In The Ords: Issue 2
Welcome to the second issue of In The Ords.
In The Ords is the California State University, Monterey Bay student produced Literary Arts Journal. We are dedicated to showcasing the creative work and artistic expression of CSUMB students. For more information check out our website at intheords.weebly.com. You can also reach us at intheords@csumb.edu for questions.
Background Photo Credits: Chelsey Ripley
Letter from our Chief Editors
To our readers,
When In the Ords was formed in the Fall of 2017, it was merely a vision fostered by our faculty advisor, Kent Leatham, to be nurtured by a group of HCOM students. This vision was to cultivate the creative expression of students and showcase the magnificent talent of CSUMB to our community. Our earliest meetings were spent developing the identity of what In the Ords would soon be, and we were determined to publish our debut edition during our founding semester despite the obstacles associated with starting from scratch.
This semester our staff worked tirelessly to find our grounding as we embarked on beginning a club, finding funding for our first print, and juggling our individual academic lives. Despite our hectic schedules, we found Pete’s to be our office countless hours this semester. We have poured everything from love to stress-induced meltdowns into this project. Let it be known that strong women led staff into this ominous endeavor with confidence and ánimo. That despite having everyone on staff have busy schedules, we always found time to work collectively on In The Ords. That is what makes this journal so amazing. It can bring people together against all odds. Please handle our baby with as much love as we did this last semester. Let it find you in your happiest and in your saddest of days.
From your HBIC’s,
Bianca Sandoval & Holly Klotz
Letter from our Advisor
Open House: All Are Welcome
When last semester’s volunteer student staff voted to title this journal In the Ords, I thought it was an appropriately local and cleverly witty name—grounded, as CSUMB is, within the bleached bones of old Fort Ord, and with “Ords” being only one letter removed from “Words” and the rich literary echo of the Anglo-Saxon wordhord (defined by Michael Matto in The Word Exchange as the “storehouse of language from which poetic utterances might be drawn”). I love the idea of breaking into a treasure-chest of language, the same way students break into the treasure-chest of education (which, in itself, simply exists to reveal that they are the treasure they seek).
But In the Ords is more than that. It’s more than what we say and where we say it. In the Ords is both horde and home, stepping-stone and sanctuary. Yes, each of the entries showcased here was carefully judged and critiqued by the staff, but our goal is always acceptance: the affirmation of diversity, the choir built of many voices. No one can tell another’s tale. As an army base, Fort Ord had a singular purpose. By pluralizing Ord to Ords, we have repurposed that identity to emphasize our more expansive ideals: like Walt Whitman’s America, we contain multitudes: all races, ethnicities, nationalities, classes, sexualities, genders, ages, appearances, abilities, incomes, languages, beliefs, backgrounds, voices, and visions. If you have a story, we want it heard. That has been the goal of CSUMB for twenty-four years, and that is the goal of this literary-arts journal. We aim to publish the best by prohibiting the least. For many undergraduate authors and artists within these pages, this is their first (but certainly not last) publication. It could be yours, too. Nuestra casa es su casa.
Consider this an invitation.
Kent Leatham
Faculty Advisor
April, 2018