This is a Blog

THINGS I WOULD TELL MY YOUNGER SELF IF I HAD A TIME MACHINE:

1. Learn a sport now while you’re still eight and people are still bad at things.

2. Don’t wear that again. Ever.

3. Stop crying.

4. Seriously, stop.

5. I know you think you can dance, but you can’t.

6. Oh, and don’t sweat the small stuff. 

THIS IS Q&A TIME:

It’s question time again! Scroll up, hit “Ask”, and do some asking. 

THINGS I ALWAYS FORGET TO DO:

1. Grab some stamps while I’m already at the Post Office

2. Defrost the meat in advance

3. Update my blog

This is my Personal Statement

So I just got into grad school! I’m super excited.

Here’s part of my application for you to stalk:

Personal Statement

Kathleen B. Kent

 

 

I was devastated when someone told me that Mozart wrote his first symphony at age nine; devastated because I was ten and would never be able to beat him. My grief was compounded when I found out how complicated symphonies were. I locked myself in my bedroom and wrote a passionate declaration of my intent to find the skill that would best showcase the genius that I knew was inside of me (moral: my mother was too encouraging). I made a list of all the geniuses I could think of. It looked like this:

1. Mozart
2. Einstein

I scribbled through Mozart’s name until the paper tore and circled “Einstein” with my favorite gel pen (mint green; hard to find). I then proceeded to list all the things that I knew Einstein was genius at. It looked like this:

1. Math
2. Being the smartest person ever

The rest of my afternoon was spent making my mother set the kitchen timer over and over to see how fast I could do my math worksheets. I was sure I had found my avenue to greatness until I realized that most of my speedy answers were wrong (which meant I could cross both items off my list). I wrote in my diary that night that the world was over for me, for I was no genius.

            I have been seeking brilliance ever since and failed at almost everything I’ve attempted; especially pole vaulting (I’ll tell you when we meet). But throughout all my efforts I was writing; writing letters, writing emails, writing journal entries. And in my failures and disappointments I found my favorite stories to tell. Those were the stories that made people laugh, the ones they forwarded to their friends, and the ones they would ask me to repeat for someone else.  I’ve always loved to write and tell stories, but I didn’t realize how much a part of me writing was until I took my first upper-level English classes at Presbyterian College. A week into the semester I felt like a different person. I looked forward to going to class in the morning and homework stopped being a chore. I realize that saying it likely categorizes this paragraph as nauseating sentiment, but for the first time I was engaged in class discussions not for the sake of my grade, but because I was truly fascinated by the topics.

            In my academic career at Presbyterian I discovered some particular areas of interest: American Literature (particularly Southern), Women’s Literature, and Creative Writing. And through my experience as a writing tutor in Presbyterian’s Writing Center, I also realized that teaching wasn’t just a possible career for me, it was the career for me. No matter how exhausted I was when I arrived at work, I left feeling rejuvenated and accomplished. My college experience left me with no doubt that I wanted to teach English at the undergraduate level, but choosing a school at which to continue my education looked like a daunting task. I made another list (some things never change) of things I wanted to get out of my “dream” Master of Arts program. It looked like this:

1. Teaching experience  
2. Creative Writing experience
3. A varied selection of literature courses
4. Location in the South

When I found Auburn’s Master of Arts in English with an Emphasis in Creative Writing it was easy to circle all the items on my list. I’m confident that Auburn is the school for me and hopeful that you’ll agree. 

I’M BACK!

I’m bringing the blog back. Apologies for my absence. Forgive me? (Especially you, Thomas and Taylor!)

#boringpeopleproblems

The absurd number of ivory shirts in my closet tells me that my favorite color is beige. This realization is my first step towards accepting that I’m kind of boring. If you’re boring like me, let’s get some boring people pride going on Twitter.

So if even #postgradproblems are more hardcore than you are, JOIN ME in the campaign to make boring cool… or at least let’s band together and accept that we’re not cool anymore.

#boringpeopleproblems