Stritch senior Sophia Hey wins prestigious national writing award
Stritch senior Sophia Hey has been named the co-winner in the Poetry category of the prestigious national Delta Epsilon Sigma Writing Competition for her work "You Are Home."
A double major in English: Writing and Theater who will earn a bachelor of arts degree at this month's Commencement ceremony, Sophia shared that the background for the poem relates to a family member who is near and dear to her heart that went through countless obstacles in their life. She wanted to share a glimpse of what it may have been like to experience the struggles they faced and how life changed for them.
"Sophia is a genuinely kind and thoughtful person and this really comes through on the page," said Associate Professor Laura Misco, who taught Sophia and has coordinated Stritch students' entries in the national competition. "She is attuned to life's subtle nuances, which contributes to her detailed, graceful, and warm writing style."
Following her graduation from Stritch, she plans to continue her involvement in the arts by auditioning for community theater programs and creating film projects with peers as another way to tell and share stories.
Delta Epsilon Sigma (DES) is a national scholastic honor society for for students, faculty and alumni of colleges and universities with a Catholic tradition in the United States.
You Are Home
by Sophia Hey
You are
alone
in the brisk air.
It slaps your face with a heavy hand,
and for a
moment,
you stop in your tracks.
You’ve created deep footprints
in the wet white crystals
with thin brown boots
veiled in cold water,
inside and out.
They do not keep heat.
And you walk to a shelter
That does not allow you in.
You ask a stranger for the time,
and this is not given.
With a
small, short sheer jacket
that does not fit,
you run in a circle.
Circle
after
circle
until you choose to make a
snow angel
in a frozen tundra.
You close your eyes,
Jack frost biting your nose,
and you breathe what feels like your
last
breath.
And you whisper to yourself,
“There’s no place like home.”
And when you open your eyes,
you are next to me
in the warmth of a kitchen.
You don’t remember how you got here,
you don’t remember how this home is now yours.
You forget the
punching, punishing
air.
You forget being lost,
circle
after
circle.
All you know now is me,
and we laugh as we bake turtle bread
in the midst
of a beautiful winter.