My name is Isabella Leo and I am an aspiring junior attending Cornell College, happily anticipating my graduation in May of 2026. I plan to become a published writer in non-fiction and poetry or even producing/script writing, leading to my major in Creative Writing. My interests are solidified through the literary clubs at Cornell, including my involvement in BOOM Magazine, SLAB, Lyrically Inclined, and Open Field. Writing and art have stood as an outlet for my expression, especially in Cornell College’s courses, such as Epic and Anti-Epic Poetry taught by Sam Walker. My love for creative work and self-expression is spread throughout my being, and the joy I find in understanding myself and expanding my knowledge is found in everything I do at Cornell.
I attended the Student Literary Arts Board (SLAB) Chapbook event on January 17th in the Van Etten-Lacey house. By attending, I found out that the Chapbook, which is a short collection of work that SLAB publishes different versions of every year, is ‘Poetry for Obsession.’ The amazing choice of Chapbook led to two teachers sharing their vast knowledge of obsession in ties to what they teach at Cornell, said teachers being Katie Sagal and Dr. Tyler Carrington. These individuals brought up many moving points and discussed obsession in ties to rare plants, stalking, the gap between healthy and unhealthy, and more!
An interesting point of mention is Katie Sagal’s discussion on fangirling vs. respective collectors. Katy mentioned moments in which women have a love for something and show a lot of interest, such as by buying figurines of their favorite anime character, and are seen as crazy obsessive fangirls who have no self control. On the other hand, when men collect figurines they are seen as collectors, or at the very most what they are doing is cool in comparison to a woman’s “crazy.” This part of the presentation stood out to me because I have been through exactly what she had described. I loved playing video games like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed as a kid and I had plenty of people say how I was a pick-me, not good at it because I am a
girl, and the list goes on and on.
In ties to having such a deep love for something professor Dr. Tyler Carrington spoke on the irresistible urge to love. Posing to those in the lively room, is it really love if there isn’t obsession? Dr. Carrington discussed the difference between pining versus stalking, such as checking and re-checking texts compared to showing up in someone’s closet (I hope you can see which options okay here). Explaining the significance in recognizing the gap between healthy and unhealthy and how it can be blurred and difficult to understand. In having difficulty in separating what is good and a little too crazy one must discover that love is reckless, and why shouldn’t love be reckless? I have to say that I found Dr. Carrington’s presentation very interesting, especially with the books that he recommended that show the obsession and yearning in love, one of the books being Love at Last Sight by Dr. Tyler Carrington.
I am currently expanding my poetry skills and have created a goal to become a poetry writer one day, and the discussion at this event pushed me to look back on poems of mine that deal with the negative aspects of love. I was inspired to continue some of the poems and start a new piece, taking a moment to branch out and explore my curiosities in obsession and love within my work. In Addition, this Chapbook event made me look forward to many upcoming SLAB events, such as the student lunch and reading of Night Bitch by Rachel Yoder on April 1st, 2025. I cannot wait to learn more about the writing world, and I am overjoyed and astonished with all of the learning opportunities at Cornell. I am excited to come back next year and see what the literary club’s have in store, nothing but fun I’m sure!
Leave a Reply