Students Lead Narrative 4 Event, ‘Stories of Connection’

By ISABEL GERHEIM

Senior English education student, Katelyn Frattaroli, and junior English creative writing student, Cicada Hill, created and held an event titled “Stories of Connection,” through the organization, Narrative 4. The event aimed to share and learn from student narratives using the prompt: “Tell a story about a time when human connection taught you something about yourself.” 

The event was held on Oct. 22 from 5 to 8 p.m. The story exchange included a brief background lecture about the mission and purpose of Narrative 4 and the story exchange process. The student leaders also explained the steps that go into conducting effective storytelling before partaking in the exchange.

Frattaroli and Hill had been working within Seton Hill’s Narrative 4 cohort, which exists under the National Pluralisms Grant. Frattaroli explained how the cohort and the grant allow Seton Hill and other universities to research how to incorporate Narrative 4 on campuses. 

“This event was something we had been thinking about since last semester, this was our first solo event,” Frattaroli said. “The purpose of this event was to kind of bring Narrative 4 outside the classroom but also to expose students to welcoming spaces where they could speak freely and discuss these harder topics.

“I hope Narrative 4 continues to grow and build connections amongst different individuals, whether that be students, faculty, staff, or even people in the community,” said Frattaroli.

English Professor and Campus Coordinator of Seton Hill’s partnership with Narrative 4, Christine Cusick, and English Professor Emily Wierszewski have been working with Hill and Frattaroli in training to be facilitators. 

“It was really a gift to be able to see students kind of take the lead and introduce Narrative 4 in a way with confidence,” Cusick said. “We wanted to give them a chance to use that training and practice. They coordinated the event, they introduced the story exchange, and then facilitated.” 

Cusick explained that she and Wierszewski actively chose to allow Hill and Frattaroli to lead the exchange on their own. “We just stepped away because we wanted them to be reminded that they are really good at this work and also just give students a space to have a story exchange without a professor present.

“I think we just need reminders of what it feels like to be connected with somebody, in real time. There’s a lot of power in feeling heard. My hope is that anybody who participated recognizes that their stories are worthy of being heard,” Cusick stated.

First Year Student Lucas Lacayo was one of the students who engaged in the Narrative 4 story exchange. “It made me realize that there is much more to people than what you would normally see. I mean we only see each other occasionally in class or in clubs unless you are friends with them, so this experience really helps you get to know them a lot more and can build possible friendships,” said Lacayo.

“There’s much more to a person than what meets the eye. And there’s a lot to learn from someone else’s experience,” Lacayo said. 

Lacayo explained the pressures of faculty versus student-run events. “I must say that it was much better than having, say, a teacher or someone of the staff doing it, because these are people my age who are going through the same experiences as me so it felt a lot less awkward and more fun in a way. 

“If you are new to the school or don’t know what to do, this event definitely would benefit people who are shy or don’t really like to be open. I feel having more events like this would help a lot as well,”Lacayo said. 

Campus coordinators and student leaders plan to continue to hold story exchanging events and spread the message of the importance of storytelling through the research grant and the Narrative 4 organization.