Episode 1

I think I am a little rusty at sitting at a desk and taking notes. It's been three years since I last set foot in an English class, but hopefully, I will have reason to again soon.

I earned my bachelor's in June 2004, and when several of my friends received graduate degrees in recent months, it rekindled my desire to study creative writing and begin my post-baccalaureate education. There are two reasons why I want to go back, and two more why I want to go back now. Unlike my bachelor's degree, the creative writing master's will be a matter of writing and improving my craft. Instead of having to read and digest hundreds of pages of literature and regurgitate them in term papers, I'll have room to write things that are actually rewarding. That's the first reason I want to pursue my secondary degree; the second is because it will open more job possibilities in future years.

As far as timing, I feel like I need to seize the moment because we don't have children yet. I am also starting to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life (besides living in a van down by the river). I need to be able to go beyond newspapers in order to provide well for my family without having to spend fifty hours a week in the office. A master's degree is great for teaching, and it is also the requisite stepping stone on the way to a Ph.D. I'm not sure yet whether I want to go that far, but there is a distinct possibility that I would, depending on how my master's goes.

At this point, I only have a rough list of schools to which I will apply this winter. If I am accepted, I would begin classes beginning in fall 2008. It seems so soon, but I am ready.

My journey back to school will be chronicled here. Please share it with me.