Faith, Hope, and Love

All my Aggies can rest assured. I won't be becoming a Longhorn anytime soon. That's the easy way of saying that I got my decision from UT-Austin concerning my MFA application . And it was a 'no.' I'm honestly not really surprised. For one, UT is ranked #3 in the nation and it's ranked #1 when it came to selectivity. Only like 1 percent of applicants get admitted each year. Also, I think the short story I think was my best didn't make it into UT's packet since I wasn't done with it by the deadline. BUT... I still kind of hoped. My heart's in Texas. Big time. And while I had fun that one year living in Chicago, and I sort of (but vaguely) had fun that one year living in Missouri (mentioning the actual city is pointless; it was so small), and I think it'd be cool to live in other parts of the country for a while... Texas is my home. I really wanted to stay at home. Plus, I have the cutest  nephew who I hate the idea of being too far away...

... I quit the YMCA. ...  I did not take that job . It just wasn't the right fit for me. ... I did not successful complete NaNoWriMo . I didn't even get a quarter way through. (Although, personally, I am fine with it because I DID complete three short stories, which I can now use for my MFA applications.) ... and speaking of MFA applications, UT-Austin, Ohio State, Brown, Cornell and Wash-U officially have my complete application. Five down and seven to go (I've decided to apply to all 12 on my original list ). Now that the writing samples are all done and in great shape, I might go ahead and submit them all before the end of the week. Although, that is a little contingent on if my bank account can handle it.

So, last night I had a mini panic attack. I was in the process of going through my checklist for UT-Austin and Ohio State University--you know, dotting my i's and crossing my t's--and checking to see if the application materials had to be  received by December 15, or just postmarked (I was kind of hoping that maybe if I had one more day, I could include the new version of "Ruined," too). UT stressed that it must be received by, and OSU said postmarked. Except, then I noticed that on their website, OSU had the deadline listed as December 1. My heart stopped. I was pretty positive that I saw December 15 on their website when I was first creating my list of schools, where had this December 1 date come from? I was 13 days late! I didn't know if I should cry, scream, rip out my hair, put on ashes and sackcloth... . I had spent like $40 dollars requesting transcripts, $23 on a GRE score, pestered my recommenders to 'get on it!' AND just 4 days ago, on Decemb...

Today is December 13th. On December 15th, in two days, five of my 12 MFA applications are due. Three, thankfully, are entirely submittable online. I just have to hit "enter" before 11:59pm Wednesday night. The other two, I actually have submitted applications for already. But they require me to mail in my writing samples. To some degree, this upsets me. It means I can't work until the last minute tweaking sentences, replacing verbs, etc. I actually have to get to the post office tomorrow, with two packets of writing I'm proud enough to let represent me. Tomorrow. So far, I'm sufficiently happy with one story. It's a re-write of a story called "Laundry Day." It started out as a short vignette (which you can read here ) and now has grown to be a 7-page story about a girl and her sisters preparing for the big move to Nigeria. It's the only one that I feel is in a good enough place to stop and say, "you can be submitted." I've als...

Should I take it that God is seriously smiling down on me and showing immense favor? Because I just got offered a job... following a pretty catastrophic interview experience. Okay... maybe not entirely catastrophic, but it started out pretty roughly. And I was pretty certain that any chance I had at getting this job was shot to hell. And yet, I got an offer. However, now I'm unsure about accepting  the offer. Does that make me ungrateful? Does that make me foolish since even getting the offer seemed like such a long shot? Why is being an adult full of so many hard decisions? I'm also a little bit unsure about doing my MFA. I have about a month to two months (depending on the schools) to get everything together for my applications. And I feel so... unprepared. That's a lot of money to invest if I'm not going to be able to put out my best. But then again, maybe God will work His wonders and I'll get acceptance letters anyway. Even when I probably shouldn...

It's official. I signed up for the National Novel Writing Month (a.k.a. NaNoWriMo ). This means I have 30 days to write 50,000 words or more, successfully completing a novel. I have no outline. No characters. No ideas. Okay... some ideas. But nothing really developed. I kind of decided to do this on a whim. I've had a few friends take up the challenge in previous year, and have been tempted to join, but always had some excuse as to why I couldn't do it. Well, I was seeing a lot of promo for it and then a friend of mine said she was doing it and asked me to add her as a writing buddy. And that's when I took the plunge. I've found a few tools to help me, too: Google's Writing Nook  and Scrivener .  And maybe along the way, I'll figure out what I'm sending as my writing sample(s) for my MFA applications! Wish me luck for next month! (And feel free to keep me accountable.)

I've started on my applications!!! Yay!  Although, not so much on working on any of the bucket-load of writing I need to do. Especially since my list of schools has grown from twelve to twenty! No intention of applying to them all, but it does make this process a little bit harder as I try to make decisions, etc. Right now, my biggest struggle is the personal statement. Each school has different lengths... and ultimately I need to answer the questions, why do I write and who do I want to be as a writer.  And that boils down to Anne of Green Gables and Chimamanda Adichie. Now to somehow articulate it in 350-800 words.  Anyway, I also started my online class, A to Z Grant Writing, and so far... so good. It's been pretty basic information, but I can already tell that by the end of the six weeks I would have learned so much. Hopefully it'll land me a real job, too. 

So, I had the morning off with full plans to be extremely productive. And have I been? ... not so much. First of all, I woke up with a bad stomachache, so I just laid around in bed for a while. I got a call in to work, and was a little grateful I had a legitimate reason not to come in.  I did however, choose not to go back to sleep and I guess I haven't been completely unproductive. I officially enrolled in an online class with Brookhaven College. A to Z Grant Writing. Hopefully this class will give me an edge on applying to grant writing positions with non-profits. I think I'd enjoy working in that environment--it'd be meaningful and rewarding. Not sure if I want to do it full-time, but I have noticed that a lot of places look for contract/freelance grant writers, who I guess they hire as needed. I also think I could use my grant writing skills not just for money, but for charity. I have a few friends who are running or trying to start non-profits, and I wouldn't m...

I've finally gotten through the list of the Top 50 MFA programs in the U.S. I was discussing my pursuit with a friend and wondering if I being foolish to go for the top  programs only. After all, those are a lot more competitive, and therefore my chances of acceptance are lower. And unlike when I applied for graduate school, I only plan to do this once. If I don't get in this year... I won't be applying again. Or at least not any time soon. We both came to the consensus that if I'm not good enough to get into any of the top programs, maybe I shouldn't be going for my MFA in the first place. I want the best training I can get, so why not go for the best? From the 50, I've narrowed down my choices based on location, program offerings, and the provision of full funding (I already owe a hefty sum from my undergraduate and graduate degree... no more loans for me!). All of the deadlines are between December 1st to January 15th, some require the GRE, and all require...