Creative Writing Commons^™

Atlanta, Isabella Gonzales

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Glass Wonderland, Anastacia Gold

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

The Daily Date, Sofia I. Menco

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Farewell To Apollo, Alessandra Coke

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Community - Volume 11

be Still

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Namaste, Kem Chho, Jason Nguyen

be Still

No abstract provided.

In That Space, We Were Communis, Eliana Namen

be Still

In reflecting on my understanding of community, there were many moments I could have chosen to write about. Yet the memory of my grandmother’s death remains the one most deeply etched in me. When I began considering what community truly meant in my own life, I found myself returning to that room. In her illness and eventual passing, she drew together an extraordinary constellation of people: family, friends, neighbors, whose lives she had quietly shaped. Her life created ripples far beyond what any one person could see. In witnessing that gathering, I came to understand community not merely as shared …

The Geography Of Faces, Faith Abraham

be Still

The Geography of Faces takes its title from the idea that a face, seen across decades, becomes a kind of landscape—something you learn to read not at a glance but through accumulated return visits. For Dr. Vasquez, an older physician who has seen so much, her patients' faces are the territory she has spent a lifetime learning to navigate.

The patients are chosen to represent different dimensions of that longevity. They show affection built on years of small battles, continuity across a family, autonomy that is respected. Together, these patients make the case that primary care is less about problems …

Stronger Together: Healing Through Joy, Archana Banda, Nupur S. Kumar

be Still

Volunteering as Family Pals at Boggy Creek throughout medical school has reinforced the profound impact of communities united under a shared vision of uplifting one another. This organization cultivates a supportive camp environment for children with chronic medical conditions. One of the most meaningful aspects of these weekend adventures has been meeting children with conditions such as Type 1 Diabetes and VACTERL courageously navigating the challenges of their diagnoses while discovering new passions through activities including woodcraft, air hockey, boating, fishing, and archery.

Many times these children are excluded from normal camp experiences due to their special needs such as …

It’S Time. Maintaining Personal Relationships In Medical School, Rudayna S. Tabbara

be Still

No abstract provided.

Colorblocks, Marianne Koleng

be Still

The use of several colors to highlight the facial features in the portrait represents the various communities to which an individual belongs, including, but not limited to, their family, their school, religion, career, ethnicity, and more. Each color is used in many shapes within the face to evoke the shared importance of each community in creating identity, one is not superior to the other, and without each of them, we would not have the entire face.

The Making Of Man, Marianne Koleng

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The Making of Man is an abstract ink drawing depicting an individual's face, but at closer look, it is the intricacies that compose it. This goes to show that behind every individual, there is a community holding them together, even if it is not immediately apparent.

Side By Side, Elena L. Richardson

be Still

This photograph captures what I came to understand as the true wealth of Mota Fofalia. In a place with few material resources, community was not just present - it was everything. These boys, arms slung around each other, smiling without hesitation, reflect a kind of belonging that doesn’t depend on circumstance. During my eight weeks there, I realized that while so much was limited, connection was abundant - and it was enough.

What She Carries, Elena L. Richardson

be Still

This image captures the quieter side of community—the unseen labor that sustains it. Though she walks alone, everything she carries reflects a life woven into others: provision, responsibility, continuity. In rural Gujarat, I came to understand that community is not only found in togetherness, but in the everyday acts that hold it up.

More Than My Own Understanding, Danielle Gonzalez

be Still

This reflective essay explores the intersection of faith, community, and medical training through the lens of a medical student navigating imposter syndrome, academic pressure, and clinical rotations. Through personal narrative and patient experiences, it examines how spirituality and shared human presence shape resilience, meaning, and belonging in medicine.

Community Within Medical Universities: Finding Belonging, Elizabeth Cunio

be Still

This piece highlights the importance of community and belonging in higher education, specifically medical education. This piece reflects on how value of the student in the design process ensures a sense of beloning in the community.

A Community That Always Welcomes Me Back Like I Never Left, Bibi Chaterpateah

be Still

No abstract provided.

Rooted In Resilience, Pranita Talukder

be Still

This poem reflects my evolving understanding of community—not as a fixed place, but as something shaped by loss, memory, and rebuilding. It draws from my experience of displacement and the quiet search for belonging in unfamiliar spaces.

Through simple, fragmented imagery, I wanted to capture the feeling of being untethered, and the slow, intentional process of finding connection again. The poem moves between past and present, holding both absence and presence at once.

Ultimately, it is about realizing that community is not something we return to, but something we carry and create, wherever we are.

Traces Of Time, Martina Valdovinos

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

23, Sofia I. Menco

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Address/Address, Alessandra S. Alvarez Coke

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Teatro Milanes, Jessica L. Rodriguez

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

We Mourn, We Stir, We Pick Up The Pieces., Sara Menco Arenas

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Alternative Cover Designs, Yanick Victorin, Tyriana White

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Apocalypse, Alivia Klipp

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Contributor Biographies

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

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Molten Motion, Anastacia Gold

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Faun Fidel, Sophia R. Dakkuri

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Phantasmagoric Record File 1 & 2, Yanick Victorin

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Next Stop, Geovanny Hernandez

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.