Goddard G1 and G2 Residency

I recently completed my second residency in the Goddard College MFA Creative Writing program. The first residency was a bit of a disaster for me personally. I was overwhelmed and spent most of the residency wondering if I even wanted to do this program anymore. Everyone talked me out of dropping out, and I’m glad I stayed around because the second residency was somewhat easier.

Experience is Key

Over the course of my G1, many of my difficulties were simply the fact that the worlds of English and Political Science are quite unfamiliar (despite both being humanities) and I just didn’t know what I was doing. The reality is that I hadn’t been in any sort of formal education since 2011, so it’s been a solid 10 years out of school for me. It is no easy thing to go back to school in your 30s. There are people in the program older than me! I don’t know how they manage it.

There was much less to do in my second residency. I did not have the tedium of orientation and learning new systems. I arrived with much of the information I needed already in good order. There were required classes I had already taken, and so I was able to only go to the things that really mattered to me. I was fairly burnt out when I arrived at this residency. I was busy over the summer and needed to rest anyway. My energies were not prepared. There was much napping involved. I only had about 2 months from the end of my G1 to the beginning of my G2. Goddard acquired a new President and had a temporary faculty union crisis. It was a busy time.

Getting into my second semester has been much better. I am more confident this time around. I know what is coming. However, some things from graduate school round one have not changed at all. I’m behind on washing dishes; I eat out far too much, and housekeeping is an ongoing project. In between papers, reading, and new material on top of writing professionally and running my business, the vicissitudes of life just fall by the wayside. At least this time, my home is not being inundated by a gaggle of friends and constant partying. It’s quieter and more reflective.

Working with others

One of the best parts of Goddard is the student community. There is not as much support from faculty and administration as I have been used to in the past. It is your fellow students that one must rely upon. This semester was a different experience because I’m not as involved with my fellow students as much as I was in my G1. I decided to leave the student discord server and while I enjoyed my study group for several weeks, I decided to depart from that as well after some uncomfortable remarks were made. I am now on my own. Likewise, I miss much of the interaction and the camaraderie of it all, but I do look forward to the possibility of an in-person residency next February. The student community is still the best part of Goddard.

Because of COVID-19, I have yet to experience and in-person residency, and I hope I have the chance to do so before my time in the program is out. Hours of Zoom meetings is still informative but, for me, it still does not match the magic of the in-person interaction and all the fun times that graduates of the program have talked about.

Critical Work and Creative Pages

I am still on the struggle bus when it comes to critical work. It is my weakness and not really a way I process information, although I am slowly getting better at it. Creative pages continue apace. The Sweetgrass Saga is turning into the Southern epic that I planned in my head when I thought of the idea first last summer in Franklin, Tennessee. I honestly did not think that there was much more for me to learn about writing. I’ve read quite a bit about writing, and I’ve been to conferences. I’ve talked with agents and gotten feedback on pages. I will say that getting the volume of feedback I get on my pages is the most valuable part of the program for me. I wouldn’t say that I’ve learned new information about writing, but I am getting better at using the tools of writing. I can choose which tool to deploy when. Rather than plowing forward and hoping that something works, I have a new confidence because I know why it works. It is the difference between growing up working on cars and having a sense for it and actually learning how to be a mechanic. My expertise level and my skill level are both increasing. It’s no longer a random set of things that happens to work; it works for a reason.

Dropping Out

I am still back and forth about the program. I am still thinking about if an MFA is really the right decision. I am thinking long-term to the possibilities of life after the MFA, but I am also mindful of the present realities of things. I am here for now. I am already arranging things for my G3. It looks like I will complete the program. At the end of this semester, I will be at the halfway point. That’s a big milestone. It seems foolish to give up at this point. There is a new world out there for me and if I want to stay in this world of writing, this is an important piece. I will endure it. I can’t say that I’m enjoying it. I can’t say that I am happiest when working on it. Oftentimes, it takes a great deal of motivation to get up the energy to bother with assignments for the program. It is much more of a burden than a delight, but it is a burden I am willing to bear for my future.

If you are looking for MFA programs, there are several great resources at Poets and Writers and Writer’s Digest, and I suggest you take advantage of them and select the right program for you. Ask many questions and get a good feel for what the requirements are and make sure that you’re in the right program for your needs. You’ll thank me later.