Almost 50 people squeezed into the Daily Grind coffee shop at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22. The English club put on a reading entitled “Challenge Accepted.”

The purpose of this reading was to give writers the experience of getting out of their comfort zone. When the writers stood before the crowded coffee shop to read, they gave a short explanation of who challenged them, what their challenge was, and why it was out of their comfort zone.

“I definitely got out of my comfort zone,” said writer Jess Rockeman. Her challenged involved two conservative males in a Midwest setting. “I usually write about women, so creating an entire story with male characters was a challenge in and of itself.”

The lineup featured the three writers mentioned on the posters—Daniel Kilkelly, Jessica Rockeman, and Mike McGovern—as well as a handful of English Club members who were given challenges of their own to write about.

“The hardest part was definitely the dialogue,” said Rockeman. “I don’t think men are unable to effectively communicate, but they certainly communicate differently than women, especially with one another. And my work is usually quite dialogue heavy, so I had to make it work.

The tone of the coffee shop changed with each peace read. Tension shifted from quiet from Rockeman’s piece about conservative men dealing with homophobia, to somewhat awkward when Daniel Kilkelly read his challenge piece featuring erotica, to light-hearted hilariousness when Mike McGovern read his piece about the Russia and Ukraine in the form of a children’s story.

“I think this challenge helped me grow,” said Rockeman. “I’m always growing as a writer, and whenever I am asked to leave my comfort zone, that’s just more experience.”