Your concise statement of purpose should include a brief intellectual autobiography describing:

• The formation of your academic or artistic interests and present concerns
• Your reasons for wanting to study at Mills College
• The special areas of interest upon which your study would focus
• Your tentative plans for the use of your degree

I am applying for Mills College’ creative writing graduate program starting in Fall 2019. I am graduating from the Evergreen State College with Bachelors of Arts with an emphasis in creative writing. I focused my last two years on creative nonfiction, while receiving support from various genres.

The Evergreen State College helped shape me into an independent learner. There are no grades: instead faculty write a written evaluation of the students’ success, growth, and contribution to class. The student is then awarded credit based on the work they’ve done.  At Evergreen, I was introduced to the concept of seminar and interdisciplinary learning. Seminars taught me how important collaboration is to my learning style. We examined various novels, memoirs, short stories, and essays and discussed it through an interdisciplinary approach, allowing me to see things through others’ perspective and take away a more holistic view.

I enrolled in programs that focused on creative writing with at least one other academic component. These components have included philosophy, psychology, globalization, social justice, Russian literature, and composition and rhetoric. Looking at creative writing through multiple lenses has made my writing more dimensional and able to appeal to more audiences. I’m now an active reader who analyzes books from an interdisciplinary perspective: one who questions media and news reports, books, and my education from multiple points of view.

I am now prepared to further my studies at Mills College. Mills’ creative writing program is the right program for me because I am a creative nonfiction writer who wants to become a memoirist, I have the option to gain professional experience, the different concentrations and elective course that I can use to further my need for interdisciplinary learning, and the graduate assistantships.

Since I started reading, I’ve had a passion for the written word. As a child, books were my main form of escape. I went to the library every Sunday with my mother and would pick out a book for each day of the week–a tradition I carried throughout high school. Characters became my best friends, and authors were their parents. I wanted them to like me; I wanted to be like them; I wanted to be them. Inspired by the words of creative nonfiction authors such as Lidia Yuknavitch, Augusten Burroughs, Melissa Broder, and Mary Karr, I decided to put pen to paper to find my voice. I transitioned from reader to writer, and back again. Authors became my teachers, and I wrote daily, wanting to make the authors that I fell in love with proud.

        I want to give that same feeling to a young kid in need of refuge. Someone that needs a little guidance, someone who can use my words to make a home. This led to me pouring my creative energy into writing about my upbringing while enrolled at Evergreen. Working closely with Sandy Yannone, the director of  Evergreen’s Writing Center where I tutored for two years, I began the process of writing a memoir, struggling through over twenty years of witnessing addictions, relationships, and money destroy a family. One of my biggest takeaways from this process is realizing that my words are important: I have the potential to tell a story that changes lives. My intention for graduate school is to focus on telling a story that alters my life, as well as influences others.

I’m interested in collaborative learning while still creating my own education pathway. I love receiving feedback from my peers, and while in undergrad, I started a writing critique group. I want to continue to collaborate across disciplines, and make writing accessible to all.

For the past two years I have worked as a tutor at Evergreen’s Writing Center. I was lucky enough to help others with their writing. Helping them find their voice and feel comfortable with their words, made me realize how much I love working with people on their craft. Not only did it influence my own writing, I felt proud, and humbled to be working with such amazing writers. Tutoring helped me realize that I want to teach, so I can be of service to others, as well as myself.