A Story for Your Sake

By Abigail Giron Marroquin

The spring 2025 semester at the University of Bridgeport is about to wrap up as I am writing this. For me, it is my last day of class as an undergraduate student. As I recount my years here at UB, I think about the ups and downs: from my lowest point of being put on academic probation to the great privilege of being the Editor-in-Chief for Groundswell, the university's art and literary magazine.

On March 26,2025, Groundswell's launch party was held as a part of UB RISE, the annual conference where students, faculty, and staff share their “research, innovation, scholarship, and entrepreneurship.” In this event, UB students whose writing appeared in the 2025 edition of Groundswell came together to share our work with an audience of UB supporters.

Each student shared a piece that they had written, and there was a short Q&A session with the audience. One question that I responded to was “what is your writing process?” One of the factors I take into consideration when writing are my emotions. How do I feel and how can I share this emotion with others? This helps to create a connection not only between myself and the piece, but also to the audience. What I want to do is to be authentic. And being authentic is something that I personally believe can be shared with others through honest expression of emotions.

The 2025 edition of Groundswell ends with a quote from Toni Morrison’s The Nobel Lecture in Literature: “Make up a story... For our sake and yours forget your name in the street; tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light. Don't tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief’s wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear’s caul.”

Morrison’s words are a reminder to seek out stories that share human experiences. The writers of Groundswell and Groundswell itself provide reminders of what that is and what it can be like. The Groundswell launch party is a reminder that there are people who are there to listen.

Groundswell 2025 launch party.  Front Row: Kenia Quintero, Angelise Melendez, Nyla Blackmon, Abigail Giron Marroquin, Chamique Brown, Dr. Merecicky. Back row: Dr. Laist, Dean Nawrocki, and Sofia Martin