A: I am metallic and grounded.
A: I am the scientist who writes poems that imagines her body as a rock, and I am the writer who experiments with similes made out of scientific fact.
A: I am the all-female crew of the people best fit for the job.
A: I am tired of my insecurities.
A: I am hematite piling on Mars body.
The classification of minerals is only helpful in terms of human understanding of a portion of the universe. At the end of the day, hematite doesn’t need to be called hematite. Peanut butter doesn’t need to be called peanut butter or hnetusmjör or anything in particular. There is no inherent good in classifying people by their menstrual cycles.
We exist as spectra and transition zones.
I am insecure in science, yet take the classes anyway. I am insecure in speaking, yet decided that my passion will include placing words together on a page, knowing one day I’ll have to read aloud in a room to a group of people that do not know me intimately.
Earth is the only planet not named after a Greek God, which is another way to say that Earth is the only planet not assigned a particular gender, which is to say Earth does not exist on a binary, which is to say, I think that’s how it should be.
Elizabeth Pellegrino is a senior English (creative writing) and geology double major. She believes that storytelling and asking questions are the two most important lessons every writer and scientist should learn. Additional lessons would include: poetry 101, rock hammer safety, how to survive the eruption of a supervolcano, and a discussion on whether tea-making actually helps the writing process.