Lauren Reed
Creative Writing (M.F.A.)
I attended college at a small liberal arts school in Virginia, Longwood University; I applied to graduate school for poetry after the long internal debate of, “what in the world would I do with a degree in poetry?!” I stayed “safe” with my school choices, applying to a bunch of Virginia universities and when I searched outlying states, I felt at WVU had the only program worth looking in to, and sent my application on a whim. After reading about the poets working here, however, I was easily swayed to put WVU at the top of my list.
Even though it’s seven hours from my family it definitely feels like ‘home’ now, and I couldn’t imagine having stayed in state while WVU was up here offering a better education, AND the experience of teaching at the college level. While I had been concerned about the ‘what can a poetry degree do’ question before, now I have trouble imagining a job that I’d like, that I couldn’t apply for (with all of the experience and training I have received here). And even though I was used to a small university, the individual departments here are all close-knit and feel very accessible. There was absolutely nothing that would have made me say no; I’m so happy I didn’t.
Read GradBlog Articles by Lauren Reed >>>
