First week of Year Two is in the books.
Tried for World Lit, but didn't get it because MFAs are treated like second class citizens, no better than MAs, when it comes to teaching assignments. A large part of it is PTIs and PhDs get first priority at World Lit and the number of sections have gone down, so it's understandable, but still very frustrating to still be stuck teaching freshman composition courses. So teachingwise, my morale is pretty low right now, although it's nice to finally teach the second semester rather than the first semester course. On the flip side, the second semester course here is essentially what the first semester course at Arkansas is, so it's very much a
thing.
On the flip side, I'm excited for my taking classes this semester, although one of them has me extremely nervous because it's a combo class where most of the grade is 25 question quizzes and I hate the percentages of that. I want to maintain my 4.0. If I can keep it going this semester, I should be in the clear the rest of the way through.
I'm now shifting my international sights to this next summer and am working on establishing state residency by then so I don't get charged out of state tuition (although I think the language in the GA contract indicates I wouldn't anyway). I've also pretty much settled on Argentina as the country I want to go abroad to, ideally for youth sports coaching. It'll cross another continent off my list and allow me to get back to the coaching I miss so much.
Going next summer would take a lot of pressure off my final year. I'd be doing thesis hours both semesters, plus one of either a translation or a critical essay in the fall. My guess is it'd be the translation, because I'm taking both my poetry requirements this spring and a critical essay will be an easier brain break from poetry than translation would be.
I need to decide who my thesis committee chair will be by the end of the semester. We have three choices, all of whom would be great to work with. I've been wrestling with it for the last week and I think the question I need to answer is, "Which one will make me the best writer I can be and the best thesis I can write?"
In terms of my actual thesis, I'm struggling with trying to decide what to do. Both are novel ideas. While most people do a collection of short stories, I'm still not as comfortable writing short stories as I am working in the longer venue of a novel.
One novel idea, my application manuscript, I have a very strong, well-drawn protagonist whose voice comes easily to me and another very well developed feature character. I also have some solid sections and several minor characters well fleshed out. The biggest stumbling block is the novel's main female character. As real and as engaging as the first two characters are, the female hasn't crystallized into someone real yet and I haven't found the solution. Nor has anyone one else I've discussed this with.
The second novel idea I just started last spring and actually spun off a short short piece from it that somebody recommended I tighten up a little more and send to a specific literary magazine (I've done some tightening on it, but I'm scared to send it). This other option has a much more believable female lead, but the voice of the protagonist is fuzzy and the story and plot both are on much less sure footing than my first idea.
So we'll see what the semester brings.