BOAM Nominee #2: Illinois Tech

Nominee #1: University of Chicago: https://clydeaidoo.com/2017/06/11/boam-nominee-1-uchicago-2/

On March 3, 2018, I will release The Best of Alma Mater, and I will need some help in selecting the crème de la crème. The best way you can assist in doing so would be to purchase each of the four Alma Mater volumes – Midwest, Northeast, West, and South, each docked at $0.99 and free for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers. Because the more pieces from the series you read, the more qualified you are to state whether or not a piece belongs in the “Best of.”

Yesterday, as the University of Chicago held its convocation, I shared the piece here on this site to kick off the Best of Alma Mater selection process. Today, I present the next nominee from the Midwest, Illinois Tech – the Illinois Institute of Technology. As it is right now, the University of Chicago piece is not on the current list of 116 poems that are slated to appear in the Best of Alma Mater collection, but this piece is. I would like to get the list down to 100, so if there is any piece that you feel could be omitted, please do not be afraid to add your feedback and it will be considered constructive criticism for the betterment of the “Best of” collection. Please especially do so if you are familiar with this series and have read many of the other pieces to have an understanding of your perceived quality level of the pieces. But even those who are not very familiar are welcome to contribute to my decision-making process.

I am trying to put together the best representation of the series possible, so I do not mind being told that I could do without a piece either here in the comments or through in the “Contact Author” page, where we could perhaps have a more extended dialogue on the matter. On the flip side, when I say a piece will not be included, such as yesterday’s University of Chicago piece, also feel free to tell me that I’m crazy and that the piece is a must include.

This piece to me has made the cut because of the energy. It was probably the first high-energy piece of the series and I believe it conveys the commuter “on the go” mentality of the school in every sense of the word “progression.” The rail language used in the piece was inspired by the rail system in Chicago – where many of the IT students commute via Green Line and other routes to this campus of advancement.

Another note is that of all the four volumes of Alma Mater, this volume, the Midwest, currently has, by far, the least poems that are scheduled to appear in the “Best of” collection. So any piece from the Midwest volume that has a strong case to be included, such as this, will be given special consideration so that every region can be well represented in the Best of Alma Mater collection.

Here we go. The second nominee for the Best of Alma Mater Series, The Illinois Institute of Technology….you’ve arrived at your stop.

*Illinois Tech*

Next Stop:
35th-Bronzeville-IIT.
Doors Closing.

We are the Green Line that streamlines innovation with reputation—Opening worlds with a synergy driven by a mission and a vision. These lives in Chicago will be transformed by an international influence.
We can’t change the past,
But we can transfer it fast.
Providing our education with a raised destination on a platform with creative norms.

Our youth is a train that only fails when it is derailed.

We believe in recharging our minds with modernism and distinction, building on the wavelengths of our distinctive strengths. With the instinctive honing inventions like the first mobile phone.
Through IIT, we can pick up and still leave where we were;
Talking on your main line while switching to a Red Line:
Call it a Two-Way Transfer.
We have activated the minds of Martin Cooper, Valdas Adamkus, Jack Steinberger—international and local minds who through I-Tech did find:
We still have a long way to go,
but the journey begins
In Chicago.

Ideas exchanged over supper at the Commons,
At stimulating concerts from town artists like Common,
&
Inside the avant-garde MTCC:
The spectacular structure of IIT.
This is where we take off and go beyond the rails,
A mission with sincere ethics
Never Fails.

Our stop is the future.

A new train of motivated movers just stepped off,
New Scarlet Hawks now prepare to take off.

This is Illinois Institute of Technology.

Doors Open.

Preview and then purchase the newly released Alma Mater Vol. 4 below for only $0.99 or for free with Kindle Unlimited along with the other three volumes. And feel free to comment or email me using the “Contact Author” page on this site to assist in selecting the pieces for the Best of Alma Mater series released March 3, 2018.