Every year, the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley publishes a magazine, Gallery: A Literary and Arts Magazine, promoting student literary and artistic creations.
With 2017 being its biggest issue yet, two students were recognized for their works by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, receiving Golden Circle Awards for their published pieces.
Mayanin Rosa, a double major in English and psychology senior, was awarded a Certificate of Merit for her free-form poem, “Not Your Babe,” and studio art sophomore Pamela Torres took second place for her Portfolio of Illustration/Art.
Rosa got struck with inspiration for the piece while in her psychology of gender course.
“Well, in psychology of gender, we went over blaming women for a lot of things, either rape issues, certain court things, cultural issues, so that’s kind of why I started writing it,” she said.
She hoped to send a feminist message to empower women and women’s rights, saying, “I wanted to send the message that women belong to themselves. They don’t belong to anybody, and they should do everything for themselves.”
It is not uncommon for writers and artists to experience a period of doubt and a loss of confidence in their work. Many times they struggle with questions like, “Does this look OK?” “Am I even good at this?” and sometimes, give up on their dreams.
Being recognized by Columbia put those worries to rest for Rosa, only providing more passion and motivation to keep creating.
“It’s a sign not to quit,” she said.
Torres experienced the same overwhelming and reassuring feeling when receiving the news that she had earned second place.
“I cried, because I was pushing so hard to put my name out there and my works, and just being acknowledged by an Ivy League school is extraordinary, I couldn’t even believe it,” she said, choking back tears again.
At the time she created her series, she had been struggling with anxiety and a sense of loss in her life. Not being able to find what she wanted, who she was, or where she was going, she looked to nature for answers.
Torres saw nature as an outlet to find one’s identity and get back to one’s sense of self, thus creating the works based on nature.
“It was all about, you know, finding courage within yourself, going back into nature and finding who you are again,” she said. “That helped me ease back into who I am.”
By throwing herself into her art, she was able to overcome the fears and anxieties that were eating at her.
When asked what art is to her, she described it as, “Art is me. If you take that away, you just take all of me.”
Advice she has for aspiring students, artists and writers?
“Just do whatever you want, take the risk, dream big.”
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