Four more days until Summer Residency for my MFA starts (Masters of Fine Arts in Writing) … woohoo. It’s a ten day retreat and break from the norm with a full itinerary of lectures and workshops and other events. This will be my second Residency and the best part about that is that the unknowns are going to be at a minimum. Knowing what to expect reduces my anxiety quite a bit. There’s definitely things I’m looking forward too and certainly also things I’m not.

Here’s the rundown:
* Poetry workshops (doesn’t matter if it’s mine or someone else’s).. love it!
* Lecture.. love it!
* Faculty readings.. I’m into it.
* Student readings.. this relationship is love/hate because of the public speaking component for me.
* Faculty/Mentor interviews.. So-so on this one.
* Having every meal prepared for me at the lodge.. Awesome right up to the moment I get sick of having the same things 10 days straight.
* Eating every meal in the dining room and being forced to awkwardly sit with people I don’t know and make small talk.. Hate, hate, hate it.
* Going a whole week without seeing Jim.. sucks. He might come down a couple nights.

I’m sure there are parts I’m forgetting, but that pretty much sums things up for now. In any case, it will be nice not to be the new kid on the block.

One big difference this time around is that it’s not winter, so I’m going to be able to do a lot more exploring of the area. I’ll probably go on a few hikes and just get to know the area much better. It will be interesting to see how different it is with folks hanging out outside in the evenings. Hopefully I will get to know people a little better so that my social anxiety monster doesn’t hinder my enjoyment of activities.

In any case, I’ve got loads and loads of stuff I want to get done this week before I’m “off the grid” (not really) for 10 days. I’m sure like most things in life, the priority items will sort themselves out.

Cheers to the Countdown,
~Miss SugarCookie