As a white woman originally from the US midwest teaching students from a multiplicity of backgrounds, the intersections of creative writing and diversity remain crucial for my professional development as a teacher, and for my students lives. My students claim queer, disabled, and immigrant identities. They have grown up in Native American communities, in border towns, in Scottsdale, in South Phoenix, out of state, or overseas. Increasingly, the diversity of my students has become the norm rather than the exception [ . . . ] All of these sessions remain immediately applicable for my professional development, and for my writing, and I am grateful for the Arizona Educator Scholarship for making it possible for me to attend Desert Nights, Rising Stars