In heartfelt messages and hateful words, BYU-Hawaii students came together for a Valentine’s Day open mic and slam poetry activity, presented by the BYUH English Circle on Feb.13. Students gathered together to share original poems, their favorite poems written by others and love songs.
Students from the English Circle group attended but others also participated to share their [thoughts] towards love and Valentine’s Day.
According to the president of the English Circle and organizer of the event, Cole Johnson, a senior from Idaho majoring in English, “We liked the idea to cater to both sides, [either those] who like Valentine’s Day or hate Valentine’s Day, just to share how [they] feel about it.”
Words have power
Angela Morales, a junior from Philippines double majoring in psychology and political science, said, “The reason I came to this event is I like to process emotions. Words have power.”
She also shared, “I would come again because sometimes I need guests' inspiration, or I need to feel emotion and have an outlet.”
Sarah Mitchell, a senior from Alabama majoring in English, explained, “In the past year, I have been trying to work on getting my writing out there. [Writing] is something I have been doing for a really long time in my life. After the creative writing minor, I decided I wanted to continue writing.
“I made the goal to write a poem every day. I got inspired and have been writing every day, and I wanted to share one of those poems. I wanted to see people’s reactions to improve my writing and also overcome my fear of being vulnerable in front of people.”
Alex Eng, a freshman from California majoring in business, shared, “One of my friends invited me. I try and go when people invite me [to things.]”
Feelings while sharing and listening
“I felt kind of nervous, I wish I could have taken my time or been a bit slower,” shared Mitchell. “It was a really good feeling to look up and see people feeling similar emotions that had happened to make the poem possible.
“When you write a poem ... it’s taking emotions from your past into a little snippet of how you have felt and hoping someone else can feel that.”
She went on to explain, “I have been writing my whole life and I did a lot of creative writing projects, but it wasn’t until sixth grade I had a teacher pull me aside and said to me, ‘If you don’t pursue something with writing, I’m going to haunt you.’ He was an older teacher and I believed him.”
Eng said, “I liked the music and the talents people had. It’s good to share our talents with other people because it can inspire someone else to share [their talents]. It was a good interaction and being with the people who like the same things is [really] cool.”
Mitchell described how she loved being able to hear people talk about the poems they are passionate about. “We had a diverse group perform in different ways.”
Words from the presidency
Angela Fantone, a senior from the Philippines majoring in English and vice president of English Circle, shared, “We have been struggling to have people come to English Circle and learn about what we do. So an activity like this with food and fun [helps]. We are glad people came.”
Emphasizing how all were welcome, Johnson said, “I think sometimes when you say English Circle, it’s thought of as needing to be an English major or maybe English minor to go to the activities, but that’s not true at all. We want everyone to come.
“We focus a lot on words and the power of words, the power of language and how [it] is presented.”
All students need to do to participate, Fantone explained, is show up. “This is not an official chapter in SAC. There is no registration or club fee. Just come and enjoy. It is really just a gathering for like-minded people. There’s definitely a place for different interests.”
They also shared how the English Circle is a place for people to feel like they belong. “We want people to feel welcome and feel they have a place to hang out with their friends. [For tonight], it was to share things from their hearts,” said Johnson.