Over the years the English department has produced a booklet known as the “Seahawk Review.” In honor of the 50^th anniversary of the college this year, the English Department has published a commemorative edition. This year’s “Review” consists of speeches, essays, creative writing award winners, and artwork by past and present Cecil College students, and is meant to showcase the creative talents and abilities of our students.

Susan Bernadzikowski, the chair of the English Department, revealed that the purpose of the “Review” is for “students to see themselves reflected.” She adds “I want students to see the award winners. I want students to see that their achievements are possible and they are valued.”

Bernadzikowski is quick to remind students, that this “doesn’t come out every year. It has come out as we have had the time and resources to do it. The first edition was a newsletter that came out maybe 25 years ago, but the last time it was produced was 10 years ago.”

Upon being asked how this edition of the “Review” is unique Bernadzikowski explains, “what we did with this edition is go back through graduation speeches and we pulled out excerpts from graduation speeches. We wanted to be able to show the challenges and success stories of our graduating students. For the last three years we’ve been doing a creative writing prize so we thought we’d do a collection of the award winners. We rounded it out with an interview that I did with Dennis Fabella who taught English at Cecil for 40 years and then with Chris Gaspare. He was a student here many years ago who eventually came back as a faculty member and is the only person in our department who started out as a student here. Most of us come from far and wide. We just wanted to give people a sense of how the college has changed over those many years, and Dennis was one of the very first people ever to teach here. Then we started talking to the art department and bringing in student photographs. These are pieces that people created for classes or created for independently; it’s all student work. The layout was completed by James Newby who was a Cecil student at one time but now instructs classes here in photography.”

Bernadzikowski adds that the process for putting the “Review” together has changed over the years. “It really has depended on who’s editing it.  What’s different about this issue is that we were focused on a particular theme, which is the 50^th anniversary, and also that in between the last time we did the “Seahawk Review” and the time that we did this one, we had begun this creative writing contest. In past issues the strategy was asking professors to let the editor know about any phenomenal student writing and just generally try to get the word out. Then they would do the selection and the editing. But in this case, we had a theme that we were focusing on. So three of us, me and Professors Clarence Orsi and Nathaniel Tagg, sat down and tried to figure out ‘okay what could we do to tell people who our students are.’ So our goal was little different from it was in the past. This edition was more about promoting who our students are and showcasing their talents. This is why we included the excerpts from the graduation speeches. They were not necessarily polished pieces that were written for a class assignment but they were more about who they were, what brought them here, what obstacles they overcame and what they went through.”

When pressed to define Cecil students in general, Bernadzikowski states that “they’re a very diverse group of people. I think that Dr. Orsi defined it pretty well in the introduction to the section he wrote titled “Grit.” I have certainly met some of the most talented students that I’ve ever met in my career here. I taught at four-year research institution before I came here. Cecil students are usually very spread out due to work and family, even more than [four-year university] students were, and so, the ones who make it through have to have a level of toughness even beyond normal. In the midst of that they may be really at the edge economically. What they do is pretty amazing; it’s an impressive level of persistence. I think that’s true for pretty much anybody who seeks a college degree, but I think it’s even more impressive amongst our students.”

Inside the pages of the “Seahawk Review” students will find uplifting—and sometimes funny—stories of struggles students like them have gone through. These speeches and essays will encourage anyone having a bad day and remind them that it is possible to push through (even if they do have a term paper due at midnight).  Copies of the “Review” can be found scattered throughout campus, specifically in the Writing Center, student lounge, and the library.