If you have reached this page, I am happy that you made it here. Somehow, I made it here too after a long journey and encountering many storms. I really do not know where to begin. My Story. My name is Margaret Alexander and I am going into my senior year here at Desert Hills. Crazy right? I moved to St. George four years ago with a promise of a clean slate going into my freshman year. Unfortunately, everything turned out worse than I ever anticipated. Transitioning from a small liberal arts school to a large public school was one of my most difficult experiences. Differences in schedule, class size, outfits (no uniforms!), and overall student culture were just a few areas I had to adjust to. Fearing judgement from peers and even teachers, I kept the past to myself. Until I wrote about it in a poem and was called on to read it out loud in front of the class. Up until that point, I had not done much writing on my own besides a personal journal which I hadn't written in for nearly a year. But soon after, something changed. I started writing again. I realized then that writing wasn't meant to be perfect. I could scrawl and cross out as much as I needed to. It was my story, and I was writing for a particular audience: myself. I filled an entire journal that year. I then went on to submit a few poems to local contests, even winning a few. As a result, I was invited to a poetry workshop in Zion National Park where I met Lucy Draper (the former president of The Maelstrom) during my sophomore year. After Lucy graduated, the Language Arts department also lost Mr. Jones, and as a result the Creative Writing class changed hands. The Maelstrom was forgotten about for a year, until I happened upon it. After tracking down Lucy and messaging her over the course of the last three weeks, I successfully gained access to both this website and the email (provided below). The charter has not yet been renewed, but it's currently in the process. Rather than having a "literary magazine club" with a single purpose of publishing one magazine at the end of the year, the goal is that we will promote literature and the arts throughout the year with regular lunch meetings and activities, and perhaps have the magazine as an end result. We also hope to expand the non-writing areas (photography and art) to further highlight the artistic side of Desert Hills High School. Nothing is official yet and I hesitated posting this, but we need early awareness. Spread the word! I hope that writing (as well as other art forms) will help each one of you as it did for me. Can't wait for the year ahead! Margaret Alexander |
This Year's Editors:Jay Gardner Our MissionTo promote and publish the work of students attending Desert Hills High School Archives
May 2023
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