Rediscovering Old Writing

I recently came across a little story I put together during grade-school.  I attended Lea Hill Elementary School in Auburn, Washington.  My scholastic career was non-traditional, to say the least.   I was always bucking the system. I imagine that if I'd been a kid today they would have medicated me.  Fortunately, my wild ways preceded the invention of Ritalin and I was allowed to vacillate between the Principal's office, detention and the counselor's office--all between assignments.

The writing prompt for this story must have been panic.  Or, I may have chosen panic as the topic.  Given my home life at the time, this is entirely possible.  I'm putting a link to my personal writing site, where this story can be accessed here: The Book of Panic

Acceptance

I received a phone call this morning letting me know that I'd been accepted into the MFA program at Goddard College.  I'll begin my first residency in February of this year and am really, really pumped about it. 

It's Done :)

While it took longer than I anticipated (edits, edits, edits) I have now completed my application for admission to Goddard's MFA program in poetry. I just uploaded the creative submission and with the push-of-a button have placed my fate in the hands of the admission committee that will decide whether they green-light my acceptance or politely suggest I come back later..... The wait is now the only thing left to work through.

31 Days Of Poetry

For the first time, I'm participating in a monthly poetry workshop that is sponsored by the Striped Water Poets .  Each day, I create a new poem, and then mail it off to the person on the list for that day.  In the end, I'll have created 31 new poems, improved my craft, and, hopefully, made some new friends.  I'm even going to get a chance to send a poem to India.  I've never had an occasion to mail anything to a foreign country and am looking forward to crossing that off my list.  

The Essay

Today, I sat down at my Hermes 3000 and began to bang away at the entrance essay that I'll submit to Goddard.  This, after spending the afternoon at Ft. Worden, consuming wine and cheese and hobnobbing with Goddard alum, faculty and other, potential Goddard students.  I even got to meet Goddard's President!

Poetry Post Sign at Pt. Townsend 

Action Plan

So for weeks I've been lamenting about the graduate school application process.  I've whined, twisted my hands, but accomplished little else.

I have put the wheels in motion and have actually begun the process of getting into Goddard.  I've requested transcripts from all colleges, requested the requisite number of recommendation letters, created a bibliography of works to be studied and am now outlining my entrance essay and study plan.  I wonder if Goddard offers some sort of initial degree, just for completing the application process :)

I have also set a deadline and am publishing it here:  By July 30, 2012 I will have completed my part of the graduation application process; I've requested that my instructors send off their recommendation letters by the end of August.

Wish me luck. More importantly: Help hold me accountable.

Goddard at Pt. Townsend

Discovering Goddard

Goddard has asked that I discover them. I guess the first part of getting to first base with Goddard is navigating their application process.  I'm stumped.  So far, I've got a handful of Beat Poet material, a smattering of Harlem  Renaissance material, (BTW:  I had to look up Renaissance.  Add learning to spell this word to my educational plan I'll be submitting), and a list of classics that might complement the whole package.

I still need a teaching practicum outline, and an idea for a final thesis, which, hopefully, will get me to the finish line.  Is it a bad sign that I'm stumped this early in the game?