Here is the letter of intent for another program I am waiting to hear from.
This program is at the University of Central Florida (UCF).
It happens to exist very near my closest friend, Lisa.
Other than that, it's a great program so I once again doubt I'll hear good news.
But I'll let you know.
I've been chatting with other MFA hopefuls and am shocked. Some of these students have been applying for 3 or 4 years to the same programs. They apply to sometimes 15 different universities. With an average application fee of 50 dollars and the amount of money it takes to send GRE scores (24 dollars a pop) these guys are spending loads of money! I feel like I am a 12 year old in a class with seniors. They report to a website whenever they receive notice (rejection, wait-list, acceptance) or to ask questions, to gloat, to feel warmth from others in similar situations, to discuss programs, etc. ALL VERY interesting.
Anyway, here is my MFA statement:
Statement: Background and Goals
I completed a BFA program in acting/directing in 1991. For many years, I worked as an actor and helped run a small theatre company. While working in theatre, I wrote and produced three plays. More recently, I worked in Japan, France, and the Czech Republic teaching English and English composition at high schools. I discovered a love of teaching, and began to see how writing helped students to focus and improve. While living abroad, especially in the Czech Republic, I discovered and explored the culture and lifestyle The Czech Republic has a rich abundance of fairy tales and legends and a proclivity toward songs and storytelling. While living there I gathered as many stories as I could find. Whether the rich abundance of Czech fairy tales and legends,
18 months ago, I left the Czech Republic to return to the United States and care for my father who had advanced Alzheimer Disease. It began a transitional period for me. I relied on my writing to retain a connection to a creative source, and felt that my skill improved. Writing became more than a pastime, a hobby (albeit a dedicated one). After the death of my father, I was left with a legacy of short stories I had written during his care. Many of them reflect my father and his experience. Without the release writing brought to me during his illness, I may not have been able to succeed in caring for him and keep my mind healthy and free from despair. One of my goals is to write work worthy of him, his life, and the life of human beings in general. We deserve to be explored, examined, and immortalized in the written word.
I have worked as an actor, teacher, bookseller, hamburger flipper; but I have always been a writer. Throughout the magic of youth, the tumultuous transition years, and the responsibilities of adulthood, writing supported me. It has enabled me to understand myself better, gain confidence, dream, explore, and create. I believe that through writing, people (especially young people) can develop confidence, change positively, gain support through difficult times, hone argumentative skills, and improve vocabulary. I recognize what writing has done for me. My wish is to introduce others to the anodyne writing can bring. A second goal of mine is to teach creative writing as a tool for empowerment and use it to bolster self-esteem for young people.
In the past year, I have completed 10 online courses in English. Since then, I have read The Bascombe Novels by Richard Ford, Against All Things Ending by Stephen R. Donaldson, Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik, and The Best American Short Stories 2011. William Faulkner’s work and his exploration of stream of conscious have influenced me, recently. Another of my goals is to construct a form of writing that would depict the mind and experience of a patient with Alzheimer Disease.
I chose UCF for several reasons: I discovered positive feedback in several places including the Huffington Post; UCF employs professors like Peter Telep whose literary work spans the genres and employment possibilities of writing; and UCF offers its creative writing students many opportunities to explore writing in “real life” ways. This leads me to my final goal, to gain the experience, expertise, and professionalism that I believe UCF can offer.
Kevin Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment