Rachel Alarcio, age 21 (alum)
California
I wrote this in response to a prompt at a WriteGirl Bold Leaders gathering I was invited to observe. The prompt asked us to write a seven-line free-verse ode to a life goal of ours. I wrote about what I wish to achieve during my gap year between undergrad and an MFA.

master of romance
I will be a master of romance
languages with rolls, staccato
and elision – gliding from my throat to this tongue.
I will converse at cafés and piazzas, dissect
grammar like dividing up dough
for flaky buttered croissants, pastel
pink macaroons and hand-rolled pasta.