Despite only being a sophomore Scott Herman, from Cherry Hill, N.J., has already published a book of his poetry. A passionate writer, he finds time to be the Webmaster of UR’s Art and Literary Magazine – LOGOS – and is also the president of the Racquetball Club.
Scott has combined his interest in the functioning of the brain – specifically in the ways people think – with his passion for language, into a Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Linguistics double major.
“I decided to try mixing these two interests to understand how language functions with the brain,” he said.
What has encouraged you to participate in these activities?
“As an avid poet and digital photographer, I sought the opportunity to become involved in LOGOS even before I arrived on campus my freshman year. I really enjoy being a part of LOGOS and I’m hoping that I might take up some positions with more responsibility in the future.
Also, I was involved in the Racquetball Club last year. Before my freshman year, I had never played racquetball, but I really enjoyed it when I first played with some kids from my hall. When I came to school this year, I realized that the person who had run it last year had graduated and there was no more club. I took up the responsibilities of the club and I now run it.
I also consider my work to be a very important activity. I am currently doing part-time coding for a financial leasing firm in Philadelphia – developing dynamic output solutions for their web application databases. On top of that, I do occasional work as a freelance web designer.”
What motivates you to write poetry?
“I first started writing poetry of my own accord (a.k.a. not for class) in middle school. At the time, I was in my early teenage years and all of my poems were fairly depressing, not to mention very poorly written. Still, I kept at it, occasionally getting advice from teachers and picking up ideas and techniques from classic and modern poetry that I read.
By my freshman year in college, I had amassed some 150 poems that I considered to be somewhat good. My friends from home and my family members continually asked me to print them copies of my poetry. I decided it was time to compile all the work that I had done, so I stayed up late one night last year and weeded through my poetry, organizing them into a somewhat coherent thematic track.
When I was finished, I had 101 poems and a draft of my first book. I use poetry to express my feelings and to play with language: to make people think and make connections between one thing and another.”
What’s your guilty pleasure?
“Strawberry Tastykake pies. For any of you who don’t live in the Philadelphia area where these are available, you’re really missing out. Luckily, they’re seasonal, so I can’t feel guilty about eating them all year round.
Schwartz can be reached at kschwartz@campustimes.org.
