Reason and Rhyme Reason and Rhyme_2018SP | Page 24

Fourth Annual Writing Showcase Hosted by RCC’s English Department
On Tuesday, November 28, 2017, RCC’s English Department hosted its fourth annual Writing
Showcase in the BB&T Room of the Workforce Development Center. The purpose of this
annual event is to celebrate student achievement in nonfiction, research writing and be
encouraged by a guest speaker, a published author.
At this year’s event, local author Hector Miray was the keynote speaker. Miray is the writer of
Faith & Fandom, a book series that focuses on the intersection of God and Geek Culture. Each
book is comprised of essays drawing spiritual parallels between faith and a wide assortment of
pop culture and fandoms. He is also a former writer for Clevver Movies and Screen Junkies
News networks having written over 130 episodes for their networks and series. Miray sets up
displays and sells his books at more than 20 Comic Cons a year.
Miray is originally from St. Pauls, NC. He has served as a minister in the Lumberton region for
more than 15 years. He is a founder and former director of Camp Grace in Fairmont, NC. He is
the former Associate/Youth/Collegiate Pastor of Berea Baptist Church in Pembroke, NC. He
currently serves as the Location Pastor of Vertical Church. His wife Danyelle Miray is an
instructor at Robeson Community College in the Respiratory Therapy department. The couple
and their three daughters live in Lumberton, NC. You can visit Hector’s website at
https://www.facebook.com/FaithAndFandom/
Before Miray spoke, three RCC students were honored for their exceptional writing skills
displayed in the classroom. Students were nominated by their instructors and members of the
English department selected the top three writing samples to highlight at the Writing Showcase.
Each student honoree shared a portion of her writing with the audience.
Taina Kimbrell, a Radiography hopeful, was nominated for her First Impressions Analysis essay
written for Mrs. Daniela Newland’s English 111 class. Taina analyzed the first chapter of NC
author Ron Rash’s novel One Foot in Eden.
Elizabeth Rea Van Eck, a nursing hopeful, shared her literature review paper that was written for
Mrs. Crystal Edmonds’s ENG 112 course. Elizabeth researched and wrote on a controversial
issue. The titl e of her review was “Is it Ethical for a Nurse to instill false hope in his or her
patient?”
Early College High School student Bailey Williamson, an Associate in Arts major, was
nominated for a paper she wrote as part of her requirements for Honors College under the direct
of Mrs. Daniela Newland and Dr. Gaylyn Eddy. Her paper focused on Supernova and the death
of stars. Bailey’s mentor for this research was Mr. Dave Gavasci, RCC’s Physics and
Astronomy instructor.
All three of these ladies did an outstanding job both in their writings and in their presentations of
their work. Mrs. Wendy Fields, English instructor, commented that more students were
nominated this year than in the three previous years and the quality of the work was most
impressive. Great job and congratulations to these outstanding writers!
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