The final revisions have been made, and Voices Literary and Visual Arts Magazine is almost ready to be in the hands of students all over campus.

According to Voices Editor in Chief Breanne Sill, this year’s magazine features items that reflect a personal experience –  love, hate or sadness, politics, religion and nature motifs, both in artwork and literature.

“The greatest thing Voices does is share the expression of the diverse student population at MSU,” Sill said.

This year, Voices, which has been in existence since 1974, received 136 submissions.

“The most rewarding aspect of Voices is holding a freshly-printed magazine that you have lost sleep over, sweated over, swore over, and cried over for two semesters.”

Voices takes two semesters to produce and takes roughly 15 to 20 hours a week, Sill said.

From August to the end of November, the staff of 12 students edits submissions as they come in. Once the deadline has passed, the English faculty and graduate assistants serve on a blind jury, while the art department critiques the art submissions. Once the submissions are narrowed down, the staff begins the design process.

Sill said the most challenging fact of Voices is using the design software Adobe InDesign.

“InDesign is such a complicated and time-consuming program that editors really need exposure to it before they sign their contracts,” Sill said. “On top of this, we always have some technical difficulty right before spring before we go to press. It is ‘the curse.’ Luckily this year, we didn’t have a technical problem, but organizing 12 editors was a challenge in itself.”

“Another two weeks or so and the magazine is printed and shipped,” Sill said. “This is where we are right now in our process. We are expecting the shipment of the 2013 issue by the end of the week. Once the shipment arrives, the editors and advisor distribute the magazine around campus, using the bottom rack of The Wichitan newspaper stands.”

Mike Winters, Voices archivist, said he loves being part of Voices because it lets him see a part of the student population that often times isn’t public.

“I liked recognizing people from classes and seeing what they really have to say, even if I have no idea what it is they’re saying something about. It’s also really helped me figure out some things I like to do in my own writing.”

In Voices, there’s a good chances students will find something that relates to them personally, Winters said.

“I got involved with Voices because I really want to be part of the creative process,” he said. “I get to see my peers make personal and unique works, and thus they teach me how to forge something from my own creativity.”

Winters, senior in sociology, said his skills as a writer and reader have improved thanks to his participating in Voices.

“I have edited so many stories like these in the past four years,” Sill said. “Every time, I stop and think, a student wrote this. A student lived this. For me, it is a humbling and honoring experience to showcase the works of these extraordinary students.”

Sill, who has been part of Voices for all four years of college, said she owes her college success partly to her work at the magazine.

“I have formed friendships and practically lived in the English department for four years,” Sill said. “I have become more confident in my skills as a student and more culturally aware as a human begin. What can I say? Voices changed my life.”

Sill said students are so talented, and that talent can come from any department.

“Even the poetry and creative fiction that I read bring waves of awe to me,” she said. “It is the student experiences and expressions that make MSU a liberal arts university, in my mind. We’re not just students at a small university in Texas. We have stories to share. We have voices that want to be heard. Voices Magazine allows us to share those voices. We are a thousand voices with one story.”

Voices Magazine will be accepting submissions for the spring 2014 issue in August. Submission guidelines can be found on our website: www.mwsu.info/voices