Thesis Woes Part I

So I’ve been in the MFA program at Hamline for approximately 100 years. Fellow students who started in the program with me have long since gone on to publish great works of fiction, teach at the Loft and elsewhere, and participate in brilliantly written radio shows. Me? I am just now getting around to my thesis.

I don’t think I’ve been doing this right. I partially blame my former advisor, who didn’t do much advising and generally didn’t seem to give a shit. “Sure, take poetry, why not?” he’d say, my file sitting unopened on his desk. “What was your name again?”

But mostly, it’s my own damn fault, as Jimmy Buffett would say. My path through this MFA program has been a bit erratic. I’ve taken semesters off because life got in the way. I’ve chosen classes that were a complete waste of time. And I didn’t find my focus until about half way through the program. That’s a lot of money wasted, and time, and energy.

But I don’t believe in regret. Except I kind of regret quoting Jimmy Buffett just now.

So ready or not, the thesis must be written. Eighty pages must be turned into Susan Power by September. Deep breath…here we go.