BY ERICA MILOSH

The Institute for Women’s Leadership attended the Massachusetts Conference for Women at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in December. Eighteen Nichols students experienced all the leadership advice, career resources, and professional stories that the conference had to offer.

The conference featured a wide variety of recognized keynote speakers during the opening session. Such representatives were fashion designer Tim Gunn of “Project Runway”; best-selling author and founder of Nasty Gal, Sophia Amoruso; TED fellow and urban space artist, Candy Chang, and several more.

Junior human resource management and business major, Olivia Barrett, has attended the conference for the last two years. “One [speaker] that I found to be extremely beneficial was Adam Grant –the top rated Professor at Wharton University. His talk was very interesting and he presented himself in a very confident and professional manner. Grant deals with clients including Google, the NFL, Merck, Goldman Sachs, Pixar, Facebook, and many more.”

After lunch there was a second keynote session featuring Shonda Rhimes, producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal; and television critic Emily Nussbaum. Throughout the day author signings were available and breakout sessions were held geared toward women’s leadership, emerging professionals, and personal development. Roundtable discussions were held to deliberate small business development and social media tools.

“The first breakout session I attended was ‘The Art of Talking About Yourself,’” Olivia said, “In this session, all of the panelists encouraged us to find our brand.”

“Seeing 10,000 women in one place for the purpose of continued personal development is motivational –learning is lifelong,” Director of the Institute for Women’s Leadership Jean Beaupre said, “The atmosphere was really positive and encouraging; it is an amazing experience and we were thrilled to be able to attend with some of our students.”

The students found the conference to be motivating, empowering, and inspiring. The speakers, breakout sessions, and roundtable discussions got students thinking about their own personal development and goals for the future.

Senior marketing major and business communication minor, Lindsey Oliver, has attended the conference for the last three years. “Not only do I have such fond memories from the conferences over the years, but I have also taken so much away from them. Overall, it is just a great environment to be a part of.”

Other faculty and staff members who attended the conference were Marney Buss, Director of Residence Life; Elizabeth Horgan, Director of Career Services; Cindy Lafortune, Information Technology Manager of User Support Services; Libba Moore, Human Resource Mangement Program Chair and professor; Jenna Parker, Career Services Administrative Assistant. Nichols College Graduate & Professional Studies also had a booth set up which was run by Marie Leonard, Assistant Director of Recruiting; and Nora Luquer, Associate Director of Admissions.

BY ERICA MILOSH

A student art show was held in the library on Dec. 9 at 1:30. Most of the artwork was created in Professor Warren’s Intro to Sculpture course. On display were fantasy creatures made with stoneware clay and painted, ancient Gods carved from cement, and seashell duplications made from clay. Mermaids, Cyclops, and Stitch (from the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch) were part of the fantasy creatures. The carved ancient Gods represented Egyptian figures such as Ra and the Sphinx. There were also wire sculptures designed to copy the outlines of shoes and hats.

Aside from sculptures there were some self-portraits drawn by students on display. Hot cocoa and candy canes were provided by the Fischer Institute; attending the art show earned each student a cultural credit. Students had an enjoyable time showing off their artwork and mingling with friends. The library was filled with people coming in and out to check out the art show and take advantage of the second to last cultural credit of the semester.

BY ERICA MILOSH

Fischer Institute sponsored a lecture on entering the world of a story presented by adjunct English professor Lisa Taylor on Oct. 28. Lisa explained how a good piece of fiction comes together through examples of her own work. Her newest publication is a collection of short stories, “Growing a New Tail”, and her most recent compilation of poems, “Necessary Silence” both published by Arlen House/Syracuse University Press. Lisa elaborated on her various characters that usually fall under categories of liars, criminals, and lovers. Many of her stories focus on characters that are in need of reinventing themselves or have been taken down through hardships.

“Nobody wants to read about a great life, they want conflict and trouble,” Lisa elaborated.

Lisa says that she is drawn to misbehaved characters and often conjures up a story simply from being in a public space and people watching. There is a story to be found even in the most mundane of places, such as the grocery store or the DMV.

Lisa read a few excerpts from “Growing a New Tail”, and also shared her newest story “Second Lives” which is not yet finished. Lisa’s stories capture your attention from the very first line and her characters feel real, each with their own distinct personality and mannerisms. She presented characters with OCD tendencies, mourning the loss of a child, and living a “second life” in Vegas.

“It’s important to have a second life when your first one isn’t going to well,” Lisa mentioned.

Students in the audience asked questions about how to keep stories diverse and how to overcome creative hardships such as writers block. Lisa eluded that she keeps her stories different by varying character age, gender, economic standing, and ethnicity. In order to overcome a creative block, a writer must keep writing every day, even if it doesn’t seem any good. Lisa compared writing skills to muscles; if you stop using them for a period of time they won’t be as strong as if you had been regularly using them.

Lisa offered great advice to struggling writers such as myself, and her stories were perfect examples of well-written fiction. About 65 students attended the lecture and earned a cultural credit for doing so.

Lisa’s stories have earned her recognition in the literary world; she won the Hugo House New Works Award for her story “Mosaic” and has been interviewed by San Diego Book Review, Association of Writers and Writing Programs and many more. Apart from teaching creative writing at Nichols College and Eastern Connecticut State University, Lisa occasionally travels to Ireland for lectures and workshops.