{"id":31019,"date":"2024-07-19T12:13:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T19:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/?p=31019"},"modified":"2025-10-21T15:48:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T22:48:36","slug":"taking-chances-and-embracing-serendipity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2024\/07\/19\/taking-chances-and-embracing-serendipity","title":{"rendered":"Taking chances \u2014 and embracing serendipity\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Talena Lachelle Queen knew she wanted to be a writer as soon as she learned to read. At the age of 5, she discovered her love for poetry.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>足彩app哪个是正规的 daughter of two teen parents, Queen said she had a lot of cards stacked against her. Her parents lived in impoverished conditions, and her father struggled with addiction. He was later absent and then incarcerated, and these, too, were obstacles that could have made her a statistic and left her dreams unfulfilled.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Queen is now a high school teacher and the poet laureate for her hometown of Paterson, New Jersey.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m living my dream now as a poet and a teacher and a leader of a nonprofit,\u201d she said, crediting the support of her teachers and extended family, the wisdom of her ancestors and more than a touch of serendipity for where she is today.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A passion for education<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy teachers recognized me as smart, my family referred to me as smart very early on, and I think young people believe what you tell them about themselves,\u201d Queen said. \u201c足彩app哪个是正规的y don\u2019t know who they are yet. And so whatever narrative we are giving to young people, they believe that. So, I was fortunate that the narrative my family was giving me was \u2018You are beautiful. You are smart. You are talented.\u2019 It was very affirming.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Queen knew from a young age that she wanted to be educated, she said. She also had an early passion for sharing what she learned with others and would gather her cousins and siblings to play school \u2014 giving lessons on what she learned in class.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Rosa L. Parks School of Fine and Performing Arts was founded in 1986, Queen said everyone wanted to go. 足彩app哪个是正规的 television show \u201cFame\u201d was popular at the time, and every student wanted a chance to have a similar experience. For Queen, it was an opportunity to follow her creative dreams. She got in and majored in creative writing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Toward the end of high school, she also ventured into journalism, which sparked her interest as a potential career. She then attended Montclair State University, where she majored in Broadcast Journalism. It was while she was at Montclair that Queen was first drawn to the UW when she saw a poster outside her adviser\u2019s office.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c足彩app哪个是正规的re was this poster for the University of Washington that sort of glowed in my head,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was sort of guided by ancestors, and it pulled me into this outer body experience, like this spiritual serendipity, and there was no question. I knew I had to go there.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>足彩app哪个是正规的 timing matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Queen intended to get a teaching degree when she first arrived in Seattle but was delayed when a difficult pregnancy put her on bed rest. After her first daughter was born, she struggled to find child care and ended up buying a day-care facility. She continued to run the facility while working on her teacher certification.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"843\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-2.jpg\" alt=\"A person at a microphone.\" class=\"wp-image-31029\" style=\"width:600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-2.jpg 843w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-2-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Talena Lachelle Queen speaking at Paterson Poetry Festival, 2023. Photo credit: Word Seed Inc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When business expenses began to rise, she sold the business and began teaching at a private middle school. She was just beginning to think about returning home to Paterson when chance struck again. In 2012, UW Bothell announced the launch of a new MFA program in Creative Writing &amp; Poetics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI felt in my heart that it was designed for me because I was born a writer,\u201d Queen said. \u201cI felt I had to do it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She applied to the program but had also applied to several others. And when she was admitted to a university in Los Angeles, she was ready to send in her enrollment, fearing she hadn\u2019t been accepted to UW Bothell. As chance would again have it, she lacked a stamp and had to wait to mail her enrollment confirmation \u2014 and then got a call from UW Bothell the very next day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI knew it was the right choice,\u201d she said. \u201cI had a super fantastic experience, and I\u2019m so glad that I went there.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Your personal best<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Arriving at UW Bothell, Queen was particularly excited to work with her adviser, Dr. Jeanne Heuving, a professor in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/ias\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">School of Interdisciplinary Arts &amp; Sciences<\/a> and the founder of the MFA program.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cProfessor Heuving taught me the difference between great and incredible,\u201d Queen said, adding that Heuving challenged her to put her best work forward in her thesis project. When Queen wrote new work, Heuving would prompt her with the question of whether it stood up to the caliber of her creative nonfiction work, \u201cFourteen,\u201d which she had previously praised.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A former professor at Montclair State University had previously shared a similar message, telling Queen, \u201cYou\u2019re in competition with yourself, and no one else.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>足彩app哪个是正规的se words have stuck with her, and now, as a teacher herself, she asks her students to strive for excellence in their work. Putting her own spin on the sentiment, Queen tells her high school students to treat their time in the classroom like they\u2019re at Chuck E. Cheese.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou can come to this place and just play and have a good time and not get any tickets. Or, if you play it well, you get a bunch of tickets that you can trade in for prizes,\u201d she said. \u201cHigh school is the same. You can come and have a good time \u2014 and just leave when you\u2019re done. But if you come here and you earn great grades, which are your tickets, you can trade those in for things like scholarships, a good college and a different trajectory for your life.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Queen often reminds her students of this when giving them a new assignment, telling them to \u201cplay to win.\u201d Sometimes, she overhears her students repeating the phrase back to one another.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewbox=\"0 0 31.93 23.66\" width=\"34\">\n  <path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M19.94 23.655h11.988V12.578h-6.6a6.63 6.63 0 0 1 .662-3.486 8.55 8.55 0 0 1 5.721-4.722V.001a14.8 14.8 0 0 0-8.687 4.768q-3.089 3.606-3.089 9.994v8.893Zm-19.938 0H11.99V12.578h-6.6a7.5 7.5 0 0 1 .631-3.575q1.47-3.277 5.763-4.633V.001a14.54 14.54 0 0 0-8.771 4.788c-2 2.427-3.008 5.781-3.008 9.974Z\"><\/path>\n<\/svg><p>You can come [to high school] and have a good time &mdash; and just leave when you&rsquo;re done. But if you come here and you earn great grades, which are your tickets, you can trade those in for things like scholarships, a good college and a different trajectory for your life. <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewbox=\"0 0 31.93 23.66\" width=\"34\" style=\"transform:rotate(180deg);transform-origin:center\">\n  <path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M19.94 23.655h11.988V12.578h-6.6a6.63 6.63 0 0 1 .662-3.486 8.55 8.55 0 0 1 5.721-4.722V.001a14.8 14.8 0 0 0-8.687 4.768q-3.089 3.606-3.089 9.994v8.893Zm-19.938 0H11.99V12.578h-6.6a7.5 7.5 0 0 1 .631-3.575q1.47-3.277 5.763-4.633V.001a14.54 14.54 0 0 0-8.771 4.788c-2 2.427-3.008 5.781-3.008 9.974Z\"><\/path>\n<\/svg><\/p>\n<cite>Talena Lachelle Queen, Master of Fine Arts &rsquo;14<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Homecoming successes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Queen taught in Seattle following her graduation in 2014 then decided it was time to return to her hometown where she has continued teaching. In 2018, she became Paterson\u2019s first poet laureate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"A person at a microphone.\" class=\"wp-image-31027\" style=\"width:600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-1-125x125.jpg 125w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-1-1200x1200.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-1-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-1-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/07\/Queen-1.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Talena Lachelle Queen speaking at Lit Land the Paterson Poetry Festival Youth Day, 2023. Photo credit: Word Seed Inc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On a hot summer day that August, Queen said she had a vision for what she wanted her legacy as the poet laureate to be and an idea struck.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI had this clear message to have a poetry festival in October. My first thought was that it was too soon, but I know better than to argue with the ancestors,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve learned to be obedient, even though I was totally overwhelmed.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now in its seventh year, the festival has grown to serve not only Paterson but all of Passaic County. October has also since been dubbed Paterson Poetry Month.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her role, Queen uses her nonprofit organization, Word Seed Inc., to bring poetry and reading to the community she serves in a number of ways, from free little libraries around the city to a virtual speaker series. 足彩app哪个是正规的 series was born during the pandemic and invites people to send in their poems to be read to a live virtual audience by professional poets.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also enjoys supporting the community in other ways \u2014 such as hosting Kwanzaa or giving out turkeys for Thanksgiving \u2014 and working to bring awareness to important issues through her work. \u201cI like to say that I am an \u2018artivist,\u2019 a person who is an activist that advocates through art,\u201d she said. &#8220;I&#8217;m trying to make contributions to leave the right kind of legacy.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Gumption and bravery<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking back on her journey, Queen is filled with gratitude for her younger herself in recognizing opportunities as they came and being open to her own inner voice and the wisdom of her ancestors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For fine arts students in particular, she said, there\u2019s no other way to be.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMFA students need to take chances. Often, they\u2019re getting messages from people in their lives who might not be as supportive as my family,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to have the gumption to do what you want. 足彩app哪个是正规的re will be people asking how you will make money. You need to be brave and to know that it\u2019s OK to do the things you want to do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her advice for others starting on their own educational or poetic journey? \u201cSee it through. Learn as much as you can, cast a wide net and take a chance.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/video\/talena-lachelle-queen-andrea-hering-epugd1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Watch this PBS interview featuring Talena Lachelle Queen<\/em><\/a><em> in which she shares her passion for poetry and how it can be used to educate and empower students.<\/em>\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MFA alumna, teacher, artivist and poet laureate Talena Lachelle Queen plays to win. Learn about her poetic journey after graduating from UW Bothell in 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":31020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[209,202,218,200,1],"tags":[],"school":[419],"class_list":["post-31019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-campus-news","category-community-engagement","category-profiles","category-uncategorized","school-school-of-ias"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Taking chances \u2014 and embracing serendipity\u00a0 - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2024\/07\/19\/taking-chances-and-embracing-serendipity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking chances \u2014 and embracing serendipity\u00a0 - News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MFA alumna, teacher, artivist and poet laureate Talena Lachelle Queen plays to win. 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