When I first went to college I didn’t know what I wanted to study. After switching majors and schools a few times I finally chose business as it seemed safe and generic enough that I could do pretty much anything with it. I knew I was interested in international business but I didn’t really know much beyond that and to be honest I was probably attracted to international business because it sounded exotic and I wanted to travel. After finishing my undergrad degree I began looking into grad school, so I could get my MBA. Two years later, at the age of 28, I had a master’s in business administration. I very quickly got into the field I now work in, International Acquisitions for the US government, and my life moved forward.

I’d been writing poetry nearly my whole life but a couple of years after finishing grad school I returned my focus to poetry and began writing and reading a lot of poetry. Then I started submitting poems to journals and I started getting published. I self-published my first book of poetry (something I don’t necessarily recommend). My sister and I collaborated together and had a joint poetry / art show where I wrote a chapbook of poems and she painted pictures in response to them. And then Bottlecap Press published my chapbook of poems, All in the Family, (which are available for purchase, I’ll even sign it for you!).

Throughout all of this I’ve been taking workshops and classes, participating in and attending readings, meeting other poets, and expanding my network of poets and poetry. And all of this has been wonderful but I still wanted more. And so after much thought and consideration and research I decided to apply to grad school to get my Master’s in Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing with a concentration in poetry. I chose to apply to Queens University of Charlotte and was very excited when I received a call from the program director informing me I’d been accepted. A few days later I received the official acceptance letter.

Accepted!

Accepted!

 

I returned the form with my deposit and it became official. I start grad school in January!

After I’d accepted a place in the program I was sent the synopsis of the January residency course and the spring semester classes. I read them over and immediately began ordering the books. I’m still missing a few but here’s the required reading so far. Yeah, it’s going to be a busy semester.

Just a little light reading...

Just a little light reading…

 

While I’m a little terrified to start a grad program in January because my job is incredibly challenging and time consuming and sometimes stressful, I’m also really excited. I’m confident this program will help develop my writing, expose me to poetry I may not have otherwise discovered, and introduce me to a wider network of poets and friends. So I’ve started working my way down the required reading list and I’m looking forward to starting the program. Back to school in January!