Neither the Edith Kinney Gaylord Expository Writing Program nor this fifteenth issue of our student literary publication would exist without the contributions of so many excellent undergraduate writers. The primary credit for Volume XV of Brainstorm belongs to the students whose work we showcase this year: Lucy Coleman, Sydney Gutwein, Mia John, Brian Karsten, Austin Marquardt, Samantha Mitchell, Shemaiah Oatman, Haidyn Peterson, Sydney Samuels, and Addie Yoon.  As a magazine of student writing, Brainstorm is the culmination of a semester-long engagement with the writing process in courses characterized by the unique collaboration between students and lecturers that Expo thrives upon. A brief introductory note preceding each essay connects authors to the class in which they conceived, wrote, and revised their work. Whether individually or collaboratively authored, each of the essays by these young writers reveals a distinctive authorial argument, voice and vision; we are proud to share them with the OU community.

In the spirit of celebrating first-year writing instruction, we would like to acknowledge all the Expository Writing faculty members who taught in Spring, Summer and Fall of 2022, when the essays in this volume were written: Eric Bosse, Timothy Bradford, Talisha Haltiwanger Morrison, Al Harahap, Nick LoLordo, Mandi McRae, Catherine Mintler and Robert Scafe. The Committee for the volume—Bradford, LoLordo and Scafe—deserve special commendation for the time they devoted to selecting student essays and the guidance they provided as student authors honed their work for publication. Missy Stewart and Tara Risenhoover provided invaluable administrative assistance. And once again, we thank our Director, Talisha Haltiwanger Morrison, for all her support of the program.

As always, we gratefully acknowledge former President David Boren and the Inasmuch Foundation overseen by William J. Ross and Robert J. Ross, whose generous investment in first-year writing at OU has supported our program for nearly 20 years and has made it possible for our students to produce the excellent work represented in this volume. We look forward to publishing future issues of Brainstorm under the leadership and support of President Joseph Harroz Jr., continuing our collaboration with student writers in ways that exemplify our shared vision of excellence