MFA: Master's of Fiiiiine Arts

It occurred to me as I was writing a friend about my recent decision to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing (that's right, folks!), that I haven't announced it here, on this reader-less forum! Well, there it is, actually - I just did.

The facts are simple.

1. I've been writing fiction for as long as I can remember. Ten-year-old me's sequel to Jurassic Park (written before that hack Michael Crichton wrote his version) received stellar reviews from Mrs. Douglas. And she hated the author, so you know it meant something.
2. Still, to this date, despite my magazine internship, my forays into internet citizen journalism and blogging, and my two month gin-soaked retreat to San Luis Obispo, I feel I have not given the pursuit of my art an honest attempt. Two to four years of free tuition and just barely enough money to live on while focusing almost exclusively on my writing (and not being able to afford gin) would change that. If, after that, I fail, then I can say I tried.
3. Maybe I suck at the whole white-collar office gig. Maybe I'm okay with that. Lord knows I don't enjoy it, so why should I pursue it? Just because that's what my middle-class upbringing had in mind for me? Yes, it sounds a little bit like middle-school-punk-rock me is returning to the surface, but maybe that's a good thing. I got lost in this whole 'grown-up' scene for a while. The difference is that now my parents can be counted amongst the good guys.
4. What better time than now? No kids, no car I couldn't part with for food money, and no limitations on where I could live to fulfill this dream. Except Arizona. And Nevada. I'm so done with these desert environs. Give me rain, lord, give me rain!

So that's that. There are tons of details, sure, but that's the gist. For the really curious, the list of programs to which I'll likely apply currently includes (in no particular order):

• University of Iowa in Iowa City
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• University of Virginia, Charlottesville
• University of Texas, Austin
• Brown University in Providence
• New York University in New York City
• Cornell University in Ithaca, New York
• Syracuse University
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
• University of Houston in Texas
• University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
• Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
• Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond
• American University, DC
• Washington University, St. Louis