Day of Scholarship was held at Stockton on March 19 and 20 in the Campus Center as well as in a few of the academic classrooms.  Various faculty and students presented works and research pertaining to a vast array of subjects from service to fitness and science to literature.  One of the events held was Nathan Long’s “Fifteen Two-Minute Stories.”  This event was on March 19 at 3:00.

At this presentation, Professor Long’s Flash Fiction class got together and each presented one of their two-minute or shorter stories.  There were very few in attendance, the majority of the crowd being part of the presenting class.  Due to such small attendance, the event was moved from one meeting room to another so an event with a larger crowd could fit everyone in attendance while Professor Long’s group was moved to a smaller room, giving the presentation a classroom-like feel.

Every student from the class that was in attendance presented their stories.  Some of the stories were comical while others were of a much more serious matter.  Each person wrote with a different degree of skill and all had a unique voice which they brought into their story.  This presentation of literature work was as varied as the group that presented it.

The audience was respectful of the readers with little to no discussion or texting going on during presentations.  After everyone read their stories, there was only a few minutes left, so Professor Long went up to the front of the room and shared his own piece of fiction with his class and guests.

In the end, everyone was left with the ideas based in the stories:  from seeking perfection, to seeking answers, to looking for a good time.  For a literature student, it was like an open mic, learning what does and doesn’t work when presenting in front of an audience and gaining confidence to share a story, no matter how personal it may be.