Discovering the Messages Nature Shares Through Poetry

Savannah Cseko, Verrazzano Class of 2024, completed major in English Literature (7-12)

When deciding on a topic to create my capstone project on, I instantly knew that I wanted to work with free verse poetry. Back in my junior year of college I took an American poetry course with Professor Timothy Gray, and I quickly became drawn to the poetry of James Wright. I appreciated how vividly Wright described landscapes of the rural world, and the personal insight he would get from these various places in nature.

I expressed to Professor Gray that I was interested in writing my capstone paper to further explore Wright’s poetry, but I also wanted to look at other poets as well. This is when Professor Gray suggested I take a look at Mary Oliver, a free verse nature poet. I immediately became captivated by the sense of freedom in Oliver’s poetry, which is revealed through the revelations she received by immersing herself in the primitive world.

After I was able to narrow my search to James Wright and Mary Oliver, I began my research on both of them. I discovered that both Oliver and Wright have a connection, since they were both born and raised in suburbs in Ohio, and Oliver herself even brought up this connection in her own poem dedicated to Wright. After Wright passed away in 1980, Oliver wrote a sequence titled: Three Poems for James Wright, where she stated that she thought Ohio would “fall down” with Wright after his death.

Through my research, I was also able to discover that both Wright and Oliver overcame the various struggles life threw at them, and there is a clear theme of perseverance in both of their works.

However, I also got to discover each poet's personal style as well through this process, which does make their messages vary slightly. Wright is much more of an introspective poet, using “I” frequently in his poems, and using the scenery around him to help him through his struggle of depression. He was also a poet who appreciated listening to the various creatures, such as ants, crickets and horses, by getting to a place of stillness and silence to understand their value.

Oliver, however, is much more upfront in her poetry, often by using “you” and “we” in her work to invite the reader and to communicate directly with them. I was able to see through studying Oliver’s work that the primitive world is crucial to her, and I got to understand what exactly is meant by the primitive world.

To Oliver, the primitive world is a state of the physical; it is not a metaphor but rather being engaged with the natural world with every sense possible. Oliver is easily able to morph into this world and is quite comfortable there, especially in her Pulitzer Prize winning book of poetry, American Primitive.

Interestingly though, Wright and Oliver were both met with some criticism and not as much recognition as they deserved. Wright is argued by scholars that he is too sentimental and writes of experiences that can’t possibly be real, but I argue that the love he writes about between animals is absolutely real. As for Oliver, her blending of her poetry with the primitive world leaves little room for lines in between, which can be somewhat uncomfortable and not traditional. Yet I argue this is what makes Oliver so unique and daunting, and is especially refreshing in her work.

Overall, studying James Wright and Mary Oliver in such detail was an eye-opening experience for me, and I definitely plan to study their works more to develop my project further and my own personal understanding of them as poets. I am eager to check out more of Oliver’s newer poems from before she passed away, and as for Wright, I would like to examine his earlier works in more detail, especially since he originally was not a free verse poet. In his most famous book of poetry, The Branch Will Not Break, this is mainly where he starts writing in free verse and breaks his own barriers, but exploring his earlier works will help give me a clear contrast. Furthermore, I am eager to further research both of these free verse poets, since their work has already been so enlightening for me.

Christina Testa, Verrazzano Class of 2024, completed major in Nursing

My capstone journey focused on strategies that healthcare teams could implement to promote HPV and cervical cancer screenings in lesbian and bisexual women. It has been a rewarding experience that has allowed me to uncover the pressing need for tailored healthcare initiatives for this patient population.

Learning about vulnerable populations such as the LGBTQ+ community in nursing classes has always felt limited and generalized, and sparked my interest in delving more into this topic. Having the privilege of working alongside my mentor Dr. Marianne Jeffreys for over two semesters, I learned so much about this population and myself as well, as an LGBTQ+ individual, that I will carry on with me throughout the rest of my nursing career.

Navigating through the literature has uncovered promising initiatives for promoting screenings in lesbian and bisexual women under the domains of clinical practice, health care provider education, patient education, administration and policy, and research. Not only has reviewing the literature expanded my knowledge of healthcare disparities, but it has instilled a sense of purpose and responsibility.

This project represents a culmination of hard, diligent work that has taught me how to communicate effectively with others and manage my time, which are important aspects of nursing care. In addition to taking classes, completing this project has been challenging, but through communication with Dr. Jeffreys, we were able to create a timeline that best fit my schedule while still remaining actively dedicated to it.

If I were to pursue further development of this project, I’d love to gather real accounts from LGBTQ+ patients about their healthcare experiences and any barriers they are currently facing.

One thing I would say about working on the project is that it did not feel like a chore. I take pride in what I’ve uncovered and accomplished now that it is complete, and have learned what it feels like to be involved in something that fulfills such a glorious sense of purpose. I was not working on my capstone to complete a requirement; I was compelled to gain empathy, compassion, and confidence when caring for and interacting with LGBTQ+ patients, so that I am better able to promote a sense of comfort and acceptance for them in the healthcare field. The insights gained have paved the way for personal growth in my life, strengthening my desire to work with a wide array of women in the future as a labor and delivery nurse.

Achievement of a goal takes commitment, which is something I accomplished while working on my project. With this experience of commitment, I now realize I can achieve any goal in nursing by putting my all into it. As I begin the next chapter of my professional journey, I will carry with me these lessons learned, relationships fostered, and a commitment to championing health equity for all through advocacy and inclusivity in my nursing care.

 

Taurine Regulation of Blood Pressure and Vascular Resistance

Irene Kalogiannis, Verrazzano Class of 2024, completed major in Psychology and minor in Biology

I joined the Child Development Lab in the Psychology department in the spring of 2023 semester. I was interested in studying the visual attention of infants in locomotor tasks, mostly working with babies. I was going to use the work I had completed there as my capstone, and I realized that the lab was not a good fit for me and my aspirations. I was devastated by how things turned out. I thought that it was too late for me to join another lab and that no professor would accept me because their labs were full. I asked my microbiology professor for help and she gave me a list of professors who I could possibly work with and who were more involved in the biology/medical field. I decided to participate in Dr. El Idrissi’s lab and the rest is history.

I highly recommend that students start exploring different fields of research as early as possible to see what they are comfortable with and what fits their schedules. If you see an opportunity and you are eager to learn, take that opportunity. Put yourself out there and do something your future self would be proud of. It is important to take a breather and to allow situations to come unexpectedly even if we like it or not. You never know what the experience may lead to, so my best recommendation is to put your best foot forward and go with the flow. There are so many different and intriguing fields of research that many professors in each department are involved in and will inspire you, so choose wisely.

Throughout my experience, I am happy that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone; freshman year Irene would’ve been shocked. If I could change a few things in my college experience and go back to freshman year with the knowledge I have now, I would, but time travel doesn’t exist!

While working on my capstone project I had to start from scratch. I was very stressed because it crept up on me very quickly, as I am sure it has for most students. I had to learn time management and to have patience. Writing things out in my planner was a big help for me. Throughout this whole process, I thought that I wouldn't finish on time because things kept on getting pushed back and it was just too much to handle. I was taking many credits, volunteering at hospitals, and to add icing to the cake, working on top of everything else, which led me to become burnt out. But thanks to my family, friends, and Cheryl and Cynthia, they all helped me finish my capstone and graduate college with ease and reassurance.

Thankfully, things have calmed down a bit and as time has passed, it has gotten better. Some days were better than others and I managed and got through it. I took an interest in a topic I knew nothing about. I knew what taurine was but I didn't know the effects and the results it has on the human body, especially with blood pressure and vascular resistance. Taurine was mentioned in some of the biology classes I have taken before, but my professors didn't go in-depth about it. So, learning about this and searching many articles related to my capstone project was interesting. Taurine is a nutrient that is produced in the body and is found in many different foods like energy drinks. It is a multipurpose amino acid in the central nervous system, helps the body process bile acid, and has many more functions.

Overall, this whole process has been a long and wonderful journey with many bumps in between but I am very grateful that I have experienced this and I will look back at it with a smile on my face. Now, onto the next chapter!

Intersectional Representations of Identities in Queer Children’s Literature

Monica Ahuja, Verrazzano Class of 2024, completed major in Psychology and minors in Disability Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

For my capstone project I decided to take a close look at children’s literature, more specifically representation in queer children’s literature. This project started with my interest in how the content that children consume can have a lasting impact, especially on children that are questioning and beginning to discover who they are. After some discussion with my mentor, we came to the idea of looking at children’s literature as an avenue to explore this concept with a focus on queer children’s literature.

I spent time reading literature related to the topic, identifying books that might be a good fit for this research, read and analyzed these books, and wrote about my findings. It was a joy getting to work with children’s literature and being able to see how much it has changed through the lens of a researcher but also from the perspective of a former child who used to love reading children’s books. In this research we chose to focus on the overall/general representation of the primary characters in the texts but also on how several aspects of identities such as gender, sexuality, race and culture, and socioeconomic status are illustrated. We also looked at the presence or lack of intersectionality in queer children’s literature.

We found that primary characters were often portrayed positively, but there was an overall lack of diversity and development of characters with strong and complex intersectional identities. In other words, there was actually very little discussion about sexuality, race, culture, and class in these stories. And the characters were often one dimensional. Overall, this capstone experience was a positive one. I was able to develop and improve my research and writing skills. I also learned more about the consumption of literature by children in the present. It was also a wonderful experience being mentored by Dr. Hill and having such great guidance and support throughout this process. In the future, this experience will inform how I conduct research and allow me to better understand the world of children’s literature.