Harrisburg University of Science and Technology students don’t simply excel in science, technology, engineering, and math.
While the university is a STEM-focused school, HU is a comprehensive university that delves into a wide range of disciplines. Concerned about the whole student, HU ensures that graduates are well-rounded in terms of knowledge, competencies, and skills before heading into their chosen careers.
Students enrolled in Dr. Robert Furey’s spring Creative Writing for Multimedia course recently showed that STEM and prose are not mutually exclusive as six students have published works on amazon.com.
Each student enrolled in Furey’s course this spring wrote a flash fiction piece, a short story, a second short story with the goal to adapt it into a screenplay, and, finally, the screenplay. The flash fiction was submitted to a contest and all the works were published to their amazon author pages.
The works of Aniyah Murray, Alexander E. Hall, Collin Schadel, Jake DeVries, Rhianna Rohaly, and Adorian Reina can be viewed and purchased on their individual pages.
“I ran the course like a writers’ bullpen,” Dr. Furey said. “We used the Clarion method for critique and maintained constant rounds of group critique and constant improvement. I think the students got a great exposure to writing, and more importantly, rewriting. But seeing their work up for sale I hope gives them a deeper sense of pride and accomplishment than writing a story for a grade and afterward just dropping it in a drawer. They can always see their work now, posted and for sale, and with that clear start as young writers they may just be inclined to keep going for the sheer enjoyment of having written.”
Junior Interactive Media major Aniyah Murray wrote a flash fiction piece about a young girl’s sacrifice, a short story about a girl who befriends a ghost next door, and a short story about the fall of two brothers. She also undertook the task of transforming the short story about the fall of two brothers into a screenplay.
The writing process was challenging, Murray said, but the journey was rewarding and seeing her works published on amazon is a big piece of the payoff.
“It was a fun, and at times, challenging, project to work on, but one I will never regret undertaking,” Murray said. “This writing project experience that Dr. Furey provided has been amazing, and I will always be grateful to him for what he has done for me this semester. I’m not sure where I’ll end up in the future or where life will take me. I do know, however, that I want writing to be a large part of it. My biggest dream is to be a novelist that has people around the world in love with my writing and stories. For the longest time, I’ve searched for something that exclusively expresses me and makes me happy. I have discovered that writing is that thing for me, so I plan to never stop.”
Collin Schadel, also a junior at HU who majors in Interactive Media, penned three short stories and a screenplay. “Out of this World” follows a man sulking over a broken relationship who finds someone truly “out of this world.” “Forgotten” is about the lost who don’t want to remain forgotten. “To Capture a Heart,” co-written by Schadel and Alex Hall, involves the character Wilmot Graves, a man who is head over heels for his new fiancé, Emily Rogers. What he does not know is that his next hit as a hitman happens to be Emily. “To Capture a Heart” was also reworked as a screenplay for Schadel’s final project.
“I think I have better experience in writing after working on these projects. Before I took this class, I didn’t notice how many errors my usual writing had, but after, I was able to understand and adapt to better writing formats. I still have more work to do on my writing, but I’m glad I am able improve,” Schadel said. “I would also like to mention that Robert Furey is a great professor for this type of curriculum. He gives us appropriate criticism by helping us not only as students, but as professionals, too.”
To check out Schadel’s author page on amazon.com, follow this link. To visit Murray’s page, click here. To find the other student pages, simply type their names into the amazon.com search bar.
ABOUT HARRISBURG UNIVERSITY
Accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Harrisburg University is a private nonprofit university offering bachelor and graduate degree programs in science, technology, and math fields. For more information on the University’s affordable demand-driven undergraduate and graduate programs, call 717-901-5146 or email, Connect@HarrisburgU.edu. Follow on Twitter (@HarrisburgU) and Facebook (Facebook.com/HarrisburgU).
