By: Em Acuña
Em Acuña and Seleen Al Horani have been serving on the 2025-2026 editorial board for UReCA: The National Collegiate Honors Council’s (NCHC) Journal of Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity since April 2025. Al Horani is a chemistry major with a certified chemist concentration pursuing departmental honors in the Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences. Acuña is a psychology major with a concentration in social sciences and a minor in media studies who is pursuing both University and departmental honors in the Department of Psychology. Both Acuña and Al Horani have previous editorial experience. Acuña has worked with The Peel Review, App State’s student-run literature and arts magazine, here at App State from Spring 2023-Fall 2024 semesters. They are also the current assistant editor to the Honors Wednesday Memo (HWM) as of August 2025. Al Horani served as an associate editor to UReCA in the 2024-2025 cohort, making this her second year serving.
Both Acuña and Al Horani learned about this opportunity through the HWM, which goes out to all Honors students. Al Horani learned about this through an announcement sharing the call for editor applications. Acuña learned about the opportunity from Kistler Hunt, the previous HWM editor, while training to take on the assistant editor role. In 2024-2025, Hunt served as an editor to UReCA alongside Al Horani and Elliot Sheehan, another ’25 Honors College alum. Hunt and Sheehan also served on the 2023-24 editorial board. When asked what interested them about this position, Acuña stated,
I’m super interested in research and academic publishing. This felt like a great opportunity to give me some experience in that, and I was super drawn to the interdisciplinary aspect, which reminded me of the Honors College here at App.
Al Horani shared a similar sentiment in her reflection, “It combined everything that interests me in one role. I love reading, writing, and objective critiquing, and have a wide range of interests from STEM to the arts.”
As part of their role as associate editors for UReCA, they attend the editorial retreat, which is typically held annually in Montana. This year, the team, including all associate editors, two faculty members from different universities, and the production team, traveled to Kalispell, Montana, from June 4-June 8. While in Montana, they all learned about the journal and trained for their roles in making the 10th edition come together. They stayed in dorms at Flathead Valley Community College and utilized classroom space there for their training. As a team, they worked on becoming familiar with the rubrics and reviewing process for both research and creative submission, as well as brainstorming ideas for the identity of the journal and various marketing and rebranding concepts. Al Horani reflected, “This was a slightly intimidating discussion for me as I have no experience in graphic design and social media management, but it was such a comfortable environment where everyone’s input, experienced or not, was encouraged, respected, and seriously considered.”
Seleen Al Horani’s artwork from the service day at Glacier National Park, West Glacier, Montana. Photo submitted.
While in Montana, they also visited and did service at Glacier National Park with the park rangers. This included splitting up into groups and picking up trash along the road leading into the park. They then used that trash to make artwork with Mariah Reading, the artist in residence for the summer. The excursion to Glacier also served as team bonding time for everyone on the board. Acuña reflected that their favorite part of the trip was this excursion to Glacier,
It was great to spend some time in Glacier and get to bond with everyone else outside of discussing the journal. Visiting Glacier was an added bonus on top of an already amazing trip, and I even got to swim in Lake McDonald! Spoiler, it was cold.
Photo depicts Al Horani in Glacier National Park. Photo submitted.
The UReCA retreat acts as the unofficial starting point for the year’s editorial duties. While all editors are accepted by April, this retreat at the beginning of the summer really sets everything in motion. After the retreat, the production team starts assigning pieces to editors to review by the September 28deadline. After that, it goes through copy editing before being published online and unveiled at the NCHC annual conference, which will be hosted in San Diego this year from November 7- November 8, 2025. Being involved with UReCA has also influenced Al Horani’s view on her postgraduate plans,
“I intend to attend graduate school and become a formally trained researcher and academic. Without a doubt, UReCA has been a wonderful glimpse into what it would be like to peer review publications in my respective field should I get involved in an academic journal in that manner in the future.”
UReCA is a wonderful opportunity for both university and departmental honors students. Acuña reflected, “I would absolutely recommend getting involved in UReCA, especially if you know you want to continue in academia. This experience has given me amazing insight into the behind-the-scenes of how an academic journal can work and the processes of reviewing and selecting pieces. Also, being a part of a group that encompasses people from all different disciplines and all across the country is such a valuable and unique aspect of this journal, especially with how close we all became during the short visit in Montana.”
For students interested in UReCA editorship, stay tuned to the Memo for announcements about the applications. The call for editor applicants typically goes out in the spring semester, and by April, editors will be notified of their acceptance.
Top photo depicts Acuña (back left), Al Horani (back middle) and other associate editors at Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, West Glacier, Montana. Photo submitted.
