For Arabella Ferris, a first-year Plant Science major at Cornell, writing has always felt like a release. While her academic interests are more STEM focused, she has tried to keep writing in her life by surrounding herself with friends who are very creative. She has an appreciation for the ways that writing can help her better understand the world around her. 

Mairead Clas, one of Collegetown Magazine's Creative Writing Editors, sat with Ferris to discuss her new short story “How To See The Stars,” which was published this week with Collegetown Magazine.

‍Mairead: In your story “How To See The Stars,” there is a discussion of stars, religion, and existential questions, all coming together alongside daily life and specifically college life. Can you tell me about your inspiration for this piece?

Arabella: It was written over a month or two. I see things as very connected and in this piece, and the idea of stars was really connected to my problems and a trip to New York City. It came from this idea that there's movie stars there, but also pollution, so that was very connected.
I am also an existential person. I’m constantly questioning why things are happening the way they are, and asking if I have any role in it, or what is my role? Who are the people I know in my life that play a part in how things happen? I think it's comforting to put all those ideas together. In a way, writing is kind of like a map, where I can go through and see how everything has meaning, and makes sense. 

‍Mairead: Yeah. Writing is a way to map out those kinds of questions that we have. Would you say your experience as a plant science major and your engagement with STEM affects how you approach writing?

‍Arabella: For sure. All throughout high school, I was told that I should kind of pick a side: either a STEM field or a creative field. It was very frustrating to me, because I see science and writing and other areas of study as just another way to make sense of our surroundings. It's like plant science.
I think plants are very psychic things. When people take time to notice the little details of which way the plant bends towards the light or away from it, it can help them figure out which path they should also take. I definitely see science as also an effort to be comforted by your world. If things make sense, they're easier to understand: writing does that, science does that, math does that. They all serve the same purpose. It's a shame to me that there seems to be a divide between what's being created in scientific and artistic fields.

‍Mairead: I was also a little curious about the contra dancing element of the story. Could you tell me about the inspiration for that? 

‍Arabella: Yeah, it was a contra dancing event here in Ithaca. And it was so normal. Like, I had no reason to be panicking, but I don't know how to contra dance.
I barely dance. The fact that I didn't know what to do, and everyone else kind of did, and I was just, like, stuck in the line and I was kind of freaking out. It was symbolic. I think a lot of this story goes back to ordinary things that seem very intense to me. Like contra dancing, or the subway, or the stars. 


‍Mairead: Yeah, I really see that in the way your story is grappling with these larger existential questions. What do you want people to take away from this story when they read it? 

‍Arabella: I think just the value of friends. There's a lot of repetition of, like, I went to New York City with my friends, like, we're at a friend's house, we were contra dancing with friends. I want people to think about what friendship means and the purpose that it serves in daily life. I wanted to make human connection seem not so mundane.