Back to the basics...

...As in, back to school for the winter residency at Vermont College.
My parents and friends are predictably confused by the structure of this program. It's low-residency, which means that for two weeks out of the semester I'm on-campus, participating in nonstop workshops, lectures, readings, and more.

This is my first residency, and therefore my first step back into academia (save for a few writing classes here and there). I have to admit, when the residency paperwork came in the mail, I had a moment of overwhelming doubt. Bibliographies? Required reading? Critical essays? All I wanted to do was to learn to write!

I arrived at the Montpelier campus on Monday the 8th and was instantly thrown into the mix. Think: name tags, ice breaking games, and assigned seating. By Tuesday morning I was having my first nervous breakdown.

Fortunately, it was followed quickly by my first workshop, where my professors were insightful, encouraging, and very constructive. Their comments on my work were extremely helpful. And soon I got to the point where I knew people's names all on my own, without even looking at their name tags (which is probably for the best, since I lost mine by the middle of the week).

Yes, it feels as though it's been forever since I had cable tv in my bedroom (it's been eight days). But it also feels like yesterday that I arrived, vaguely prepared and mostly exhausted, to a program that I'm pretty sure is going to turn out to be one of the best decisions I've made in a long while.