Lately, I have not been blessed by an abundance when it comes to getting words down on paper. I own this as my fault. I’ve packed a number of activities and errands into my life, and have therefore made it very easy to procrastinate by doing those activities or running those errands.
However, in setting up one thing (childcare) that would enable me to free the hours needed for writing and my part time job, I stumbled into the necessity of setting up another thing (full-time student status) that would enable me to keep that childcare. The military prioritizes those who can show full-time employment or student status. Since my employment is all over the place, at first I wasn’t sure how to approach this. But then, I pulled up old, reliable Google, and searched: Online MFA.
Up popped a program from one of these schools that is expanding with an eye to attracting military and nontraditional students. I’ve worked with these in the past, both attending and then teaching when I was in Kuwait. They are usually very good about online learners, and know exactly how to help people like me, a Reservist, veteran, and military spouse.
About 60 seconds after submitting an inquiry, I got a call from a military admissions counselor who waived the admissions fee, walked me through the process (basically did the application for me), requested transcripts, let me know which schools I still needed transcripts from, and then sent me an email with everything laid out in order of what I needed to do.
Holy cow. Guess this was happening. Guess I was really applying for an MFA in Creative Writing. With a graduate certificate in teaching writing.
Oh, and by the way, I also decided to apply as an adjunct in their criminal justice and communications department.
I don’t know if any of these options will pan out. I do think that having deadlines and feedback will help get me moving.
Of course, now I’m sitting here procrastinating from writing my personal statement (200-300 words about how someone’s story inspired you to become a writer), by blogging about how I am having a hard time picking just one inspiration because I’ve been blessed by an abundance of amazing teachers and writers, who have ALL inspired me in some way or another.
At least, that’s what I was planning on blogging about. Oh well. There’s my brain dump. Better go back, make some tea, and get these words done so I can finish moving on with this unexpected life plot twist!
Peace.
