Naomi Ortiz is not afraid of being open to life’s surprises. On May 3, she will cross the stage at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Spring Commencement and will earn her Bachelor of Arts in English with a concentration in literature and minors in creative writing and Spanish—an outcome Ortiz would have never imagined prior to choosing UAB. In fact, her passion was in something else entirely: volleyball.

According to Ortiz, she spent over half her life playing the sport. She started on the volleyball court at nine years old with the Catholic Youth Organization League then participated in indoor volleyball clubs until the age of sixteen. Ortiz also played for her middle and high school teams until she was collegebound. When looking for a collegiate team to join, UAB was her answer.

“I was offered a spot on the [beach volleyball] team and [received] a really good academic scholarship,” Ortiz said.

A Spring Branch, Texas native, Ortiz packed up everything to move across state lines for the sport she loved.

“Moving to Birmingham from Texas for freshman year was super daunting, but there’s something to be said about embracing new opportunities,” Ortiz said.

She would go on to play as a blocker on UAB’s beach volleyball team her freshman year and acclimated to playing at the collegiate level quickly.

“It was a really formative experience. I’ve made some of my best friends on the team,” Ortiz said.

As she adjusted to the challenges of her sport, Ortiz experienced a similar situation in her studies. During her first semester Ortiz pursued biology as her major and took introductory courses, but she remained open to other possibilities. What eventually grabbed Ortiz’s attention was an English honors seminar on witch narratives. Ortiz was hooked.

“It was so cool.” Ortiz said. “I remember telling my mom over Christmas break [that] I might want to switch to English. I never looked back. It’s been great.”

Ortiz continued to explore the degree programs offered by the Department of English while playing beach volleyball on UAB’s team... until she started to experience increasing back pain while she played. At the age of ten, Ortiz was diagnosed with scoliosis and worked to manage the condition as long as she could to continue playing volleyball. Spinal surgery, however, was inevitable.

“I knew at some point I was going to have this surgery. It was just a matter of how long I [could] kind of outrun this pain. So, when it got [to be] too much, I was like, ‘Of course it has to happen right now when I had a really great freshman season,’” said Ortiz.

Naomi Ortiz (in the green UAB #5 tank top) cheers on her teammates.Ortiz would later undergo surgery in the summer following her junior year. After the procedure, she could not attend classes in person because driving was too difficult. Even carrying a backpack during that time was a task for Ortiz. Regardless, the Department of English faculty met Ortiz where she was and made accommodations to fit her needs.

“Everybody was super helpful. I had people checking up on me over the summer,” said Ortiz. One of her supporters was Adam Vines, MFA, professor and director of the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English. Ortiz met Vines at a poetry reading in the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts and would later take Vines’ advanced poetry workshop.

“I wrote my first poem for his class, and it got absolutely demolished [during the critique] ... but I was so excited about it,” said Ortiz. “As somebody who grew up in athletics, it was kind of like a coach that’s hard on you but also gives good encouragement when you need it.”

After recovering from spinal surgery, Ortiz returned to the sand court to play several games but ultimately stopped due to her condition making the sport more challenging to perform.

“It was kind of difficult... If I was not going to be playing volleyball anymore, then maybe I [should] go back home to be closer to family,” Ortiz said.

What kept her at UAB was her experience with the Department of English.

“I came to UAB for volleyball, but I stayed for the [Department of English] faculty, honestly. [They are] so amazing,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz pivoted from playing volleyball to coaching the sport and refocused her energy on writing. She would go on to take part in the University Honors Program for students pursuing a B.A. in English. Ortiz also began working with the Birmingham Poetry Review (BPR) team as a submission reader and, as she continued to work with the publication, served as an intern who ran BPR’s social media accounts, interviewed featured authors, and organized a Zoom reading series. On the BPR team, Ortiz worked alongside fellow students, Vines, and Halley Cotton, M.A., instructor in the Department of English and managing editor of BPR.

Naomi Ortiz writing a poem based on an exhibition piece in the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts. “My name is going to be in the next [BPR] issue, so that’s super cool,” said Ortiz. “It’s been a really great experience to put on my resume for postgrad, so that hopefully I can work on a journal at my next institution.”

When not working with the BPR team, Ortiz focused on poetry with Vines. Ortiz selected Vines to be her honors college capstone mentor and met with him regularly to discuss her work. Amidst their sessions, Ortiz started applying for MFA programs to continue writing. Vines was her guide.

“He helped me pick all of the programs I want to apply to for grad school. He’s been like a ‘Poetry Papa’ [which] is what he calls himself,” Ortiz said, smiling.

For her capstone, Ortiz wrote a collection of 30 poems with themes exploring coming of age, identity, and her family’s culture. She workshopped alongside three other honors students to craft and review one another’s work.

“Working with other writers in the program lends to thinking about your own writing differently and approaching it from different angles which is super helpful,” explained Ortiz.

On April 21, Ortiz presented her completed capstone project before a crowd of friends, family, and Department of English faculty. Ortiz read a series of poems from her collection and ended her reading with a bow to a round of applause from her supporters and a proud, smiling Adam Vines.

“Naomi’s progress as a writer over the past year was a true pleasure to witness,” said Vines. “Her explorations of identity and heritage became more localized and surprising, her craft, tone, and voice more nuanced and impactful. She has great instincts and a hunger for writing. I am so excited to continue to follow her path as a writer in the future.”

“I feel so fulfilled by writing, and I don’t think I would have ever come across it in this way if I wasn’t welcomed so openly by the English department,” Ortiz said.

Following graduation, Ortiz will attend the MFA program at Louisiana State University. Her goal is to publish a manuscript of her writing and ultimately become a professor at a university. Ortiz wishes to be a guide for students and give back to the community that helped her grow as a writer.