Ben Gallegos, a student at Eastern New Mexico University, discusses how he became the president of the Desperate Optimists: The ENMU English Club. The group aims to nurture the interest of reading and writing literature in the community, provide a creative outlet for aspiring writers at Eastern and hold one fundraising event each academic semester. The organization provides students with a positive environment in which to share their own work and shall be an opportunity to create encouraging friendships.

Spelling was the first class I ever failed, and my handwriting was so bad my teachers made me practice it every day until the fifth grade.

I never did great on essays because my grammar was non-existent. Yet, I chose to become an English major in my sophomore year of college at ENMU, and thankfully I stuck with it.

Reading and writing were always there for me as a lifelong friend and therapist. Like many angst-filled teenagers, I wrote horrible poetry, and short stories about break-ups, and other "deep" thoughts.

At the time it seemed as if I was the only one going through it, and that I could only describe my feelings upon a nameless word document. As my pubescent hormones began to wean away, I decided that writing was something that I wanted to keep from those awkward years.

So I searched for a writing club at ENMU where I could develop into a writer instead of some lonely kid that rambles senselessly to himself in a dark room. I sought guidance from Dr. David Sweeten of the ENMU English department.

He said that that the "Desperate Optimists" writing club was not active, and that it needed to be reinstated. Dr. Sweeten found two other students and threw us together for our first meeting. I chose to be the secretary (easy with no responsibility), while another girl was president and Cody Underwood was treasurer.

It seemed as if things were working out; I barely had any extra more work, and I was finally part of a group of writers. For a few weeks, things were good, we established a meeting area, Dr. Sweeten became the club advisor, and people were coming to the meetings.

 I finally felt like I could show people my soul in the art form that made sense to me, and I had people that appreciated it, and then gave me honest, creative criticism.

Then our president unexpectedly quits, and the expectations of this new haven for writers needed shoulders to hold it up. Dr. Sweeten was committed, and ready to keep the train moving, and so I stepped up and became president.

I felt like a phony, a faker, I didn't know how to write let alone lead a group of writers. The fear and anxiety began to take hold. I wanted to quit every time the members of the club looked up at me like I knew what I was doing.

Dr. Sweeten was my knight in shining armor, my Sir Lancelot, he supported me as a president and taught me how to lead. The "Desperate Optimists" writing club slowly gained more members and developed an identity on campus.

The "Desperate Optimists" writing club was a success; we had members publish pieces, and people feel like they were part of something, but, most of all, we had created a safe place where fellow writers could unite.

Since that time, only two semesters ago, I have created amazing relationships with many members of the English department (staff and students) as well as writers all around ENMU. I feel confident that my writing has progressed and that it will continue to progress as the club continues.

Being part of the ENMU Desperate Optimist club has been one of the most fulfilling and enjoyable experience I have had at ENMU. Even though I felt completely underprepared, I was given the tools needed to succeed, and help others succeed here at Eastern.

Long live the "Desperate Optimists!"