I forgot to write a blog post on Sunday. (Whoops.) My roommate chastised me (jokingly), telling me “You had one job.”
Anyway, this past week has been pretty busy. But the thing is, it’s the fun kind of busy. At school, when you’re busy, you dread having to work on your assignments. Here, each of the teachers assign homework every day, but I actually look forward to completing my assignments. They’re not always great and I don’t really have time to edit them, but it’s just really fun to write.
I should probably explain how the creative writing courses are arranged this year (and possibly past years).
So, the entire creative writing department is separated into four groups: Group A, Group B, Group C, and Group D. (I’m in Group D.)
There are four “core” classes available: fiction, poetry, journalism, and playwriting/screenplay writing. The core classes rotate every week so that the students of each group will take all of the classes at least once in this month. In other words, it’s a class that rotates every week.
For example, on the first week, my group’s core class was playwriting/screenplay writing, taught by Phinny. This week, my group’s core class is poetry with Hilary. Next week, it will probably be fiction with Chris. On the last week, we’ll probably have journalism with Karla.
In addition to the core classes, we also have a “focus” class. The focus class does not rotate. Instead, we stay with our focus class for the entire four weeks. The classes offered this year are the same as the core classes: fiction, poetry, journalism, and playwriting/screenplay writing. (I’m in fiction!)
On the first day of CSSSA, when you first arrive, you complete your registration, get your I.D. card, sign up for the field trips you want to go to, and all that. You get situated in your dorm room, meet your roommates, and go to the welcoming ceremony in the main hall. That’s pretty much all you do on the first day.
On the second day of CSSSA, you wake up and go to your department’s orientation. For the creative writing class, all 77(?) of us went to a wide room for the orientation. The four teachers introduced themselves, and then they asked us to go around the room and introduce ourselves.
(Note: For anyone who is transgender and/or uncomfortable with their birth name, this is the time you can use your preferred name. Of course, if you accidentally introduce yourself using the name you’re uncomfortable with, you can fix it later on.)
When the orientation was over, we separated into predetermined groups (the A, B, C, and D groups) and went to our first core class session. There, we submitted our requests for the focus class
If I remember correctly, we had free time for the rest of the day.
After that, the schedule became regular. Every weekday besides Wednesday, we have core class from 9 am to 12 pm. Then, we have lunch break followed by focus class from 1 pm to 4 pm. From 4 pm to 5 pm, we have a “writing hour,” which we use to work on our homework assignments. Honestly, I’m not sure I’m very productive at that time. I do work on things, but I don’t know if I’m accomplishing up to my full potential.
Anyway, after writing hour, we have dinner. Oftentimes after dinner, there are events you can go to, such as guest artist meetings or film screenings. Some events are mandatory for certain divisions (for example, a guest filmmaker meeting would be mandatory for film students to attend), but for creative writers, most events are optional.
On Wednesdays, we have writers’ workshop which varies from week to week. So far, we’ve only had one workshop, so I can’t say much about it yet, but it was fun! I hope all of the future writers’ workshops are as fun if not more fun than the first.
There is a lot of work, but as I said before, it’s fun work.
And that’s the education stuff covered. Let’s talk about more personal stuff!
On Sunday, a whole bunch of us went on our first field trip to a theatre to watch Grey Gardens. I won’t give too much of the story away (even if it is nonfiction), but I will say that I spend most of the time fangirling over the intricate set, and I cried bitter tears at the end of the musical.
I’ve been going to bed at 2 am every weekday and even later on weekends, but that’s considered kinda early for me. (I tend to sleep at 5 am on summer days...which isn’t good.) I’m glad! My roommates have to wake me up in the morning, but I don’t think they mind, and I certainly do appreciate it. ^^
Friend-wise, I have 3 “main” friends. 2 of them are my roommates, and the other one is a guy we got to know through a misunderstanding. They’re all really great people, and I’m really fortunate to have gotten to know them.
Everyone is such amazing writers here! I still feel like I’m not quite good enough, but Chris and the other teachers/CSSSA staff have nailed into us that everyone at CSSSA deserves to attend this program, that we were selected among thousands to join this community and to grow in our art forms.
I’m super fortunate to be here. I’m extremely thankful to be here. I’m excited to be here.
This program isn’t even halfway done, but I’m already planning on applying again next year. Maybe I’ll join the theatre department next year? Or maybe I’ll do creative writing again?
Thanks for reading if you got this far, and if anyone reading this is considering applying to CSSSA, do it. I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying myself here. Despite being a writer, I can’t find the words to adequately express my utter joy of having this opportunity.
Seriously, you don’t have much to lose. You just need to sacrifice a bit of time and to put effort into your application, but once you’re here, you’ll know it’s worth it and more.
Well, it’s 1 am right now, so I’m going to sign off. Good night! Good morning! Good afternoon!
