

This

is the only way forward.

-Hayao Miyazaki

45

METROSPHERE

J8

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

3

3

4

1

1

1

2

1

4

Megan Anthony Think Piece “Education is the civil rights issue of our generation and if you care about promoting opportunity and reducing inequality, the classroom is the place to start.”

-Arne Duncan Every year, millions of students enroll in their first year of college. While all these students range in age, race, and other various demographics, they all have one thing in common: the desire to leave college as more aware, educated, and better equipped human beings to navigate their future profession. What happens, though, when the rules that are set up in order to help students succeed simultaneously contest their cultural identity?

Although it is said that America is a melting pot, the implications of this term need to be made clear. This expression implies the stripping of cultural identity into one homogenous whole—a 46

struggle that many of the students at MSU Denver face. To combat this issue, many changes must be made. One of these changes involves the methods that are used to teach students how to navigate written language; in particular, how students are coerced into abandoning their natural syntax in order to adopt a voice that mimics Standard Academic English (SAE), a form of English that is mainly spoken by the white, college-educated population.

In “It Ain’t What It Is: Code Switching and White American Celebrationist,” Dr. Vershawn Ashanti Young states: “In our society, people from all ethnicities, social circles, and academic levels use multiple dialects and registers of English in one context. We all code mesh.”

The issue here lies in the fact that certain people naturally employ a dialect that more closely identifies as

VITALITY

T1

3

4

1

1

3

1

4

2 1

1

1

3

1

1

1

4

1

1

E1

1

1

SAE, creating a linguistically racialized system. He, and many others, are fighting for language inclusivity; a goal that is shared by many members of the MSU Denver community.

Although this is an issue that must eventually be addressed by the academic institution as a whole, it is

“We all code mesh.” for now being discussed by employees of the MSU Denver Writing Center who created a committee called the Coalition for Inclusion & Diversity through Community Assembly or CIDCA. This

group allows members of the MSU Denver community to fight for linguistic justice. Keturah Barchers, a member of both the Writing Center and CIDCA, is a perfect example of how to raise awareness about this issue. She stresses the importance of the actions that they are taking within the Writing Center and CIDCA. Barchers affirms, “We’re not getting rid of the standard. We’re expanding the standard.” In other words, she refers to bolstering the acceptance of non-SAE within academic papers and discussions.

While advocates from the Writing Center support the integration of code meshing 47

METROSPHERE within academic discourse, there are scholars like Rebecca Wheeler and Julia Thomas who believe that code switching is more beneficial for students.

Although they are aware of the linguistic disparities that non-SAE speakers face, they are under the impression that teaching how to maneuver between the two modes is key to helping students succeed in the long run. However, code switching does not answer the call to end language discrimination or linguicism. Code switching is just another way to tell students, “your language is wrong.”

“We’re not getting rid of the standard. We’re expanding the standard.”

While the members of the Writing Center and CIDCA are taking strides to raise awareness about language inclusivity, it is also important to understand how this topic is viewed by the professors who work with the English language on a day-to-day basis. Dr. Luis Rivas, an Associate Professor of English at MSU Denver, who was taught to code switch understands firsthand the complications that can arise from learning to navigate between two types of speech.

He explained his responsibilities as a higher education professor: “We should celebrate difference. In the institution, as a professor myself, my job is to equip students to navigate their identity through these different discourse communities.”

Despite Dr. Rivas’ efforts, there are still people within the academic community that are not willing to reform these “standards” that have become commonplace within higher ed. institutions.

48

“We should celebrate difference.”

Dr. Rivas is of the mindset that even within a department that is fighting for inclusivity, there are still professors who argue that teaching outside the standard is watering academia down. He claimed that their reactions are a result of them being confronted with difference and are a sign of their discomfort in acknowledging the “other.”

This idea of “maintaining standards” is somewhat of a hot topic within the greater discussion of language inclusivity. When asked about her stance on the issue, Barchers was able to give a straightforward answer that reflects her ideology: “The standard of all communication, particularly written communication, is conciseness.” In her opinion, and in the opinion of many others including Dr. Young, language that is based upon code-meshing can still exhibit a level of clarity and conciseness that rivals any paper written in SAE. One way that the education system works to uphold these arbitrary standards is through standardized testing and grading rubrics. In many cases, these rubrics are biased and focus more on grammar than content and meaning. This disregards

“As a professor myself, my job is to equip students to navigate their identity through these different discourse communities.”

VITALITY a person’s natural language. One student, who wishes to remain anonymous, shared the following statement addressing their experience with grading rubrics: “Most professors use grading rubrics [and] I feel like if you’re a second language learner the grading rubric hurts no matter what.”

They elaborated on this sentiment: “People [who] aren’t raised in a [white, educated] culture, and they want to do well, and they want to strive, but at the same time you have to work work extra extra hard to prove that you’re perfect and sometimes it doesn’t work that way.”

“You have to work work extra extra hard.”

49

METROSPHERE

BODIES OF WATER Alex Ertel Photography Series

50

VITALITY

51

METROSPHERE

52

VITALITY

53

METROSPHERE

54

VITALITY

55

METROSPHERE

COVID Cass Pangell Art Submission

“Bridging the space of the arts and exploring the inner human vibrational experience within color and space, Cass Pangell has gained a wide lens from studies in anthropology and the arts, allowing this artist to hone individual as well as collaborative skills in the areas of human connection.

Much of their work explores what it is to be alive. Human reality constitutes a multitude of dimensions and realities—a unique assortment of psychological and inner architecture.

Cass wishes to explore, address, and examine, in the exploration of this piece, the fabrics which bind the light of human perception into the cosmos and realms from which they are birthed.

Artist Jean Pierre Roy wrote, “Art itself transcends human narrative and the objective reality, to become something transcendent of both.”

The piece titled, COVID was created during the height of the pandemic during the Spring 2020 semester and was inspired by a photograph on the front page of 56

The Denver Post of a father and a son.

In the article, the father states that he wishes to wear the mask to protect those he loves and those around him.

The child, however, has a different viewpoint: he gets to wear the mask and look like an outlaw.

The primary colors used to create this piece were the only available colors of paint available to the artist at the time during the lockdown—this and two brushes. But this was perfect as when looking into one droplet of water, we have the ability to see the entire rainbow. At the height of something so secluding, dividing, and separative, we see something uniting; a substance beyond gender, race, and ethnicity or walls and buildings; something... which is found inherent within every human being.

This piece was influenced by MSU Denver Alumnus Mikey Todesco (MSU’20) @michaeltodesco and the work of artist Miles Toland @milestoland.”

METROSPHERE

REJECTION: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY Chena Williams Interview

Majoring in the arts is often referred to as a shot in the dark. Writers and artists often face a lack of motivation and many rejections. I wanted to sit down with someone who could provide more insight about entering the creative world and handling rejection 58

as a professional. MSU Denver English professor, screenwriter, and author of Animal Rights & Pornography, Dr. J. Eric Miller talks about his path to publication and why rejection may be the thing writers need in order to succeed.

VITALITY Do you think you could tell me more about what rejection looked like for you?

Yeah, I can tell you lots about rejection! I was writing from when I was about ten years old. I got inspired.

And by the time I was twelve, I got a typewriter. So, I was sending stuff out. By the time I was twelve years old, I was submitting. Every Christmas I would get a copy from my parents of The Writer's Market, and I would use that, and I got nothing but rejections[…]

Everything around it was “no thank you, no thank you, no thank you.” You started eating “no thank yous” like potato chips. If you want to be successful, you have to. I have gotten hundreds and hundreds of rejection letters, and there's another hundred where you didn't even hear back from them, which is another rejection. Animal Rights and Pornography, I sent it to three places, and one of them took it.

That's an amazing, rare accident of how everything lined up. They had the right people there to like the kind of stories I was doing in that book.

They had one person there that didn't, and this person needed to talk to me.

They were uncomfortable with the material. So even then, there was a chance of rejection.

Photo provided by Dr. Jason E. Miller

Rejection has been so much. Especially at this point in history that I tend not to send things out at all just because I don't think the market’s there. That's not to say all of you shouldn’t. It's just that I don't have the energy for it. […] There are still plenty of markets. Young writers should be sending stuff out. They should be papering in their walls with rejections. They should remember, Moby Dick went to every publisher in the country.

You gotta get lucky, and you gotta be persistent. Persistence usually causes

"They should remember, Moby Dick went to every publisher in the country." a lucky thing to happen. Emotionally with rejection, I just never took it all that seriously. At a certain point, you might send a piece out, you might be like, wow, this piece just must not be good. Maybe that's true, and maybe it isn't. That’s the emotional cost of rejection. By the time you get the first twenty of them, you're just not that emotionally invested. You’re just going to be so happy when something pops.

Was rejection dampening your inspiration to continue writing?

No, not at all! Because I've gotten lucky, and I knew what success was like.

I felt like rejection was just part of the game. I'll tell everybody this in every class: if you've written a decent piece, and you're willing to keep trying to send it out. Eventually, it will make it into the world. I've always believed that. After The Entertainer put a story out [about my work] I said, “This will happen to me again.” And it did. It always happened.

Did you have friends and family who encouraged you to continue at the time?

No. I’d say my father was very much against me going to school for English or any of that stuff. He's probably okay with it now because it turned into a job.

People always knew you weren't going to make it as a big-time writer. The encouragement was never really there.

I never really needed it I suppose. Then you get into school, and you run around with a bunch of youngsters that are very gung-ho like you are. I guess in that way, you're encouraged by friends.

Y'all kind of encourage each other.

59

METROSPHERE Since you are a professor at MSU Denver, how has teaching changed your writing process?

The number one thing is if you're going to give the students what they deserve, what they paid for, and what you're getting paid to give them, it's gonna cost you. The price is high, and I'm not trying to be martyred. It's just by the time we're halfway through a semester, I start getting exhausted. Imagine in a class—like a fiction writing workshop— you've got twenty-four people that are all going to write significant work.

Every one of them needs something from you that's pretty heavy to give.

To read is its own art—to try to understand what somebody is up to in any piece that they write. I have to try to understand. I might not always get it.

I might fail the student, but I'm trying with everybody. Then, I've got to articulate something that I believe will be useful. I might not get it all the time, but I try. That trying is emotional and psychological energy. You need that to write with.

At the same time, what I've learned to teach, I didn't learn in graduate school.

I learned it from going out and being a professor. I'm twenty years being a professor and then three years before that being a TA in graduate school. What I've learned from that is that the number one thing I teach is being more purposeful in our writing. That has changed

my writing process. I'm more purposeful. Having a talk instead of just feeling my way through character development from the standpoint of a professor and trying to give the students a few nuggets that might make them purposefully craft their characters causes me to do the same thing.

Every time I teach a class, it's going to be a little different. I'm going to have added on and changed a little bit of what I say because you're always developing. All of those developments are affecting my own writing, too, So, that's the bonus. I'm a better writer than I would have ever been because I have been a teacher. Once you try to teach something, you have to think about how it's done. I've taken classes from real successful writers. They can't teach because they don't know how they do what they do or they don't want to try to articulate it, Then, they don't make it accessible. I'm not trying to say that I'm a great teacher, but I learned a lot from teachers that didn't really know or care enough to want to teach. You really have to care. You have to have a sense of shame and guilt to give your students what they deserve.

I believe that.

What do you see students struggle with the most in any of the classes that you've taught?

Theme. Theme is tough for students.

It's tough for everybody because it's

"I have to try to understand. I might not always get it. I might fail the student, but I'm trying with everybody. Then, I've got to articulate something that I believe will be useful. I might not get it all the time, but I try."

60

VITALITY hard to talk about. It's hard to pinpoint, and it's hard to develop. The truth is most of the models that you have, as students that you're really into, are thematically barren. I'm watching Game of Thrones right now, and it's great. It's very entertaining, but it could have been written by a computer. What we're not going to get AI to do for a long time is the stuff that happens to us on a subconscious level. The

real art is going to come from your subconscious. Theme comes from the subconscious. Deep thematic development is the most beautiful thing in writing. The pieces in the end that will really hit us as we mature are those pieces that have deep thematic development. That's hard to teach.

The models aren't really there. Coming up with theme that relates directly to who you are and what the world has made you, your desire to challenge yourself mentally, your belief systems, who you think you are—when you start doing that, you're doing work that allows you to eventually be thematically deep in your work. But the place that we live in right now, as a world, does not encourage those kinds of questions.

We're taught to think in black-andwhite terms. You know, we're taught by the politics in this country to get rah-rah about one thing or the other.

We miss the middle ground, and you know, that's where theme comes from.

How do you know when to reject a critique?

It's tough, especially when you're a student because the truth is most of us take workshops at that stage. The sad truth is most of us take it not to grow as writers, but because we want that feedback. Of course, then, we want it to be positive. You're in class because you

want applause. It's going to sting. I really try to make sure that we're doing about half of what's working and half of what's not. I think what's not working is going to stand out.

We never go through a workshop semester where somebody doesn't end up crying. It's emotionally raw. Our stories feel like extensions of ourselves. As much as we say, “I know there's some problems, ”we're surprised and hurt always. My best advice for how to avoid being too hurt by it is to put it aside.

Totally ignore it. Do your other classes, watch Game of Thrones, go throw frisbees. Then about three, four days later, come back and don't look at that stuff.

Just sit in front of your computer, and you say, “Okay, I need to rework the story to a certain extent, what stuck in my brain from workshop?”

Those things that stick in your brain are like gold at the bottom of the gold pan. Your subconscious has kept 61

METROSPHERE them for a reason […] So that's my advice. We shake all the dirt out, and what's left is gold. What you most want to hear in workshop, you should reject.

That person's just a fan. What you most don't want to hear, pay some attention to it. There might be something there.

"Those things that stick in your brain are like gold at the bottom of the gold pan."

What is the best advice that you could give to a young writer who is struggling with motivation or a writer who is struggling with the publication process?

Persistence. If you're not motivated to send stuff out, I get it. But if you want to be a writer, you want your stuff in the world. People who don't even know what you look like, they're reading your work, they know your name, but you don't know theirs—that's what you want as a writer. So, send it out. Send it out. Send it out. Write your blog, but don't write stories for your blog.

Write stuff that's going to get bedded […] Have ten things you're sending out at any given time. When a piece is done, there's a point where you have to

62

step back and say, “This is what it is.

I'm done.” When you're done, send it out. Be persistent.

It's a lottery. If your chances of winning anything in the lottery is one in one hundred, then you bought one hundred tickets. You're guaranteed to win. Now, of course, how the lottery works, you might have won five bucks, and you spent a hundred, but you're guaranteed to win.

When it gets published, the reward is not the money. It is knowing that people are reading, feeling, and thinking things on account of you. Once it's out there, usually you will hear a few things. You get a little fan email or something. That's it. That's why you do the work. When you know that they have you, you will feel fulfilled. You will feel self-actualized, you will be addicted, and you will never want to stop.

"When it gets published, the reward is not the money, it is knowing that people are reading, feeling, and thinking things on account of you."

VITALITY

A GENERATION MISLABELED Megan Anthony Poetry

Did you hear what they called us?

Fragile. Coddled. Weak.

What use do we have for hostile labels?

They do not cultivate a culture but instead divide generations.

How can they label us “name callers”

when, in reality, we are calling out moments of injustice?

Is it our minds that are being indulged?

Or theirs?

It is not us.

For they are the ones refusing to adapt.

Refusing to address their abuse of power.

Failing to see the disorder for what it is. A product of their falsities.

Fabrications that have created a steep chasm.

A divide not just between generations but between ideologies.

Where those without see the world with knowing eyes.

And those who are blind go on willingly

into a future that promotes violence against the weak,

lies that protect the guilty,

hate against those who take a stand.

63

METROSPHERE

THE EVERLASTING CONFLUENCE OF YIN + YANG Alexander Fraser Awarded Art Submission: Third Place

“The easiest way of actualizing my work is to close your eyes and think about living your current life while aware of another version of yourself twenty years older as well as another forty years older than that—each older self completely aware of the hardships and problems of the previously younger self, yet nothing can be done to alter the past to make the future any different. It’s all about understanding that life is on the other end of death. It’s all about understanding that growth can only happen thinking retroactively while being physically and mentally in the moment. It’s a yin and yang relationship. All of the elements in this artwork relate to the three versions of yourself living in harmony while all barreling towards the end of life at the same speed. The younger self represents the power to endure what is ahead, the middle self represents 64

the power to live in the moment, and the older self represents the power to develop from the younger and middle self. There is death depicted in this drawing on an elemental level, but life and that connectedness to it are what shine through when viewed as a whole.

My cut and paste drawing style allows for a smooth transition between old textured and recycled paper, and newly printed vibrant white paper board in this artwork, just like the smooth transition between the young boy’s forehead, older gentleman’s nose and mustache, and the past life’s lower jaw in an almost diagonal timeline from the left to the right side of the paper.

We all are aware of the timeline mentioned, and we all require some sort of vitality to live within that timeline while seeing the same vitality being stripped from others. IT IS A YIN AND YANG RELATIONSHIP I TELL YA.”

VITALITY

65

METROSPHERE

THE COST OF DIVERSITY Megan Hickins Think Piece

This year has not been easy. Uncertainty, job loss, grief, and the pandemic have been looming in the minds of people everywhere. It would have been easy for students and faculty at the collegiate level to abandon academia.

However, many remained steadfast in their pursuit of education. Students took on constant virtual meetings in their bedrooms, cars, kitchen counters, and employee breakrooms. Professors restructured their entire classes to accommodate online platforms. Those involved with in-person courses worked on creating a safer learning environment on campus by following

66

CDC guidelines. Metropolitan State University of Denver is no exception, but what makes the community especially distinctive in times of difficulty is the student body itself.

According to the Institutional Research Data Book on the MSU Denver website, over 50% of MSU Denver students are first-generation. 48.4% identify as students of color. Roughly 5,000 students over the age of 30 attend classes at MSU Denver. Around 80% of students have full-time jobs, and many have children and families. Several support themselves through their college education. Essentially, the community is made up of trailblazers and hard workers who have conquered and continually overcome a multitude of challenges.

VITALITY However, this does not diminish the fact that Roadrunners, like anyone else, require support. This support is even more pertinent when one takes into account the fact that MSU Denver is one of the least funded universities in the entire state of Colorado.

While the issue has only intensified during the coronavirus pandemic, prior to this health crisis MSU Denver has had a history of receiving far fewer resources than neighboring universities.

“MSU Denver has had a history of receiving far fewer resources than neighboring universities.”

The Joint Budget Committee (JBC), a group that oversees and analyzes the state government spending for Colorado, has routinely given the university funding to improve the educational experiences of students. However, according to President Janine Davidson, information from a report conducted by the state explained that MSU Denver is grossly underfunded. The institution receives $48 million less in funding than a typical four-year university in Colorado. According to a report commissioned by the state, in order to receive the same amount of funding as similarly sized universities around the nation, MSU Denver would need to tack on another $64 million.

Per the email from President Davidson, which was sent out to the student body as well as the university faculty and staff on the 3rd of February 2021, MSU Denver provides higher education to more people of color than any other university in the state. With this in

mind, the lack of funding exposes a problem of equity within academia. In the words of Davidson: “The pandemic, along with the year’s historic racial-justice movement, has exposed the inequalities we have been living with for decades.

We cannot in good conscience agree to anything that perpetuates the status quo and fails to correct longstanding inequity.”

So, for the first time in around a decade, Davidson and her colleagues have refused to sign “The Joint Budget, ”a document that reveals the state spending budget that each Colorado university receives per year.

Instead, they have decided to make a different case for the MSU Denver budget.

Davidson explains: “I requested that lawmakers close MSU Denver’s funding gap by investing close to $50 Million in our base funding over the next five years.”

Refusing to sign the document and drafting up a proposal instead is the first step. It is the first step for the university to move toward a greater spending budget and to create more equity within higher education. With the new proposition, which has brought a larger equity issue to light, Davidson hopes to generate more opportunities to uplift entire MSU Denver community.

“The lack of funding exposes a problem of equity within academia.”

67

METROSPHERE

68

VITALITY

AD ASTRA Jonathan Hidalgo Photography Series 69

METROSPHERE

FLUTTERING DAYDREAMS Alicia Smith Art Submission

“Art has been my outlet for my entire life. There have been many times when I do not know how to express myself through words. So, I express myself with a canvas, paint, and a brush. To me, creating art is allowing myself to be free in showing who I am and what I love. The materials I use are oil paints, acrylic paints, and gouache as well as paper, collage, and embroidery to bring a three—dimensional aspect to my paintings. Currently, much of my art consists of incorporating paper collages into the composition. I have started to explore the idea of imagination and daydreaming and showing that through various situations. Imagination seems to have been lost in adults but is quite important in our daily lives to get away from the chaos that is life. I also enjoy painting women in their natural beauty and bringing focus to things society believes should not be seen such as stretch marks and stomach 70

rolls. Another influence for my art is my psychology background. I enjoy incorporating various mental disorders and illnesses within my work to portray what it is like living with various illnesses. A future project of mine is to interview an individual with a serious mental illness and portray that in my artwork. I believe it is important to tell a story through my art as it can help people better understand real issues and concerns of the world.

Recently, I have started experimenting with illustrations and creating portraits for people. This is a way that I can use my art to help people appreciate being an artist as a way of income since many people view artists as being poor. I plan to create art for the rest of my life—continuing to develop my skills and confidence, expressing my voice and blessings, and inspiring others.”

VITALITY

71

METROSPHERE

AS ABOVE SO BELOW: SOCIAL CHANGE + MINDFULNESS Charles Schwaebe Opinion

72

VITALITY Any hopes of a peaceful return to normalcy in 2021 dashed away within a week of the new year. As division remains heightened, the isolation many of us felt during the pandemic has only amplified. Mistrust, fear, and anger rule our national discourse. In the age of post-truth, nobody knows anything. What we feel has become more important than what we know. Solidarity has crumbled—both across the aisle and within political wings. Though the eye of the storm seems to have passed for now, there is no time for complacency. Our disunion is not going anywhere. Nobody wins today, but we have been given a moment to reflect and grow before tomorrow arrives. In the interest of returning to a shared reality, it’s time to focus on what we can know–ourselves.

People are easily radicalized because they are unhappy. We join groups for the community—not the ideology, but the ideology becomes a part of our social identity. We tend to define our social identities in terms of negatives—of the things that we are not.

In-groups are defined by out-groups.

Who are we outside of our oppositions?

Bigotry is a learned behavior, reinforced and rewarded by community.

A 2016 Pew Research Center survey found that voters were likely to only discuss politics with people who already agree with them. Another found that we had vastly more conversations about the personalities of political figures than about issues and policy positions.

In 2020, the election again focused more on personality than on issues.

Humans are social creatures, and it is difficult to shed the identities that we craft through peer acceptance.

If you’re like me, you could spend months reading various books searching

for some sort of undeniable truth to reconcile the death of reality, but you will only come away with the disappointingly perfunctory conclusion that the only things that can be known truths are that you exist and that now is happening.

2020 created an opportunity for us to experience the ascetic self-discovery of mindfulness. The potential should not be overlooked to continue the development of self that brought so many of us a sense of comfort during a year that was truly trying. “The storm, painful as it is, might have had some truth in it,” wrote May Sarton on the subject of isolation.

“So sometimes one has simply to endure a period of depression for what it may hold of illumination if one can live through it, attentive to what it exposes or demands.”

In the end, the goal of mindfulness practices is to separate the observer from the stream of consciousness and equip the practitioner with the language to put our complexity into words.

Mindfulness doesn’t solve social problems, but it does better prepare us to enact change. It improves our ability to handle discomfort—something many of us have spent a lot of time feeling over the last few years.

“People are easily radicalized because they are unhappy. We join groups for the community, not the ideology” Those who make it their business to quantify mindfulness, such as the 73

METROSPHERE Online Dharma Institute, identify three things that happen when we begin to explore mindfulness. First, we recognize that there are things that annoy us, or that we dislike. Then, we recognize that there are things that we do like. Finally, we recognize that we don’t have any control over those things.

From here, we begin to find that these emotions hold less sway over us. We become more aware of our own complexity, and the complexity that exists in others. Appreciating this complexity is where empathy comes from.

Many of the conflicting ideological conflicts at play in 2020 involved reactionary responses to shared fears.

Everyone’s mind was preoccupied with wealth disparity, state violence, and the threat of authoritarianism.

The source of these fears is where we differ. What mindfulness does is encourage us to act from a place of compassion rather than fear—to be responsive instead of reactive. This is love, in the words of the Buddhist Senoo Giro: “A practice—and one that, when properly accompanied by objective criticism, allows us to recognize [the problems of] ordinary life.”

A mindfulness practice allows us to go into these situations looking not for an enemy to be defeated but a paradox

1. Be aware there are things we dislike 2. Be aware there are things we do like 3. Be aware we don’t have control over these things 74

to reconcile. Anger is a powerful motivator, but an unfulfilling one.

“What mindfulness does is encourage us to act from a place of compassion rather than fear.”

Solidarity, by common definition, refers to an expression of support for something. From a sociological perspective, it refers to the interdependent support systems that maintain a mutually exclusive definitions. Americans agree on a lot more than we think. The opioid epidemic is a bipartisan issue.

80% of Americans agree climate change is happening. Most gun owners support background checks and think current gun control laws are poorly worded.

76% of registered voters believe that the wealthiest Americans should pay more in taxes. There is room for us to build solidarity.

By addressing the problems that we can all see together, we can create a base level for confronting the issues we do not see together. No one wants to treat others poorly for the sake of being mean. From the spiritual teachings of the ancients through the existential philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre, the so-called Golden Rule remains one of few universally accepted precepts. Treat others the way you would like to be treated. Treat humanity in yourself and others as an end in itself. In every religious, cultural, and ethical framework, it seems common sense to the human psyche that “a person is a person through other people.”

No one who ever catalyzed massive social change was perfect. The world can’t wait for us to debate ourselves to death. Some people cannot be reached,

VITALITY but there are others who were perhaps simply misled by a charming figurehead or an online radical community. Gloating will only push these people deeper into the arms of the communities that radicalize them. Mockery has never deradicalized anybody.

In all likelihood, the politicians and propaganda artists who got us here will not be punished. It is up to us to continue to develop the individual consciousness that forms the base of

our larger social consciousness. We are more comfortable participating in a march or protest for a cause than we are confronting those we care about.

Why can we confront somebody else’s family more easily than our own? The deconstruction of external systems goes hand-in-hand with the deconstruction of internal ones. The practice of liberation transcends the social and individual. Self-care is a form of praxis. As above so below.

75

METROSPHERE METROSPHERE

76

VITALITY VITALITY

-Ursula

77

METROSPHERE

CHANGING THE COMMUNITY WITH MUSIC Aaron Middleton Interview

Matthew Perry is a busy guy. On top of being a full-time student here at MSU Denver, he is a writer, producer, activist, and creator of the Black art collective, BLVCK Kosher. He has found a way to not only showcase and collaborate with other artists but 78

contribute to the Denver arts scene in a way only a few have done before.

Not to mention, Perry released a hiphop album earlier this year under the alias, BLVCK Qi. You can check out his music on either SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube.

VITALITY Can you tell me what BLVCK Kosher is?

BLVCK Kosher is a local art collective. It was founded in 2016 when I was a junior at East High School transitioning into my senior year. I always knew that music was meant for me—like it was just my drive for what I wanted to do in life and how I just wanted to change the world in a sense […] BLVCK Kosher originally started as a label for local artists—as a name and a symbol to hold people together and to create a community. Once I came back to Denver, I transferred to MSU [from the University of the Virgin Islands] and ended up finding out that a lot of my friends had gone off to college or were going off to do different things and then came back home.

It was those people who really wanted to start this idea, this concept, and this organization with me. So, I said, “You know what? Let’s do some research. Let’s figure out what we need to do to become an LLC. What do we need to do to become an official company—an official organization in our community so that we can start making a real change?” So, BLVCK Kosher ended up transforming from a label that everybody just wanted to be a part of and have a name to fall under and became a revolution of sorts for the arts and for the community.

Photo provided by Matthew Perry

How has the pandemic affected your collective?

We had so many plans that were canceled. We planned to do six different events in 2020, but we only got to work with MSU Denver on one event, which was Black Art Matters for Black History Month […] COVID has affected all of that. Prior to the pandemic, we would have meetings on campus

“What do we need to do to become an official company—an offical organization in our community so that we can start making a real change?” every Wednesday. After COVID, those meetings turned into FaceTime calls.

A lot of important things were pushed aside because people had work. People had school. People had other priorities. Finding new artists [in person] got put on hold. A lot of our scouting has been more virtual and more through social media more so than going to local events like we used to. We used to go out to events that weren’t even ours, but we knew that it was a showcase of artists. So, we would go down to Civic Center Events or Five Points—things like that […]

On the other hand, collaboration is going up. I would say double or triple to a degree. It’s easier to make plans around collaborating with other artists. I mean, myself, I have an album coming out at the end of this month—February 28th. Honestly, out of nine tracks, three of them are only me. I got to collaborate with a lot of artists this past year. Artists are getting acclimated to this idea of I have to have my own setup. I have to have my own stuff in my house. Because otherwise, I’m not going to move forward in my art. People have been starting to adapt a lot more.

That’s what is exciting to see […]

Collaboration has been a lot easier, but everything else has gotten more difficult.

79

Who are your musical inspirations?

This is always such a hard question.

When it comes to the approach of how he handled himself and how he introduced himself into the music industry, Chance the Rapper. Even though he had iconic artists like Kanye West, these amazing gospel artists on his side, and he had the whole city of Chicago just behind him, I think the way he came out with 10 Day is amazing. [..] I think just his approach—how he stayed independent and how he relied on and kept having trust in his own people that he came up with—that is an inspiration to me and is a truth to what I want to do.

Another inspiration is Tyler, the Creator. He came up with Odd Future.

He and a group of his friends created whatever they wanted: music, clothing, skateboarding—everything you could think of. Then, they joined with all these different partnerships—with these big labels. All because they believed in these kids who had a vision. It was such a dope concept. I remember being in middle school and listening to Goblin on repeat. There’s a song called 80 80

“Radicals.” It’s this idea that you can be as weird as you want to be—you can be you. It was kind of like an anthem to a degree for the weird Black kids that I knew. It was just like damn, this idea that I don’t have to constantly try to please every single person that comes into my life.

I don’t have to live up to audio expectations. I can do whatever I want. I can be my own person. I can live my life as I see fit […] It was really inspiring to see a kid who came from almost nothing and a lot of the same background as me—as a kid who grew up in a single-mother household and didn’t have a father figure. He then went on to express these truths and experiences about his life and was able to build an empire from that in as little as three years.

“I don’t have to live up to audio expectations. I can do whatever I want. I can be my own person. I can live my life as I see fit.”

VITALITY On the producer side of things, Quincy Jones, Kanye, Hit-Boy, Metro Boomin, Madlib—the list goes on. When it comes to my music, I’m from Louisiana. I have a very southern upbringing. A lot of the music that I grew up on was either R&B or southern rap. So, OutKast, Lil Wayne, TI. I also love artists like Musiq Soulchild, Erykah Badu, India.

Arie, Sade. I love old school artists—old school R&B specifically, like New Edition, Faith Evans, Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson. I also grew up listening to Chris Brown, Usher, Omarion—those newer R&B artists.

“When it comes to my music, I’m from Louisiana. I have a very southern upbringing.”

like the only way to get out is by either becoming a professional athlete or a famous musician. We have this concept that we want to make it easier for kids out there. We see kids coming from Mont Bello or Park Hill, who have such great talent, but they might not be using that talent because they are preoccupied with all the other things—all these other challenges and obstacles they’re facing […] Our main mission is to get these kids off the streets. We want to put programs into high schools. We want to go back to the high schools that we were involved with. We want to go to East High and open after-school programs in the event that the school defunds its art programs. We want to be a safety net […]

What’s next for BLVCK Kosher? Where do you see yourself, assuming, you know, the world gets back to some sort of normalcy in a year?

The biggest goal for these next four years is to get a partnership with the mayor’s office in the city of Denver so that we can get funding to go into these schools and really help kids out. Give them mentors. Give them people that they can look up to—people that they can rely on to help them out.

We want to start making a real change in the community. This is really what this work is about, and this is really what motivates us. We’re from all over the place—Baton Rouge, South Africa, Chicago. We all come from these places where we saw so much struggle. It seemed

“Give them people that they can look up to— people that they can rely on to help them out.”

Demon$ by BLVCK Qi 81 81

METROSPHERE

SELF-REFLECTION Anniston Craddock Poetry

Retribution breaks quiet tranquility Wrapped in a blanket of self-violence Secrets cower over my head Broken by the isolation of my own thoughts Taking refuge under the harrowing pines of resilience Branches crumble under the steps to self-discovery Forgotten within the maze of the forest Broken by the isolation of my own thoughts Stagnant under the darkness of a social construct Bellowing over the howling pain of self-doubt Just leave me here abandoned Broken by the isolation of my own thoughts.

82

VITALITY

ADSORPTION Mika Futz Awarded Art Submission: Second Place

“To me, the concept of Vitality is entwined with resilience and adaptiveness. How do we, as individuals and societies, respond to the challenges of the last year? This work explores the vital forces of the microbial realm at the microscopic level.

COVID-19 exposed significant challenges and disparities in how information is shared, accessed, and interpreted. The pandemic also revealed opportunities to improve upon science communication and education. In response, this project was developed to combat barriers to knowledge. Here, science fiction and comic-book culture are used to reach diverse populations, merge boundaries, and bridge gaps in knowledge.

This work explores the microbial realm, merging the familiarity and tactility of traditional ink illustration with 3-D digital modeling software. The motifs of movement, transmission, and collective action are explored through a cast of microbial characters and processes. These themes are represented in the form of motility, viral pathogenesis, and biofilm formation. My creative works examine both the viral spread of information and viral particles themselves by rendering STEAM topics as both tangible and approachable.”

83

METROSPHERE

84

VITALITY

85

METROSPHERE

86

VITALITY

87

METROSPHERE

SHEDDING LAYERS OF YOURSELF Maysen Wheatley Art Submission

“This composition shows the discomfort and dissociation from the body when change occurs. The composition reveals sheds of snake skins which symbolize the many changes in life. The composition also resembles a path to a new unfamiliar place. These ideas relate to the separation of the past, letting go of old ideas, and releasing old versions of yourself by moving into a new and better you.”

88

VITALITY

89

METROSPHERE

FERTILIZER Zoe Lloyd-Carpenter Awarded Literary Submission: Third Place

“I wrote the three poems in Fertilizer at different times in my life. I was going through a period of major change and wanted to reflect on the thoughts and emotions that came with it. Grief changes us. It makes us falter, but it always propels us forward into new growth and understanding. Life is short, and we need to understand that it is the unexpected changes that make life so meaningful.”

90

VITALITY

I Always Knew Who She Was I always knew who she was She second guessed her best decisions Made coffee with cinnamon toast crunch creamer and foam Only ever ate the well cooked bacon Spoke in verses of young adult whimsy and passionate rage She reveled in the storied darkness in her past Woke before and with the sun Nose tucked away in a book for earnest pleasure Lived from one moment to the next She was like the dawn As bright and fiery as she was beautiful She sparkled in her own excitement Followed her passion like a sunflower She could be spiteful when she wanted And I loved her when she was More kind then she realized More generous than I deserved I always wondered how I’d found my way back to someone like her.

And I realized somewhere down the road that I’d always known who she was.

91

Happiness If I could buy happiness I would buy everything in advance Just send myself gifts to remind myself to smile I would buy magic in a bottle Feel how I felt when I believed in the impossible I would buy a new voice in my head One that likes me Tells me I’m enough Doesn’t care what other people think Could pursue more than I’m capable of, Reach those high expectations I would buy every fuzzy companion to cuddle Paint murals and old poems on my walls Cuddle under blankets piled high Knowing it would be instant.

I would give happiness away In truck fulls So that even those who could not afford happiness would have a lifetime supply And then I’d rest easy Knowing happiness was just a paycheck away.

92

VITALITY

Cherry Tree In place of my grief Buried in my soul Is the bud of a cherry tree.

Born from the fertilizer of my past mistakes Reaching desperately from the ground Trying so hard to find the sun.

Subconsciously I always knew it was there But I kept it hidden from myself Each time I doubted, I broke off a branch So how could my little cherry tree hope to grow?

How could I hope to be bigger than I am in sadness?

When the tree would twist and bud Some part of me felt threatened Who would love me the same if it flowered?

What would I do if they didn’t like the new color?

What if suddenly, I was too much?

Or what if It never did?

What if the branches remained bare forever?

I wondered if I could live like that.

Which was I more scared of?

Being someone I wouldn’t recognize?

Or being someone I’m not?

I took so many flowers off, So many branches thrown away in place of courage So when I finally and truly saw my little cherry tree Scared by fear and picked at by my self doubt I collapsed at the foot of my tree and held it Understanding my grief as I’d never seen it before.

93

METROSPHERE

NOT PERMITTED Hannah Walla Art Submission

“Not Permitted focuses on the parallels between graffiti and skateboarding. These two forms of self-expression are often considered destructive and are removed or kept from the public sphere. Not Permitted shows the similarities within these cultures to present the two in harmony with one another. Graffiti and skateboarding crossed paths when street artists began creating skate decks in the 1980s. Their designs were the perfect art form for board graphics because both domains share disdain for private property. The vivid colors frame the two in a positive light; they’re not simply forms of destruction, but two forms of self-expression. Private property created crime.”

94

VITALITY

95

METROSPHERE

96

VITALITY

97

METROSPHERE

98

VITALITY

99

WORDS OF ADVICE Curated by Megan Hickins From the Art Department

“Being an artist takes a lot of hu stle. No one ever hands yo u a paycheck or an opportunity to show your work without you making your own opportun ities first. Bein g a professional artist is also being a business person and, in a lot of respects, is a way harder profession than being in STEM . So, if you’re looking fo r something crea tive and rewarding you’ve found it; but, if you’re looking for someth ing chill–keep lo oking.”

Peter Bergman

Associate Profes sor and Program Coordinator of Co mmunication Desi gn

t it helps n’t fun, bu s i t i ; y a k s o ar of fail “Failure i n’t let fe o D o . t w o t r n g a nd ou w us learn a om what y u back fr o has been y e d n l o o y h ure h ever c u m y t t e Pr a project achieve. st, or had e t a d e l i fa ned. It is rejected, we envisio y a w eme h t t u l, but rem not work o ome is rea r d n we y s g n r i e d t s reten okay! Impo are just p s e. u m i f t o e t h s o f t ber that m g a lot o n i o l d l i w e r ’ u e o w d y know what wesome, an a d n a y h t r You are wo s world.” ace in thi l p r u o y d fin

in t n e r T r e m Sum

Program ofessor and eory, Associate Pr t History, Th Ar of r to na Coordi m and Criticis

100

VITALITY

Anyone can voice; it matters.

“Be true to your and drive t ep t it is the conc copy an image, bu ent. No es pr that needs to be pracbehind the image ur yo on e authority th is u yo s de si one be not burn a on. Network. Do tice and producti d so many an is necessary, bridge unless it . Whether on rs be the bigger pe times you need to ve, figti ra gu ct artist or fi you are an abstra s into me co ce ur light sour ure out where yo her in et wh e ng full value ra play and employ a color.” black and white or

Javier Flores and 2D sor of Painting Affiliate Profes s Studio Foundation

about nts! Think e m n g i s s a signt do the use the as d n a “Don’t jus e k a m rn to ant to ce but lea n a what you w d i u g l a n initi wn mark!” ments as a ake your o m d n a e t a truly cre

h a l e aL

Aliz Affiliate

g of Drawin Professor

“Strengthen th e mind, work from the heart...

Fear no Art.”

Vectors provided by Vecteezy

Carlos

Fresq

uez

Professor an d Area Coor dinator of Painting

101

METROSPHERE

HOLDING ON Cindy Loya Awarded Art Submission: First Place

“My most recent works are visual interpretations of the dualities and experiences of immigration at different stages in my life using layers of textile and recycled fabric to create self-portraits. Prominent Mexican-American symbolism represents what being an immigrant is in the United States. While many of us have our own immigration story to tell, this work is a personal perspective of growing up in two different countries.

Throughout my cross-cultural experience, it has been important to look inwards and focus on a more personal interpretation. Art is a way to process information and history. By creating the work, I am able to convey my story and construct a space to share it. I use thread as a drawing utensil, creating contrasting lines through layering fabric and embroidery thread. The use of thread is a metaphor of the thin lines that connect the Mexican and United 102

States layers of my upbringing like the veins that run through our body. While most of my work is juxtaposed imagery, this work is a collection of self-portraits of me in different stages of my life. Creating mixed media art quilts, the juxtaposition of imagery is used as a self-discovery tool and a way to process the Mexican-American experience.

In Chicano Art, dualities are prominent.

The use of imagery expresses the desire to belong and be viewed as an equal. As a woman of color, I inherit more layers of struggle beyond being an immigrant; I decided to look within myself to try to understand and connect with my own journey. The use of fabric in this series is a representation of the importance of fabric in our everyday lives; we use fabric to clothe and keep ourselves warm. We use it to give us identity in style and personality. Fabric sets trends and allows us to tell time in history.”

METROSPHERE

104

VITALITY

I do believe in

THE POWER OF STORY. I believe that stories have an important role to play in the formation of human beings, that they can stimulate, amaze, and inspire.

-Hayao Miyazaki

105

METROSPHERE

THANK YOU FROM OUR STAFF Dear Reader,

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for picking up the magazine and having a read! I hope you enjoyed all the literature and art it has to offer!

Thank you for taking the time to look through and read this magazine. I hope that the content of this issue brings you laughter, hope, and joy as it has to me.

Jonathan Hidalgo Photographer

Hi! Thank you so much to all of the creatives who sent in their work. This publication would not be what it is without all of you. Thank you to all of our readers for continuing to support Metrosphere. We know this past year has been full of challenges, but as a community, we have made it through with strength and vitality.

Alex Ertel Writer and Photographer

To Our Readers, Thank you for choosing our publication. Your support is our vitality, and your submissions are a never-ending source of wonder for us. We present this issue to you with gratitude.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it. Thank you for making this possible.

Charles Schwaebe Writer

Meg Hickins Writer

Dear Reader, I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for picking up this magazine and engaging with it. Our staff has worked hard to ensure that this magazine provides some form of entertainment or maybe even enlightenment. No matter what you take away from it, we truly appreciate you.

Thanks again, Aaron Middleton Writer

To Our Readers and Contributors, Thank you. Thank you for supporting us throughout this year. Without our readers, our words would hold no value. To everyone who contributed their time and effort into making this publication possible, we couldn’t have done it without you.

Thank you, Megan Anthony Writer

Dear Reader,

Dear Reader,

Thanks for taking the time to read the magazine and appreciate its art!

You give our team a sense of purpose, and it always brings us joy to create things together for you to enjoy. I hope that this edition brought some vitality into your day.

Thank you for taking the time to look through Metrosphere! We hope our passion for creativity inspires you to appreciate the unique voices of MSU Denver.

Chèna J. Williams Writer

Dear Reader, Thank you for reading this magazine and enjoying all the poems, stories, art, and more. Thank you to all who submitted their works and sharing a part of themselves with the community.

Alexandra Fabrizio Graphic Designer

Hello, Helping to design this magazine has been an overwhelming but educational process. The staff and I have put so much time into making this magazine perfect, and we want to thank you for taking the time out of your day to dive into our work and the work of all the talented students who submitted their art and literature to us.

Anniston Craddock Creative Director

Dear Reader, I thank you for taking the time to view this magazine. There are wonderful works from our staff and community that I am grateful to have been a part of. We wanted to remind everyone of the things we are capable of as a community in times of adversity, and I hope you felt a part of that here.

Olivia Ruffe Managing Editor

To You, Thank you for making this issue of Metrosphere possible. Thank you to everyone who inspired it. Thank you to everyone who supported it. Thank you to everyone who contributed their hard work, creativity, and perspective to it. It has been an absolute honor creating this magazine for and with you. Again, thank you.

Thanks, Sincerely, Parker Wiese Art Director

~ Julia Nguyên Editor-in-Chief

107

METROSPHERE

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL Despite the vitality of the human spirit, life remains fragile. Given all that we have lost this past and current year, the Metrosphere editorial staff has decided to abandon the typical letter from the editor. Instead, let’s take a moment of silence for:

The 2.8 million lives lost worldwide to COVID-19.

The lives lost in the Boulder shooting.

The lives lost in the Orange County shooting.

The lives lost in the Indianapolis FedEx shooting.

The lives taken away by police brutality.

The lives taken by Black hate crimes.

The lives taken away by Asian hate crimes.

The lives taken by LGBTQ+ hate crimes.

The departed politicians who represented our voices.

The departed activists who stood for our causes.

The departed directors, screenwriters, actors, and crew whose films and characters gave us new visions in cinema.

The departed scientists and mathematicians who took us to new heights.

108

VITALITY

The departed writers whose stories we hold onto dearly.

The departed musicians who have shared their soul with us through their music.

The departed athletes who showed us the capabilities of the human body and spirit.

incredible

The departed educators who have influenced us to learn more about the world and ourselves.

The departed artists and designers whose work has touched our hearts.

The departed healthcare and frontline workers who put their lives on the line to save ours.

Our departed fellow Roadrunners.

Our departed friends.

Our departed family members.

METROSPHERE

RESOURCES Academic Advising

Career Services

Guides students in choosing majors, minors, concentrations, and other academic programs.

Provides high-quality, student-focused services to support all aspects of career exploration.

Access Center

Center for Equality and Student Achievement

msudenver.edu/advising

msudenver.edu/access Ensures access and inclusion for all students with disabilities. Provides accommodations, services, and access to students with either temporary medical conditions or permanent physical, health, learning, sensory or mental health disabilities.

Auraria Library

library.auraria.edu/accessibility-services Assists in research help, retrieval of library materials, as well as copying and scanning.

Auraria Police Department

ahec.edu/services-departments/police A dedicated, full-service police department that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Campus Safety and Compliance msudenver.edu/safety/#d.en.56130

Protects and informs the community about pertinent matters related to crime prevention and safety on campus. Be safe out there.

110

msudenver.edu/career

msudenver.edu/cesa Supports and educates students throughout their MSU Denver journey and to advocate for a campus community that promotes equity and inclusion.

Center for Multicultural Engagement and Inclusion msudenver.edu/cmei Helps students explore their cultural identity as they navigate their college journey by connecting them with many resources MSU Denver has to offer for multicultural students.

Center for Visual Art msudenver.edu/cva

Offers a diverse, high-quality art experiences that brings local and international artists, MSU Denver students and the broader community together to advance the global urban dialogue.

VITALITY

College Assistant Migrant Program msudenver.edu/camp

The Gender Institute for Teaching and Advocacy msudenver.edu/gita

Supports the completion of the first year of college of eligible migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their children by providing comprehensive outreach and enrollment assistance, academic support, financial aid, and social opportunities.

Counseling Center msudenver.edu/counsel

Provides a comfortable environment for students to examine their life and learn more about themselves so they can realize their potential.

Dean of Students Office msudenver.edu/deanofstudents

Supports students in personal matters or difficult situations impacting their University experience.

Early Learning Center

ahec.edu/services-departments/early-learning-center Provides full- and part-time programs for children 12-months to 5-years-old and summer camp for children through age 8.

Provides academics and services to students most impacted by the intersecting oppressions affecting students’ everyday lives.

Health Center

msudenver.edu/healthcenter Elusively serves AHEC, CCD, MSU Denver, and CU Denver students, faculty, and staff.

IT Help Desk

msudenver.edu/technology/helpdeskcentral Did you forget your password? Need a loaner computer? IT Services Help Desk provides technological support to students, faculty, and staff.

Honors Program

msudenver.edu/honors Tailors a combination of both academic courses and co-curricular options to approved applicants.

First Generation Initiatives msudenver.edu/first-gen/home

Helps the 56% of the student body that identifies as first generation in their college journey.

111 111

METROSPHERE

Immigrant Services Program

Phoenix Center at Auraria

An academic and social support program that aims to increase enrollment, retention, and graduation of undocumented, DACA, immigrant, and refugee students.

Provides prevention education for our campus, free and confidential survivor advocacy, and a 24/7 helpline to anyone who has been impacted by relationship violence, sexual violence, and/or stalking.

msudenver.edu/immigrant-services

LGBTQ Student Resource Center msudenver.edu/lgbtq

Serves students, faculty, and staff of all genders and sexualities on the Auraria Campus.

Office of Equal Opportunity msudenver.edu/eoo

Investigates allegations of discrimination, discriminatory harassment, sexual harassment and assault, domestic violence, and stalking at MSU Denver. If you see something, say something!

Office of Financial Aid msudenver.edu/financialaid

Offers financial services for undergraduate and graduate students including scholarships, FAFSA, work study, and more.

Office of International Studies

msudenver.edu/internationalstudies/forstudents International travel is on hold, but you can still learn about and engage in international educational experiences at MSU Denver.

112

thepca.org

Student Activities

msudenver.edu/studentactivities Oversees campus events, student organizations, student travel, leadership, as well as fraternity and sorority life.

Students with Autism

msudenver.edu/speech-language-hearing-sciences A strengths-based program for students on the autism spectrum that provides one-on-one and group interaction opportunities, offers support in achieving academic success and developing meaningful relationships, as well as prepares them in attaining competitive employment.

Student Care Center

msudenver.edu/student-care-center Provides holistic, non-clinical support to students through the following initiatives: case management, the Roadrunner Food Pantry, the Student Emergency Retention Fund, and the EPIC Scholars program.

VITALITY

Student Employment

Tutoring Center

Provides students with paid jobs to help alleviate a portion of their educational expenses while gaining experience and leadership skills.

Find the derivative of f(x)=6x3−9x+4... or just visit the place that offers remote tutoring across a variety of disciplines for students.

Student Government Assembly

Undergraduate Research Program

Formally represents the student body to higher administration and faculty.

Promotes, supports, and celebrates MSU Denver faculty and student engagement in undergraduate research activities.

msudenver.edu/se/

msudenver.edu/sga

Supplemental Instruction

msudenver.edu/roadways/tutoringcenter

msudenver.edu/undergraduate-research-program

msudenver.edu/supplementalinstruction

Veteran and Military Student Services

Offers free and remote regularly scheduled group study sessions that are facilitated by SI Leaders (current students who have previously succeeded in the course).

In the Navy, you the seven seas. a program that veterans with a

TRIO Student Support Services

Writing Center

Upon approval, assists students with academic requirements, enhancing study skills, and connecting them with academic recourses. Available for those who meet at least one of the following identities: limited income, first-generation, or have a disability

Helps students become stronger, more confident writers by developing healthy writing processes, metacognitive awareness, and a broad repertoire of writing strategies. Don’t write good when you can write well!

msudenver.edu/trio-sss

msudenver.edu/veterans/#d.en.32464

have the chance to sail At MSU Denver, we have assists military and variety of needs.

msudenver.edu/writectr

113

METROSPHERE

SUBMISSIONS Metrosphere celebrates the creativity that exists within the MSU Denver community. The magazine elevates the culture of the University by compiling and sharing diverse perspectives and original work from various creatives within the Roadrunner family. These creatives may consist of doodlers, musicians, artists, shutterbugs, wordsmiths, and everyone else that thrives in the realm of art and literature. Metrosphere supports diversity in all its forms: race and ethnicity, gender, gender identities and expressions, sexual orientations, religion, socioeconomic class, national origin and nationality, linguistic diversity, age, disabilities, individual differences, and cultural affiliations.

For the chance to be featured in the next issue, scan the code below:

115