The TODAY’s Spotlight on Reading/Writing features CSU-Pueblo faculty, staff and students sharing their reading and writing experiences. The column is co-sponsored by the English and Foreign Languages Department and the English Club. This week’s feature highlights Derek Lopez, director of First Year Programs.

Name/department/educational background: Derek Lopez, First Year Programs, Ph.D. in psychology

What has been your greatest success in writing? (Personal writing, collaborative writing, completing a project or book, etc.): Dissertation – 300 plus pages of writing and data analysis

What do you struggle with in writing and how do you tackle that challenge?
Getting bored with the topic too soon

What’s your favorite book of all time? Author?
“Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching” Tich Naht Han

What are you currently reading? Author?
“Archaic Revival” Terrence McKenna

What’s your favorite guilty reading pleasure, an easy, “beach” read?
If am on the beach, I am surfing, not reading …

Do you have a favorite word or quotation and who is the author? “People’s actions no longer affect a warrior when he has no more expectations of any kind. A strange peace becomes the ruling force in his life. He has adopted one of the concepts of the warrior’s life–detachment.” -Carlos Castaneda

For more information on this feature, contact English Club sponsor and English lecturer Constance Little ([email protected]), 549-2197.