I recently came to the conclusion that I need to go back to school. Being a man of nearly 50 years in a place where scholars half my age are considered old, this is an odd choice. Still it’s one of some importance. I need an MFA. Terminal degrees are the blue security badge of the academic world. Without one you’re not really getting in the building. You’re certainly unlikely to be asked to stay.
I am transitioning from being a full time teacher and dad to watching my last move on in a few years (which will trigger the ones who’ve stayed to have to go). That change unshackles the Family Talis from this desert hellscape. However, all is not terrible here. For one I have a job and they accept my Masters as valid and my teaching acumen as pretty darn good. Whether or not I can prove that I’m “good in class” to another institution is immaterial if I cannot pass the qualifications needed for my application to be taken seriously.
So, mfa it is. While there are a number of possible suitors in this regard they all want a letter, penned by yours truly, to cover my reasons for wanting to continue my education. No, I need that paper is not enough. So, I am searching for a way to say what it is I want from this final leg of formal education. I want to be able to share what I expect to gain and need to learn through their program. It needs to feel genuine while at once being persuasive. That of course means having an answer to that question that doesn’t rely on the need to have an MFA.
I don’t know that I have that answer. I have threads of one. I have the somber reality of the writing world and the concept of identity which argues that I, being known as a sci fi guy, will always be known as a sci fi guy but I want more. It isn’t much… it is a start.