Silhouette Takes Gobblerfest!

Silhouette kicked off the year at Gobblerfest on Friday, September 2nd. Students meandering around the Drillfield located Silhouette booth surrounded by several other creative clubs and organizations. Previous issues of the magazine and excited staff members shared the goal of: Inspire the Virginia Tech community with the creativity of the students through their submitted poems, prose, short stories, photography, and artwork. This semi-annual, student run Literary and Art Magazine starts accepting submissions on September 8th, 2016, and though we are known to be a scientific, engineering community, we also know how creative the students at Virginia Tech are. gives students the opportunity to be published and see what their fellow Hokies are creating.

The creative clubs and organizations that surrounded Silhouette booth at Gobblerfest have similar intentions to inspire the community. Glossolalia, WUVT, Creative Photography Club, and English Club offer several opportunities to do just that.

Glossolalia, a literary festival where students can showcase their writing, is another opportunity to be heard. Paul Veracka and Forrest Rike were at Gobblerfest advertising for an Open Mic night on September 22nd at Sheshah Café and Hookah Lounge.

WUVT, which can be heard on frequency 90.7, also had a booth at Gobblerfest. Rachel Hargrave spoke briefly about the on-campus student radio station. “We have tons of different staffs including engineering, IT, art, and a literary publication that students can write for. Students can also train to be an FM DJ,” Hargrave said. Their organizational meeting is Friday, September 9th in Squires Brush Mountain A at 7 pm.

Creative Photography Club focuses on student photography around campus. Adam Alper explained that the club exists to “show the Blacksburg community how talented students are. Every student has their own bit of creativity and their own eye, and photography is a great way to exemplify that.” Instead of submitting for publication, students can upload their photos to the club’s Flickr site and at each club meeting, members discuss the photos they have taken.

The English Club yearns to bridge the gap between all of these creative communities at Virginia Tech. Kayleigh Green explained where they’d like to start. “We are hosting a social hour to foster creativity between all of these different organizations,” she said. The social hour will be held on September 22nd at 6 pm in Shanks 370/380. This meeting will provide 2 minutes to pitch each club, discuss deadlines, and recruit new members. Clubs must R.S.V.P. to Sarah McCliment by September 15 at msarah14@vt.edu to pitch, but everyone is welcome to socialize and participate.

Walking through Gobblerfest was both overwhelming and exciting. There were dozens of clubs pertaining to science, engineering, business, and sports, as well as professional and social organizations to offer opportunities for students to practice what they love to do. Students now have to sift through the countless listserves they signed up for and decide which clubs to affiliate with. The creative community at Virginia Tech, many of whom I did not get the chance to speak with or mention here, gave students different outlets and opportunities to be creative in their own unique way. Though these clubs are all different, all hope these new students see themselves as a valuable member to the small but mighty creative community.