In its 21st year, the National Undergraduate Literature Conference (NULC) was held in Ogden, Utah at Weber State University (WSU). This year’s line-up included close to 170 undergraduate presenters from 67 colleges and universities across the United States. Presenting my literature paper �The Dooms of Love,� I was one of them.
On March 29, 2006, I traveled to Ogden, just north of Salt Lake City (SLC), where I spent six nights in a WSU dormitory. On the third day of my trip, the second day of the conference, I presented my paper. When the proctor of my session announced my paper, he referred to my school as �Seton Hall.� Don’tworry, Seton Hill University (SHU), I stepped up and corrected the poor fellow by joking �At least you got my name right!�
By Moira Richardson,
Online Writer
In its 21st year, the National Undergraduate Literature Conference (NULC) was held in Ogden, Utah at Weber State University (WSU). This year’s line-up included close to 170 undergraduate presenters from 67 colleges and universities across the United States. Presenting my literature paper �The Dooms of Love,� I was one of them.
On March 29, 2006, I traveled to Ogden, just north of Salt Lake City (SLC), where I spent six nights in a WSU dormitory. On the third day of my trip, the second day of the conference, I presented my paper. When the proctor of my session announced my paper, he referred to my school as �Seton Hall.� Don’tworry, Seton Hill University (SHU), I stepped up and corrected the poor fellow by joking �At least you got my name right!�
My paper presentation flew by in a blur of rustling pages and nervous glances at the proctor to make sure I wasn’tout of time. After the five readers in my section had presented, we responded to questions from audience members. I was thrilled that my presentation was early in the morning on the first day because I didn’thave to spend the entire conference worrying about it and could enjoy my peers� presentations.
The conference featured undergraduate literature research in both American and British works, fiction, personal essays, and poetry. I found myself gravitating to the personal essays sections, though I did attend an American literature section with papers centered on writing from the sixties and seventies. Although I didn’tread for the poetry open-mic event, I enjoyed it immensely.
It was thrilling to be around so many people who enjoy writing and reading! My new friends and I spent much time chatting about the books we had read and suggesting good books to read in the future. During one of our breaks, two of us trudged four long Ogden blocks to the only coffee shop in town, Grounds for Coffee, a wonderful independent bookstore selling hot beverages, chocolate-covered espresso beans, and biscotti.
Despite the pleasure in a weekend steeped in reading and writing, I was a bit disappointed in the organization of the NULC. We weren’tgiven our schedules of events until the second day of the three-day conference, and it was only through a stroke of luck that six of us from the dorms did not miss the off-campus opening banquet on Thursday night. As it was, we had missed the �My Favorite Poem� Project because we weren’tsure where or what time the event was being held.
When we arrived at the banquet just in time, we were surprised to see a room full of diners and wondered what information they had that we didn�t. It turns out that the students staying in the dorms were out of the loop. I guess for $9.00, a night you can’texpect much, and other than that confusion, I was thrilled with my monk-like accommodations.
I spent plenty of time writing when I wasn’tenjoying the conference activities or spending time with the several people I�d met. Since I stayed an extra two nights after the conference, I delighted in the rarity of solitude and the snow-capped mountains I could see from my window. I learned to navigate the Utah Transit Authority bus system.
I took advantage of my extra time in Utah to take a two-hour bus ride to SLC. Despite the beautiful Wasatch Mountains bordering the city and the view of the Salt Lake, the stretch between North Salt Lake and the city center is a desolate wasteland of corporate sludge and warehouse buildings.
Three ex-convicts dominated the bus ride conversation with a discussion of their prison experiences. I popped in my earphones and pretended not to pay attention.
By the time I arrived in SLC, I was travel sick and wholly unprepared for the passionate missionaries who approached me the moment I stepped foot on Temple Square. An exhilarating as well as terrifying experience, my trip to SLC is something I do not regret yet do not wish to repeat. Ever.
If you ever have the opportunity to attend the conference, of course, you should go.
The NULC is a great experience, if you stay on campus and far, far away from conference day at SLC. Listening to other people present their academic writing, creative and otherwise, is a wonderful experience on so many levels. Your hard work is recognized, and you will get to make connections with academics across the country. You become familiar with the conference process, a sure asset when you begin presenting papers at a graduate level. You have something impressive to include on your resume, and besides, you get to miss class to fly across the country. What’s not to love?
I am certainly thrilled that I had this opportunity. Many thanks to the great people around campus who helped make this trip happen: you know who you are. I appreciate your help.
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