Although senior Lilia Peng is working toward a double degree in Economics and community, environment and planning (CEP), this has not stopped her from spending time on her literary pursuits.

Peng’s poem, “Migration,” was recently selected for publication in the spring edition of The Collegiate Scholar, an online literary journal associated with the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS).

The NSCS is an honor society with chapters at 229 colleges and universities, including the UW. The Collegiate Scholar is published tri-annually and features submissions from society members spanning a wide range of creative media.

In addition to the more traditional literary forms of short fiction and poetry, the magazine includes journalistic pieces, visual art and essays with political, popular culture and autobiographical themes.

“We wanted to expand the magazine to more categories in order to attract more ideas,” said Mishri Someshwar, the NSCS communications coordinator.

Despite the many categories encompassed by The Collegiate Scholar, poetry is the most competitive, Someshwar said.

“We receive over a hundred poems for each edition, of which only two are selected,” she said.

Peng’s poem is a 39-line sestina that addresses the adversity faced by U.S. immigrants. Although her parents migrated from China, Peng said the poem is not a direct reference to her own family.

“The poem reflects what I think are some general themes and sentiments in the immigrant experience in the U.S., such as the struggle for assimilation, discrimination, being an outsider and cultural differences,” Peng said.

Although she has been interested in poetry since high school, due to the time restraints of her degree requirements, Peng has taken only one verse-writing course at the UW. It was in this course that she was first introduced to the form of sestina and wrote “Migration.” Peng said she likes the sestina form and felt it was well matched to the subject of the poem.

“I think the theme of migration fits the sestina form well, as sestinas are very cyclical, implicating movement,” Peng said.

Peng is not alone in her non-literary academic background among students published in the magazine.

“We get many submissions from non-literature students studying science and math that are looking for an opportunity to express their creative energy,” Someshwar said.

Although a busy class schedule has prevented her from spending a great deal of time on her poetry, Peng said that publication of “Migration” has strengthened her interest in the arts.

“It does motivate me, not only to write more poetry, but to read more poetry and to get more involved in the arts community at the UW and in Seattle,” Peng said.