Student Spotlight - Faith Fegley

By: Savanna Jessup

Trine University is a melting pot of impressive student achievements and talent. One undeniable talent is Faith Fegley, a junior English major. Fegley is an accomplished writer with an extensive background in hands-on writing experiences.

“I was an English major at Indiana University South Bend,” said Fegley. “I had the opportunity to intern for one of my professors, Dr. Kelcy Ervick,”.

Within this position she learned about proper editing, publishing, and how to research. Also at IU South Bend, she published a poem in the student publications book called “Analecta”, which led her to publishing more work of her own.

From there, Faith transferred to Goshen College, where she majored in writing and took a wide variety of writing classes, all shaping her into the writer she is today. One of her biggest writing milestones, however, is the publication of her own chapbook titled “Metanoia” in early December of 2023.

The title “Metanoia '' means “a spiritual transformation or personal transformation” and represents Fegley’s very own personal transformation.

She further explains her chapbook to be a collection of her poetry divided into three sections titled, “Bending”, “Breaking”, and “Healing”. Each of these three sections is filled with 12-18 poems related to the specific section title.

“The original inspiration for my chapbook,” said Fegley, “Which ended up being the inspiration for the first two sections, was a friendship breakup that spiraled into me quitting my job and really struggling mentally,”

Fegley was open and honest about the sections “Bending” and “Breaking”. Within the interview, not only her evident writing skills impressed me, but her vulnerability as well. In these sections she explores a common, yet extremely difficult life event that I am positive multiple readers can appreciate and relate to.

She went on to highlight the importance in her “Healing” journey, both section title related and in general.

“This work is the newest, and some of my best quality work,” Fegley said.

Despite the original inspiration, Fegley stated that she ultimately dedicated her chapbook to her biggest inspiration, her current partner/boyfriend.

“Meeting him, I just immediately knew he was my person and that we were meant to be together,” said Fegley. “He’s my best friend and biggest fan,”.

The progression of the chapbook happened over several years, and, at the time, Fegley did not expect them to be published in a book.

“I didn’t really intend for anyone to see them,” said Fegley.

Fegley started writing rough drafts of the first two sections in late 2020 and early 2021, but it was not until September of 2022 that she started the final section. Additionally, this is also the time she started dating her boyfriend. It was not until August of 2023 that one of her classmates and professor at Goshen College approached her and asked if she would be willing to publish her work.

“I had workshopped some of the poems in class and my peers knew I was casually working on a group of poetry, but it wasn’t until August 2023 that we started really diving into editing and publishing work,” said Fegley.

While the publishing process was rigorous and fast-paced, it was well worth it to be able to read Faith’s incredible work.

So, what are Fegley’s future plans? I had the same begging question. As of now, she is heavily focused on learning all she can about marketing and social media in hopes to obtain a future career in social media marketing. She also will continue studying communication and literature at Trine.

“However, I am always writing journal entries, poetry, and of course I am always writing for assignments,” Fegley said.