“Basically we want to know what you want to do with the MFA and what kinds of influences you have had and how we can be of help to you (and how you can be of help to the program in general.”

To whom it may concern:

I am applying to your graduate program in Creative Writing for admittance beginning Fall 2019. I have just completed a Bachelors of Arts with an emphasis in creative writing from The Evergreen State College and focused my last two years on creative nonfiction.

        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 maintained 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 Lidia Yuknavitch, Augusten Burroughs, Miranda Mellis, and Mary Karr, I decided to put pen to paper. I transitioned from reader to writer, and back again. Authors became my teachers, and I worked daily on a story, wanting to make the authors that I fell in love with proud.

        I want to give that same feeling to a young, scared kid who had too much alone time. Someone that needs a little guidance, and a lot of freedom: I want my words to be a home. This led me to pouring all my creative energy into writing about my upbringing during undergrad. During my time at Evergreen, I crafted a personal essay about my dads eating and drug habits, how I have watched his health first slowly, and now rapidly decline, and how that has affected my own eating and drug habits. Now I’m wanting to continue to pour my energy into graduate school,  pursuing heightened skills in creative nonfiction, focusing on experimenting with syntax and style, how to appeal best to an audience, and getting involved in the publishing process.

        While in undergrad, I tutored on campus at the Writing Center for two years, and worked closely with a a freshman only class, facilitating their writing workshops and helping students with assigned writing projects. Helping students with their writing every week, watching their syntax and prose transform over the months inspired me to try their techniques with my own writing, while slowly falling in love with teaching. Working with these students, as they struggled with tough passages, received feedback from me and their peers, and witnessing them end with a piece of writing they can be proud of, made me realize that I want to teach. Having the opportunity to work with students on their writing is life changing, and I want to give to students what they give to me: a challenge, hope, devotion, and a home. Becoming a teaching assistant would further support my pursuit of working with minds to mold a beautiful piece of writing, while inspiring continued work on my own writing.

        I’m interested in Northern Arizona University’s creative writing program because it focuses on creative nonfiction, is in a beautiful location that will transform writing, with award winning faculty such as Erin Stalcup and Lawrence Lenhart who can challenge me to continue to write about my past, and for the teaching assistantship opportunities.