Confessions of an MFA grad

Hi everyone. I'm back from Nebraska, and I officially have my MFA in fiction. Some of you might think the pressure is off since I no longer have homework, but actually, graduating is a little like having a permanent homework assignment.

You see, I now have to uphold the expectation of my program, my friends and family who have watched me earn this degree, and my graduating class-some of the most talented individuals I've had the pleasure to encounter. Now I have to publish, which is the best advertisement for the program. I have to not sit in front of my computer with a cork-less bottle of wine that I must drink because it will go bad soon.

Then, Amy Winehouse died the day of graduation, which is like some kind of cosmic warning; create or perish! It doesn't help that we're the same age. I tried to find a nice Amy Winehouse quote to read at graduation, but most of the quotes were short drink recipes. "What's your recipe for success?" asked the Rolling Stone reporter. "Uh, that's a dash 'ah scotch an' lots of ice," Amy probably answered very seriously and drunkenly. That didn't actually happen, but it could have.