IV student Ali Braboy presented on a panel called “Re-Open the Book to Fantasy Worlds” at the Sigma Tau Delta/Sigma Kappa Delta International Convention in Portland, Ore., on March 22.
Sigma Kappa Delta is an English honor society for two-year colleges.

Braboy was selected from Sigma Kappa Delta students from all over the United States. Other selected panelists came from Calhoun Community College, Decatur, Ala.; Broward College, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Northeast Alabama Community College, Rainsville, Ala.

“I was able to meet people new people that enjoyed books as much as I do,” said Braboy. “This conference opened my eyes that it’s not weird that I love books; people all over the world are obsessed with reading too.”

Braboy gave her presentation on the series “The Vampire Diaries” by L.J. Smith. Braboy admits that she was nervous to present, but she thinks that it went well. Braboy received a certificate of achievement from the national office of Sigma Kappa Delta for her selection as a speaker.
At the convention, Braboy was able to hear speeches by National Book Award winner Ursula K. Le Guin, National Book Award winner Timothy Egan, and National Book Critics Circle Award winner Anne Fadiman. She attended many other sessions and toured Portland with her father.
Braboy was very grateful for her trip to Portland.

“I wanted to say thanks to the faculty sponsors and members of Sigma Kappa Delta at IVCC,” said Braboy. ‘I wouldn’t have been able to go to this conference without them, especially Mr. Oldaker. I never thought any of this was possible when I traveled to IVCC.”

Adam Oldaker, IVCC’s SKD sponsor, said, “I think Ali’s experience demonstrates our slogan perfectly: ‘No place so close can take you so far.’”