When I get really stressed out, the pressure manifests itself in the form of back pain. Cramps form in both my lower and upper back, and spread until they meet somewhere in the middle. By 8 a.m. last Saturday, I had already taken one round of Ibuprofen, and had a second round of pills stashed in my pocket for later.… read entire post
Category Archives: College
Winning Two Jackpots
In the fall of 2017 I began work on my grad project, a novel titled The Human Library. On April 19, I delivered copies to the three members of my graduate committee. Two weeks later on May 4, I returned to the University of Oklahoma to defend my work.
I spent those two weeks preparing. I wrote an outline of… read entire post
Graduating with Honors: Kappa Tau Alpha
In the fall of 1991, three months after graduating high school, I walked into Redlands Community College. I walked out two years later with no degree and a 3.25 grade point average. After another year at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, I still hadn’t graduated and my GPA had dropped to 3.10 after pulling a 2.75 there. As much as I… read entire post
75,000 Words, 285 Pages, 1 Deadline
One of the main characters in my novel has a glaring flaw. A couple of scenes still feel clunky. I may or may not have a plot hole.
If it weren’t for deadlines, I might have gone on editing my novel forever. There’s always something that can be improved. Rough parts can be made better. Good parts can be made… read entire post
A Break from Spring Break
Susan, her mom, and the kids are in Ireland this week for spring break, and I’m in Oklahoma.
As I mentioned last week, I am wrapping up my novel for my final school project. If everything goes according to schedule, I’ll be turning my novel in during the second week of April, and defending it two weeks later (after the… read entire post
A $69.50 Robe
I left work a couple hours early Thursday afternoon to visit the University of Oklahoma and submit the final paperwork required for graduation.
Perhaps its from years of dealing with computers, but I prefer things to be linear and, if at all possible, chronological. Purchasing a cap and gown two months before I defend my final project almost seems presumptuous… read entire post
Another Semester in the Books
Sunday, while Susan and the kids were at the mall finishing up some Christmas shopping, I submitted my final paper of the year, bringing the end to another semester of school.
This semester I “only” took six credit hours in the form of three classes, compared to the spring semester when I took 10 credit hours. I still wonder how… read entire post
The Purple Star
This semester, along with two other classes, I began work on my senior project — a fiction novel. Each week, I write a new chapter for my novel and present it to the head of my committee. During our weekly sessions, my professor reads the chapter and provides me with immediate feedback.
Project is the intersection where form meets art.… read entire post
A Rough Semester Comes to an End
Wednesday, January 18, 2017, was the day I realized I had made a mistake. It was 9 p.m., and my third class of the evening had just ended. I was exhausted, and I still hadn’t eaten dinner. That day, and every Wednesday for the next four months, I woke up at 5 a.m., started work at 6 a.m., worked eight… read entire post
Harry Belafonte: A Glass Half Full
Wednesday evening, my Theories of Professional Writing class (along with approximately 1,000 other people) got the opportunity to hear Mr. Harry Belafonte speak about his life and thoughts about equal rights and the current state of politics.
I know Harry Belafonte largely as a singer and an actor, and for his work on 1985’s “We Are the World,” but I… read entire post