Fulcrum highlights student growth
The Fulcrum Journal is a member of Hamline’s Student Media Board, a coalition of independent publications. For this year’s journal “Ephemeral,” the Fulcrum is exploring themes of growth, rebirth and renewal after destruction. With a curated blend of visual and literary contributions from Hamline students, readers are guided through cycles of emotional birth and death.
April 14, 2021
Ephemeral. It is an adjective to describe something that lasts a short period of time. An ephemeral plant is the first to grow after a forest fire. The seeds that survive and grow in a decimated place. This was the guiding theme for the Fulcrum’s 2021 journal.
Emma Harrington is a junior and the Fulcrum’s editor-in-chief. She wrote a note at the beginning of the piece acknowledging the difficulties of this past year, reaching out to students to tell them they have not been alone in their struggles. Harrington believes that everyone has been grappling with major changes and difficulties in their lives this year. Many of the included pieces indirectly touch on major events in 2020. While everyone wrote about different topics, Harrington, along with the rest of the Fulcrum board, saw a theme of growth going through this year’s student submissions.
Some of the content in this issue is dark, a reflection of the struggles students experience. Pieces with touchy subjects have been marked with an asterisk in the table of contents to ensure accessibility to all readers. The content warnings are placed for topics of eating disorders, body dysmorphia and suicide.
One of the coolest things to see this year for Harrington were pieces that seemed to be made to exist with each other. A testament to the universal struggle of figuring out our place in a world that is on fire. This aided in the process of creating an intentional order for each of the pieces. Abby Doty, senior and managing editor for the Fulcrum said that “ideally [the journal] would be read beginning to end.”
To read the journal, students can find the Fulcrum tabling in Anderson Center on April 20, 22, 27 and 29 from 11-1 p.m. In addition to receiving up to five copies of the journal, students will get stickers, snacks and even seeds to grow. For students who would rather order copies, the Fulcrum has provided an online ordering form to get the journal mailed. Both Doty and Harrington expressed that an online format is in the future for the Fulcrum, while it is not yet an option.
“Thank you to all the students who submitted,” Harrington said. “[I] hope everyone submits next year.”
