Graduation: Spring 2009!

2 comments Posted by Zoë Etkin at 11:18 PM



Greetings. I know it has been a while since I last posted. Forgive me, for I have been very busy moving into my new apartment. [Post with pictures to follow!] 


Graduation was a week ago. May 16th. I attended the official ceremony at the Community College. Many of us chose that route, rather than the unsanctioned, on-campus ceremony. I was glad to see at least half of us there. 

So here are some facts: I graduated, according to the graduation program, with the highest grade in my department's class. 

I received my BA in Creative Writing, Magna Cum Laude (not quite perfect, but almost!).

Also, despite this past semester being completely insane because of Glyph, the school closing, life in general, I received a 4.0! Wooooooo!

The ceremony itself was mostly uninteresting. However, the administration did well to choose Greg Glazner (founder of the Creative Writing program at the college, current faculty member, published poet, beloved member of the CSF community) as the faculty speaker. His speech felt mostly directed to the Creative Writing students, which was fine as I am one, but it spoke beautifully of the school in general. He choked up and so did I. Although I only had him as a professor this term, I really grew to appreciate him and the work he's done for the school I love. Matt Donovan was also there, however, the other Creative Writing faculty did not attend for various reasons.

I felt really badly for the CMP (music) students. There were only 3 of them there! And that department is large--all the other ones were at the on-campus ceremony and so were there teachers. I'm sure they felt weird about that. 

After the ceremony my bff Maggie and I bopped around doing a few things, and then we had a huge party at my house. Tons of people were there and we even had these two musicians who were super cool and cooky. I had a great time. :)

Oh, and a note about my photograph above. You'll see some Mardi Gras beads around my neck. I began my college journey in New Orleans, at Loyola University. My family felt it was only right that I ended my college journey with a hint of New Orleans present. I was really touched by that. You'll also note my Magna Cum Laude silver cord. ;)

 

Told Ya So...

0 comments Posted by Zoë Etkin at 10:27 PM


I told you my plans would change, didn't I?


Well, while working at the Lensic the other day (a rather slow day) I perused grad programs online and realized what would be an excellent next move for me. Publishing! DUH! 

I got excited because I found a certificate program in Publishing at Harvard, but they're phasing it out! Ugh! 

However... there is an M.S. in Publishing at NYU, and that seems most likely and doable. I also saw programs at BU and Emerson. I definitely want to be on the East Coast. I'm sure there are other fine programs, but I haven't fully investigated this new avenue yet. 

This semester I was the co-editor of CSF's literary magazine, Glyph (the current issue's cover is posted here). Although it was a crazy, hectic and often times frustrating experience, I really do value every minute I spent creating it. I was so pleased when I was chosen to co-edit the magazine, as editing has always been something I was good at and enjoyed. I also don't get that many leadership opportunities, and it was fun to be in charge. :) My co-editor, Rex, also worked really hard on the endeavor. (He, unfortunately, had put up with me being a bossy, madwoman! Hah). We didn't always get along during the process, but the outcome was really great. Not only had we created a tangible book with great writing on its pages, but we also formed a friendship. Yay!

Creating Glyph was extremely time consuming. We only had 'til February something to complete the whole thing, and we only started choosing the work late January. Scheduling was nuts! 95% of my time was spent doing something for the magazine in that month. All other school work took a backseat. 

Rex and I, and the Glyph class, and Robin and Don, the Glyph professors, had to choose what work would get in the magazine. Then the chosen work went to copy editors, proof readers, etc. and then finally back to Rex and I for our final eyes. There was also event planning, ad-getting, designing and assembling that had to take place. 

The best part of the process, I think, and I believe Rex would agree, was getting to work directly with the authors of the chosen work. Rex took the prose writers, I the poets, and we met and discussed edits and revisions. While I met with my authors, I realized how much I enjoy talking about writing and helping people improve their own without being too directive. I think this process really ensures the quality of the work going into the publication. 

Several trips to Sunstone Press (the publishers) were made where Rex and I thought we were finished, and then we were sent back to fix formatting issues. Finally we worked everything out, we waited, and then we received proofs. 

When the finished copies of the magazine were distributed in Glyph class, I was not notified to come to class that day, and I didn't get my first copy until the following afternoon. I got a few texts from people in the class telling me I had missed out. Boo. I wish I'd have been there for that moment. But when I got my hands on my copy of the magazine I beamed with pride. This was like my child, I had birthed this thing, this beautiful magazine. 

Then there was the Glyph event, Glyph's 21st birthday party, the unveiling. Rex and I played emcee and we also both read our work, as we'd both received prizes that the Creative Writing professors award to a select few of the writers in Glyph. I got honorable mention in poetry and Rex got 2nd place fiction prize. We introduced each other as well as the other readers--writing intro's isn't as easy as one may think. 

After the reading we all headed over to O'Shaughnessy for the party--food, dancing, smoking cigarettes with professors! What a great night!

It was a great relief to have the magazine completed. I had done the same thing in high school: editor in chief of Prism. I look back at that thing and see how much I have grown as a writer and editor. How I have grown as a human. Nevertheless, I am proud of both publications. 

Back to the main point of this post... So Publishing seems like the right field to enter into. I will go and get that MFA in Writing someday, but for now, Publishing seems practical and interesting. Hopefully I can bust out some decent GRE scores and get into one of these programs! Wish me luck!

 

A Current Update of Future Plans

0 comments Posted by Zoë Etkin at 11:25 AM

Every 3 months or so the plans I make for my future change. Not long ago I thought I was going to run away to Spain. Then I thought it'd be a fine idea to take some psychology classes and then apply for an MA in Counseling at Southwestern College here in Santa Fe.

The current future plan is to go to South Africa sometime in the Winter, as it is their summer, and explore a culture much different from my own. I have family friends there. The thing is, I need to find some sort of program to attend during the day. It is still a very dangerous country, and apparently I can't just explore Capetown, as I wished.

But for now, I am staying in Santa Fe. Hopefully over the summer I will get my act together, decide what I want to attend graduate school for, and apply in the Fall. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to study because I have a lot of varying interests. I know I don't want to go straight into an MFA program in Writing--it's not recommended for fresh-out-of-undergrad writers to do so. I am going to have to wait on that. But I know I can't stay out of school for long, not because I wouldn't go back if I waited too long, but because academia is a very safe (financially and otherwise) environment to be in and I enjoy it.

It is difficult to decide on a future career at this point in my life. There are many avenues I wish to explore, but some, I realize, will just remain curiosities/ hobbies. Dance, theatre, photography and music are all in that category, sadly. But I could see myself studying psychology, or literature, or philosophy. If only I could find an amlgam program: blending literature, philosophy and creative writing. A friend suggested I look into Comparative Lit. Not something I had considered before, but may be the right program for me.

I thought, for a time, that studying philosophy (contemporary mostly, though the pre-Socratics and Socratics do interest me highly) would not be that beneficial to my future career, and would merely be an intellectual indulgence. But now, as I am reading more and applying philosophical thought to literature, I really do see how studying these philosophers more closely would benefit me as a writer, a poet specifically.

Can't quite think about these future plans yet though, as the semester is "winding"down (more like hurtling) and I must fry these fish before I can fry the bigger ones.

 

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