Back to School

I loved school. I loved being a student. I loved the learning process and meeting fascinating people and being introduced to unexpectedly exciting subject material and accessing to library databases and having an excuse to stay up late, eat junk food and not brush my hair for days on end.

But  the thing I love most about school? Graduating--knowing that I never have to go back again. So to all of you who are still trudging along through too expensive textbooks or being forced into class by state mandates, I wish you luck and hope you find joy in the learning process.

As for me, I will happily attend classes only on subject matter I'm interested in and learn about fascinating subject matter from people I randomly meet on the street. Call me a non-traditional student, but I don't have any plans on going back into a formal classroom setting.

Only there's this catch. I gave myself ten years. If in that ten years I can't find publishing success, I will admit to myself that I don't know enough. That I need more than what book and SCBWI conferences and highly intelligent friends and tweets can possibly give me. At that point I will start looking at attending an MFA program and getting an advanced degree in creative writing.

So while everyone else is going back to school or sending loved ones back to school, I'm seeing if what I already know and the natural talent I have is enough to get me published. But in eight more years, I might be joining you all back in the halls of higher education.