Michelle Wentling, first-year student, publishes in "Voices Rising"

Michelle Wentling, a first-year Environmental Humanities Program student, describes her transition West in Becoming Utahn, a piece she wrote in Voices Rising, published by Torrey House Press.  Michelle, raised in Ohio, ventured to Utah to join Environmental Humanities for the Fall term. In her piece, she describes her experiences of “becoming Utahn” and the ways that her time here has changed her perception of the West. She highlights the environmental issues that can be overlooked by the visitors who come to Utah in short spurts to marvel at the beauty and wilderness but may pay little attention to much else.

 “I soon realized that fleeing toward the profound open space of the American Southwest also meant diving headfirst into ecological precarity,” Michelle writes, before shedding light on the ways that this precarity effects human and more-than-human lives throughout Utah. Throughout her time here, Michelle has listened closely to the language of this land and has begun what she calls a “cultural adaptation” with the hopes of joining on-going environmental conversations as a respected Utah resident.

Michelle’s writing is eloquent but still rings with urgency and passion that have accelerated her cultural adaptation to her new state. The precarity of Utah's landscape leaves newcomer environmental advocates like Michelle no choice but to act fast.

Voices Rising, produced by Torrey House Press seeks to elevate millenial voices through a digital platform and an eventual art-as-advocacy chapbook.