Priceless Defined
I still get asked occasionally why I went to graduate school. After all, I'm working at the same job for the same company. I didn't get a raise or a promotion or a new job. I guess to most people, the two years I spent getting a Masters in Liberal Arts (affectionately called an MLA) at St. Edward's University were for nothing. "So, what you're saying, Stacee, is that you got a $53k diploma to hang on your wall?" Sure, that's what I'm saying, if that's what you want to believe.
Many people think that everything undertaken has to have financial purpose or at least boost one's standing in the world. My degree does neither. I knew it wouldn't. It was far from the point when I started. Interestingly, I went to St. Eds to get back into academia after more than twenty years away. I had my sights set on an advanced degree in divinity (specifically an MDiv from Harvard University) and I was going to need a few academically oriented recommendations. The MLA at St. Eds was merely a means to an end. I figured I'd cruise through a couple years, get a few As, and find a professor or two willing to say nice things about me. I'd apply at Harvard and maybe Yale, pray for acceptance, and be on my way to a chaplaincy on down the road.
Then I became an atheist. Yes, I went to a Catholic university to study religion and ended up atheist. And it only took two semesters. I don't blame St. Edward's or Dr. Sarah Henseler (my professor for Psychology of Religion and Psychology of Atheism). Nor do I blame Dr. Ramsey Fowler and "The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality" that we had to read in my first year survey class. Needless to say, my dream of attending the Harvard Divinity School quickly disappeared.
I was left seemingly purposeless. And I still had four semesters to go before I got my degree. I didn't flounder long. Actually, I didn't flounder at all. The same semester that I became an atheist and abandoned the study of religion, I took a creative writing class and became a writer. So I'd always been a writer, just not one who wrote fiction. By the time, I graduated from St. Eds in December 2014, I had written a collection of short stories (eleven stories in all) and a 40,000 word novella. Boom.
I may never make any money writing - thus far I've only earned $150 - and my degree lacks the clout in the writing community of a Masters of Fine Art (MFA). I know these things and I know them well. Regardless, I wouldn't trade my experience at St. Edwards for anything. It may have cost $53,000 (or $71,000+ by the time I pay off my loans shortly after my death), but in reality my time there was priceless.
If not for St. Edwards University, I wouldn't have started much less finished a novel. I didn't write it to make money. I wrote it because it threatened to burn a hole in my soul if I didn't (that and the characters wouldn't shut up). I often take my accomplishment for granted. I wrote a novel - a really long novel. So, what? It's not even published.
Here's what. Many people talk about writing a novel. Some even start, but most never finish. I did. Because of that really-expensive-good-for-nothing-diploma hanging on my wall (It's only hanging in the figurative sense because I don't have the money to get it framed).
Let me ask this - What does it take to finish a novel? Hell, what does it take to accomplish anything? Like a graduate degree, for example? Dedication, perseverance, humility, sacrifice. I'm not saying that everyone who comes through the MLA program learns these things, but I told myself when I started that I was going to get my money's worth. I worked my ass off for two years and I did.
What else did I learn at St. Eds? Oh, the usual tangible academic stuff, like how to research, observe the world, and to think critically and analytically. All of which consistently inform and improve my writing. Back at St. Eds, we had the freedom to design our own classes, called a Directed Study. We had to find our own reading materials and figure out how we wanted to be evaluated. We also had to convince a professor to hop on-board, but that was usually the easiest part. Fast forward to Now. I plan to write a historical fiction piece (a couple actually) so I've created a 'directed study' of lesbian history. I'm reading historical texts and lesbian literature (Yes, I'm reading). I've already written a short story based on my research so far. My 'final paper' will be a historical novel.
So, was my money well spent? If I'd never gone to St. Edwards or if I'd chosen an MFA instead, I wouldn't be where I am as a novelist (Let's be honest. I probably wouldn't be a novelist at all). Someday maybe my little stories will make money. But even if they don't, I'll never stop working, never stop creating, never stop writing.
I found myself at St. Eds. If that isn't a true definition of "PRICELESS", I don't know what is.
~
Looking for a post-undergrad challenge? Check out the MLA at St. Edward's University. You never know who you'll find.
Many people think that everything undertaken has to have financial purpose or at least boost one's standing in the world. My degree does neither. I knew it wouldn't. It was far from the point when I started. Interestingly, I went to St. Eds to get back into academia after more than twenty years away. I had my sights set on an advanced degree in divinity (specifically an MDiv from Harvard University) and I was going to need a few academically oriented recommendations. The MLA at St. Eds was merely a means to an end. I figured I'd cruise through a couple years, get a few As, and find a professor or two willing to say nice things about me. I'd apply at Harvard and maybe Yale, pray for acceptance, and be on my way to a chaplaincy on down the road.
Then I became an atheist. Yes, I went to a Catholic university to study religion and ended up atheist. And it only took two semesters. I don't blame St. Edward's or Dr. Sarah Henseler (my professor for Psychology of Religion and Psychology of Atheism). Nor do I blame Dr. Ramsey Fowler and "The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality" that we had to read in my first year survey class. Needless to say, my dream of attending the Harvard Divinity School quickly disappeared.
I was left seemingly purposeless. And I still had four semesters to go before I got my degree. I didn't flounder long. Actually, I didn't flounder at all. The same semester that I became an atheist and abandoned the study of religion, I took a creative writing class and became a writer. So I'd always been a writer, just not one who wrote fiction. By the time, I graduated from St. Eds in December 2014, I had written a collection of short stories (eleven stories in all) and a 40,000 word novella. Boom.
I may never make any money writing - thus far I've only earned $150 - and my degree lacks the clout in the writing community of a Masters of Fine Art (MFA). I know these things and I know them well. Regardless, I wouldn't trade my experience at St. Edwards for anything. It may have cost $53,000 (or $71,000+ by the time I pay off my loans shortly after my death), but in reality my time there was priceless.
If not for St. Edwards University, I wouldn't have started much less finished a novel. I didn't write it to make money. I wrote it because it threatened to burn a hole in my soul if I didn't (that and the characters wouldn't shut up). I often take my accomplishment for granted. I wrote a novel - a really long novel. So, what? It's not even published.
Here's what. Many people talk about writing a novel. Some even start, but most never finish. I did. Because of that really-expensive-good-for-nothing-diploma hanging on my wall (It's only hanging in the figurative sense because I don't have the money to get it framed).
Let me ask this - What does it take to finish a novel? Hell, what does it take to accomplish anything? Like a graduate degree, for example? Dedication, perseverance, humility, sacrifice. I'm not saying that everyone who comes through the MLA program learns these things, but I told myself when I started that I was going to get my money's worth. I worked my ass off for two years and I did.
What else did I learn at St. Eds? Oh, the usual tangible academic stuff, like how to research, observe the world, and to think critically and analytically. All of which consistently inform and improve my writing. Back at St. Eds, we had the freedom to design our own classes, called a Directed Study. We had to find our own reading materials and figure out how we wanted to be evaluated. We also had to convince a professor to hop on-board, but that was usually the easiest part. Fast forward to Now. I plan to write a historical fiction piece (a couple actually) so I've created a 'directed study' of lesbian history. I'm reading historical texts and lesbian literature (Yes, I'm reading). I've already written a short story based on my research so far. My 'final paper' will be a historical novel.
So, was my money well spent? If I'd never gone to St. Edwards or if I'd chosen an MFA instead, I wouldn't be where I am as a novelist (Let's be honest. I probably wouldn't be a novelist at all). Someday maybe my little stories will make money. But even if they don't, I'll never stop working, never stop creating, never stop writing.
I found myself at St. Eds. If that isn't a true definition of "PRICELESS", I don't know what is.
~
Looking for a post-undergrad challenge? Check out the MLA at St. Edward's University. You never know who you'll find.
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