a brief overview

Right now I'm in the process of applying for grad school. (Please pray that I get in and get a position as a GTA). This means that I have a number of papers to prepare. One of them is an autobiographical statement intended to tell the committee about me as a potential student, writer, and instructor (GTA). My first draft was so stiff and formal that I scrapped it. The second version was a bit too conversational. This is the third draft. I thought I'd share it with you since I tend to assume my readers know this stuff about me, but some of you may not. Here you go:


I was an amateur poet in high school and college and occasionally I composed a short story. At the time, I saw writing as a hobby, though I took a couple of poetry writing classes. I wasn't serious about my education, and unfortunately my grades show it. But I did grow up during those years and I did complete my B.A. in March of 1995. While I was in school, I met and married my husband and spent the next couple of years waiting tables and staying involved at church.
Towards the end of 1996, we moved to Florida. There I briefly worked in an office, discovering that the corporate world was not for me. I went on to take a job as an instructor at Full Sail, a technical college offering associates degrees. I enjoyed teaching both lectures and computer labs. I liked to think up better ways to convey the concepts and projects to our students. Since we developed many of our course materials, I had opportunity to write non-fiction for work. I also volunteered to write for church related projects. The teaching element in generating non-fiction makes it satisfying.
I also found myself drawn to writing fiction. Story ideas and characters came to me and I committed myself to produce a novel. I had dabbled in fiction before but it soon supplanted poetry as the writing of choice. In addition to the novel, I have a number of story ideas and scenes, which all clamor to be completed.
In 2000, I had a child and focused on caring for him. Two years later, our family moved back to the Central Ohio area. The first draft of my novel was complete but it required revision, so I joined a writers’ group. There, I found both the camaraderie and the feedback I needed to progress. As I reworked the novel, I found myself trying to answer questions about the back story and the history of its world, which led to another novel.
Currently, I’m in the challenging process of marketing these pieces. Some say that it takes bravery to write, but I disagree; the writing is engaging and has a flow. Attempting to publish one’s work is where courage and perseverance are absolutely required. I’m also involved in taking care of my eighteen-month-old niece through the rest of this school year.
I intend to return to school in order to develop as a writer, to learn to navigate the publishing industry, and to reengage in the teaching process. My eventual goal is to publish a book per year and teach undergraduate students as either an adjunct or a professor.