Maybe it’s the change in temperature. Perhaps it’s the midterm break University students recently enjoyed. It could be the Halloween spirit beginning to stir. Yet something is in the air that is making the University student population express their personal creativity in bold new ways. This past week, the Center for Multicultural Affairs hosted a two-day poetry event in Belle Air Terrance to welcome three-time National Poetry Slam champion, Dr. Javon Johnson to Villanova. Over 25 students voluntarily signed up to participate in the slam. Students fearlessly took the stage to express their thoughts on race, identity, sexuality, qualms about the University and a slew of contentious topics. The performances were intimate, revealing and extremely personal.These performances took guts. These performances took bravery. 

Students and faculty started thinking about making the slam a monthly event following the overwhelming success and participation this past week. The beautiful thing about creativity is that it is contagious. When students courageously self-express, their peers are often inspired to embrace their own creative vision. It can be difficult to go out on a limb and be who you are, particularly in a tightly cohesive campus environment. It can be difficult to say the things out loud that others are already thinking. Kanye West put it perfectly, “We all self-conscious. I’m just the first to admit it.” 

When we acknowledge our own insecurities and attempt to work against them in a creative manner, the real magic is made.