I was sitting at a Subway sandwich shop prior to class and saw their hand-written sign: “We do not except $50 bills.” I let the worker know that the sign had a typo and that it should say, accept. He gave me a blank stare, then asked me what type of sandwich I wanted. The
In celebration of Black History Month, Natashia Déon is the featured artist for the latest installment of Write to Read. But what exactly is Write to Read? How did one graduate student create a reading series that attracts not only his peers, but members of the Southern California community? It was the middle of Matt
When I first visited Chapman University at the ripe age of sixteen, I have to admit that the number one thing that attracted me to the school was its proximity to Disneyland. As a kid from Oregon who frequently made PowerPoints (complete with airfare options, hotel prices, rental car coupons, and MapQuest directions) to convince
It’s my first semester in the MFA in Creative Writing program at Chapman University, and all I can think about is: I don’t have a backpack. Let’s just say, it’s been a very, very long time since I was in school, and suddenly, I’m obsessing over the fact that I did not go back-to-school shopping.
Don’t be Afraid to Talk As an MFA in Creative Writing student, the thing I grapple with the most when it comes to my writing is sharing my ideas with other people, whether it’s friends, family, or strangers on the internet. I never know whether I’ve talked too much or scared them off, if I’m
Balance for self-preservation Life can sometimes feel like a series of adverse events occurring in rapid succession. The MFA in Creative Writing itself is not the hard part. After all, I am at Chapman University because I want to be here and because I am capable of doing the work and want to do it
Question Your Motives I’m in the habit of constantly questioning my motives for almost every task these days, probably because I have teenagers who are always questioning me. I have to prepare a good answer for everything. Since beginning the MFA in Creative Writing program, I find myself checking in every few days, asking why
Fear and Loathing in an MFA Before I started the MFA in Creative Writing program at Chapman University, my understanding of an MFA student wasn’t accurate. I imagined stereotypical nerds dropping words like preposterous, obfuscation, pellucidity, and sesquipedalian into day-to-day conversations to prove a point about their fancy craft, whatever that meant. Honestly, I knew
How to MFA and Work Full-Time by Geneva Trelease Working full-time and being an MFA in Creative Writing student is challenging, but it can be done! I’m the proof. I’m a full-time high school teacher and a part-time MFA student at Chapman University. Here, I’ve assembled some tips on how to keep your sanity
The MFA & Time Management by Larissa Lacy During my first semester as a graduate student at Chapman University, I had trouble with time management. More specifically, one of the biggest problems I faced was putting my school work on the back burner to spend time with friends or my significant other. At the beginning