Jessi Cole Jackson

I don’t know how to start this announcement, but I want to tell you still:

I got into grad school.

I’m going to grad school.

As long as I can figure out the funds (and I think that I can), I start this summer. June 22.

So…okay. I’ve wanted to attend grad school for a long time. I first tried back as an undergrad to get into a costuming MFA program, but I was too much of a baby and they didn’t want me (which was very good). Over the years, I’ve toyed with the idea again. I even applied (and was accepted!) to a couple of programs, but when it came time to make the final decision, I didn’t do it. I wasn’t ready to invest the time or the money into studying what I was sort of already doing. Not that I don’t have A LOT to learn, or that an MFA in costuming wouldn’t be useful, but… I don’t know. It never felt right.

Recently, I started looking into MFA programs in writing. I had mixed feelings. While I think craft can be taught (and I have a lot to learn!), I don’t think you need an MFA to write. You can just write. The books or stories or poems you’re writing will teach you new things every time you attempt them. Some (most!) of my favorite authors don’t have big, fancy degrees.

And yet.

I still wanted to do it. And not just any writing program, but writing for children.

Oh, and also, I didn’t want to give up costuming.

So. MFA program. Writing for children. Low Residency. There are actually multiple programs that fit this very narrow bill.

But I wanted one more thing. I wanted the chance, down the road, in the program, to study literature. To delve deep in a scholarly, academic way, into words and themes. To extract meaning. And all of the programs do this to some extent. But one did it better than the others. So I applied to that one.

And Monday evening I received THE letter: Hollins University has accepted me to their MFA in children’s literature program. So far, on paper, it’s a perfect fit. It’s an MFA program, so I’ll be focused on writing. It meets for 6 weeks in the summer, when I’m off anyway. And best of all, there’s an MA track. So if I want to take those meaty literature courses, I’ll be able to. Or maybe, I’ll have to. I haven’t gotten that far yet.

So. There you have it.

I’m going to grad school.

Also: here’s a picture of a cat. You’re welcome.