Some people say “write what you know” which is questionable advice if you ask me, but I had never written or performed poetry before and I was desperate. So I wrote “College,” a commentary on college life.

Here is an excerpt:

“Is anyone else sick of roommates? Cause I am.

You know those dudes who never clean

And eat all your cereal

And sit around in their underwear

And won’t put clothes on when your girlfriend is over

And never buy toilet paper

And always go, ‘Dude, we’re out of toilet paper.’

I’m sick of those dudes.”

Luckily, there were people there who were much better poets than I.

Bryan Williams, a junior from Idaho Falls, won first place with his performance of “Nerdz” by Jeff Seaholtz.

The second place winner was Scott Devey, a sophomore from Canton, Mich., who wowed the crowd with lines from his poem Technobabble such as, “The heart of America stopped beating a long time ago.” Filip Matous, a junior from North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, got third place with a humorous untitled poem he had written just minutes before.

Poetry slam protocol was breached on several occasions. First, performers were allowed to recite the works of other poets, where as a professional slam only allows original poems by the performer, according to www.poetryslam.com.

Second, the judges were selected beforehand, whereas in a true poetry slam judges are selected from the audience.

Third, there were three judges, and a true poetry slam has five, so that the highest and lowest scores can be dropped.

“Students should be looking for another slam this semester,” said Lori Davis, a sophomore from Gladewater, Texas, who set up the poetry slam.