Ramblings of a Samurai and his Duct Tape

School

I've mentioned previously in this blog that I'm taking a few classes so I can improve my writing. Because of these classes and a few other things, I've had a fire lit in me to go back to school. I've been thinking about it for a while and have been casually looking at some of the info for doing it, but over this last week have really begun looking in earnest. This is something I've realized now that I need to do.





So the plan I've come up with is go back to school at Stout either for this summer and/or fall to finish my old degree program, and then starting spring next year go to another school for a creative writing program. Sounds pretty good to me!





Well I've been looking at possible creative writing schools, and have been narrowing the list. In no particular order, the schools I've been looking at the hardest are Drake University in Des Moines, University of Iowa in Iowa City, Southwest MN State in Marshall, and Bemidji State in Bemidji. It was pretty easy to knock off all the Wisconsin and other nearby states as they didn't have much to offer that I could see. But it's these few schools that are giving me the hard time deciding. I know I didn't look at schools this hard before I decided to go to Stout. Is that because I know what I want to do now? Or is it because of my previous time at Stout and how I'm comparing Stout to these other colleges?





Drake looks like a real good school with a high quality program, though it's more expensive than the other two. It's also located right in Des Moines, the only real city within a few hours travel distance. It seems like a very eco conscious school, and with a Drake student ID, one gets free passage on the Des Moines bus system. It would be nice to not have to drive everywhere I want to go, and be in a Metropolitan area for entertainment. I know there's also a pair of casinos located nearby Des Moines, so I could probably get some high paying part time work at one of them. Though I'm not sure if I'd want to as part of the reason I want to go back to school is to get out of this business. It's also not too far (Relatively) from University of Iowa, which brings me to...





University of Iowa. They have a huge literature department, though from what I can see they don't have an actual creative writing Major. I'm looking at Iowa State as a possibility if I wanted to get a masters after a creative writing degree. Admittedly that's a bit farther down the road, and I don't know if I even would want to go for a masters at this point, but it is something to think about. It's also a much bigger school than any other school I'm looking at. I don't really want to go to a big school where I might get lost in the shuffle. That big school thing is one of the reasons I eschewed UoMN for UW-Stout when I graduated HS.





Both SW MN State and Bemidji State are located in much smaller towns, which are pretty much in the middle of nowhere. What I've seen of them I like so far, though not as much as Drake. Both are much less expensive than Drake too. Putting academics aside, there's reasons why I like each of them in turn. My family is all in MPLS suburb area, and Marshall is the closest to there at a 2 1/2hr drive. Des Moines and Bemidji are each 4hrs, though in opposite directions from each other. Bemidji is right on a lake, and there's many other lakes nearby. There's also the Chippewa National Forest real close to there as well. One of the places that I feel most at peace with everything, is when I'm in a boat on a lake. Doesn't have to be a fancy boat either, could just be a tiny little rowboat. But there's nothing much better than being in a boat in summer or fall. I'd make time to do that as much as I can, just to relax and feel the breeze and the sun beating down.





Obviously I need to do more research, and actually visit these campuses to see which one is right for me. But each one gives me a lot to think about. There's other aspects of each that I like, but I'm not going to put those down right now. It's nearly 3am and I just meant to take a short break from other activities to manage some of my thoughts on this subject, and here I typed up a TON! Though the weight is a little lighter now, things are a tiny bit more organized in my mind.