At the end of every month this year, I will briefly summarize the preceding days. You may read this one in September because blogs are posted every Wednesday, but, after all, August has not yet come to a close. Anyway, I hope this series will serve as a time capsule of sorts and that I can read them in the future. And perhaps, if you are curious about MSA, you can have a glimpse of the school through my perspective. I also plan on describing my auditioning process as well as other interesting topics revolving around MSA (I know that Hannah already covered her auditioning journey, but I feel that multiple perspectives never pose a problem). In short, I hope this brief series captures your interest in some way.
August, I can only say wow.
So much has happened during this month. For starters, I switched schools and became a student at MSA, which kind of set off a chain reaction. In about four weeks, I have learned a lot, and I feel that I have even grown as a person. Four weeks!
Anyway, I have experienced what living in a dorm with a roommate entails. If you fear this, I promise that it is not as bad as it seems. And I love our room despite its quirks; I love the drawers and my large desk and the view from the window, and I love having a room that seems like my room. Surprisingly, it is a home away from home.
I also love the campus. Trees dot the entirety of it, and there are even three ginkgo trees. My break consists of me sitting on a bench beneath a tree while eating an orange or a Reese’s, which I look forward to for some reason. But, yes, the campus grows on you. Sometimes you just want to sit in the grass and write poetry about tacos, and this place has a lot of grass.
But, spoiler alert, you will miss your cat. You will miss them terribly, and you will look at old photos with your heart torn in half. Hug them while you still can.
I love the library. I just love it.
Also, I have learned a lot. Sometimes I do not feel any progression, but I have, in fact, progressed. I am back to my history rants, and I am actually writing! That sounds ridiculous, but I never imagined that I would write a poem about biscuits or a short story based in eighteenth century London. In the past, I only had time for poetry or prose or an aimless story. But now I am challenged to explore what writing is actually about, and I have grown from the tattered notebooks I used to fill with a hapless dribble of thought. Before I came here, I feared that I would despise writing, but I have surprised myself by enjoying it even more.
All in all, if you have your heart set on MSA, I would recommend preparing yourself. Be ready to exercise responsibility, and be ready to take on a hefty load of work. But if you persevere, you will enjoy yourself here. You will laugh a lot and talk to interesting people and watch yourself grow along with your art. I recommend applying because MSA will definitely surprise you.
Callie, I loved seeing your perspective/reflection on your time here at MSA. I also look forward to seeing more about how your MSA experience has gone! I think it is very appreciated by other future literaries that want to come here. I cannot express how your style of writing eases my mind. It has such a way at pulling at my heart strings, as well as giving me a sense of comfort.
Yes! This is all so accurate! I love the way you worded this whole thing. It was very comforting to read