So, I've been 'threatening' to go back to school for my Master's for about six years now. Well, now I've decided I need to get my stuff together and do it. In an ideal situation, I'd handpick which schools to apply to, and they'd all have PhD programs as well... and they'd all be close... yeah. Not gonna happen. I don't just want my advanced degree(s) in English, I want them in Creative Writing... so I think I can handle doing an MFA program.
Here's my dilemma: I've been out for ten years, and most of my professors are one of the following: moved elsewhere, retired, or dead. Yeah, I had a few older profs. The other thing is that I'm concerned most may not remember me. It has been ten years. I honestly don't know if I was that memorable of a student. I don't think my writing was memorable...
So, I have a time crunch here. If I want to apply for Fall 2009, the deadline is February 1st. Less than a month. Most of the other stuff is easy... filling out paperwork, etc... I can handle that. Transcripts... also easy enough. It's those recommendation letters I have to have from former professors which gets sticky for me. I found emails of four profs. I know one, if he really is still alive and actively reading emails (Professor Emeritus, i.e. retired old curmudgeon... okay, crazy curmudgeon), would remember, if his memory is jogged well enough. He went so nuts over one of my poems in Poetry class that he used it as filler for the Lit. Annual... but stuck it up front behind the 1st place story and 1st place poem, not in the back with the other filler poems... says a lot, at least to me.
The other three profs, I'm not so sure of. I live too far away to drop by... so I can't go talk to them personally. I don't know if they'd even remember me. Two of them are husband and wife (I assume they're still married... heck, they still work in the same department)
I am contemplating this because I've been encouraged to go back to school... my career counselor prompted me to go back for a few art classes to veer toward design... which i like, but Writing has been a long time passion of mine, and I do want to teach college someday. I want to help spark that same passion in the next few generations... I was looking at my options... I can go design... which is cool... but it'll still take at least a year or two to get the certificate/AA degree to get a viable job somewhere. I can continue art classes until Fall... but if I'm going back to school, why not go back for what I've been wanting to go back for? I just have this hurdle of those letters...
Any advice? Tips?
One kicker for me is that my dream school/program is a distance program in Colorado... with a bizarre residency setup... I love their program... most others are REALLY more conservative and strict. I'm a little fearful of that. I want a program where I can explore my abilities as a writer... The local program is in transition... from an MA to an MFA, if the state approves it. It's better, but their graduation requirements scare the bejeezus out of me.
Then again, I love challenges... okay... I'm putting this out there... any ideas? encouragement? Advice is what I need... but encouragement always helps.
Thanks!
Amanda
Here's my dilemma: I've been out for ten years, and most of my professors are one of the following: moved elsewhere, retired, or dead. Yeah, I had a few older profs. The other thing is that I'm concerned most may not remember me. It has been ten years. I honestly don't know if I was that memorable of a student. I don't think my writing was memorable...
So, I have a time crunch here. If I want to apply for Fall 2009, the deadline is February 1st. Less than a month. Most of the other stuff is easy... filling out paperwork, etc... I can handle that. Transcripts... also easy enough. It's those recommendation letters I have to have from former professors which gets sticky for me. I found emails of four profs. I know one, if he really is still alive and actively reading emails (Professor Emeritus, i.e. retired old curmudgeon... okay, crazy curmudgeon), would remember, if his memory is jogged well enough. He went so nuts over one of my poems in Poetry class that he used it as filler for the Lit. Annual... but stuck it up front behind the 1st place story and 1st place poem, not in the back with the other filler poems... says a lot, at least to me.
The other three profs, I'm not so sure of. I live too far away to drop by... so I can't go talk to them personally. I don't know if they'd even remember me. Two of them are husband and wife (I assume they're still married... heck, they still work in the same department)
I am contemplating this because I've been encouraged to go back to school... my career counselor prompted me to go back for a few art classes to veer toward design... which i like, but Writing has been a long time passion of mine, and I do want to teach college someday. I want to help spark that same passion in the next few generations... I was looking at my options... I can go design... which is cool... but it'll still take at least a year or two to get the certificate/AA degree to get a viable job somewhere. I can continue art classes until Fall... but if I'm going back to school, why not go back for what I've been wanting to go back for? I just have this hurdle of those letters...
Any advice? Tips?
One kicker for me is that my dream school/program is a distance program in Colorado... with a bizarre residency setup... I love their program... most others are REALLY more conservative and strict. I'm a little fearful of that. I want a program where I can explore my abilities as a writer... The local program is in transition... from an MA to an MFA, if the state approves it. It's better, but their graduation requirements scare the bejeezus out of me.
Then again, I love challenges... okay... I'm putting this out there... any ideas? encouragement? Advice is what I need... but encouragement always helps.
Thanks!
Amanda