Back to college

In case you were wondering where I've been/ why there have been no posts for two weeks, I've gone back to Vermont College of Fine Arts to work on my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and was in Vermont at the two week residency there.  This is a low residency course where we attend lectures from 8:30 in the morning to dinnertime and Readings in the evenings.  Then go home to write, write, write for 5 months.

Now, you're probably thinking, Hey. She's retired.  She's a published writer.  Why the heck is she going back to college to learn how to write?

Well, like most of the people taking this course, I want to learn to write better.  At least half of the third semester class -- my current classmates -- are already published, including one of my favorite writers, Lisa Papademetriou.  Look her up on Facebook (link here = Lisa Papademetriou) or her website.  

So, how was my college adventure?
It was a wonderful two week residency. (all the rest of the course is done at home with me in email contact with my Advisor and responsible for turning in 5 packets of work.  The first packet?  A draft of my Critical Thesis.  (yikes!)

Well, the weather wasn't the usual balmy Vermont weather.  It was cold the first week and I found myself wearing practically everything I brought to keep warm in the evenings. (I now live in Southern California.)  Then the weather flip-flopped and it became close to 90 degrees with hazy, hot, and humidity.  Ack!  The same weather we used to have when we lived in the Baltimore, Maryland area.  Hot and sticky.  Yuck.

I stayed in Martin House with a great group of third semester students and was able to participate when they revealed their class name -- Allies in Wonderland -- where we all dressed up representing different children's books.  I was Professor Minerva McGonagall, complete with a feather in my witch's hat.  (wearing my daughter's college graduation gown plus that wonderful Professor McGonagall hat)

One of the lectures so inspired my friend Jean Gralley that she skipped lunch and spent the afternoon in her room above mine, writing, writing, writing.

Being a third semester student (there are four semesters to this course), I spent a lot of time in the thesis room, reading and deciding what to request the administration to send to me to print out at home.

Now I'm home and busy doing research and playing around with the molding of my thesis.  More about that later.