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Our two-year stint is rapidly coming to an end, and I think we are all ready to get outta here. At the same time, however, we are all gonna miss each other. I know a lot of us are sticking around Chicago while others are heading back to home states and others (like me) have no idea what they’re doing next (waiting to hear about jobs, other grad schools, or residencies).

Yeah, it’s bittersweet, and this is one thing that’s tough about a two-year program: It’s intense and these two years are packed full of classes, writing, and all the other ins and outs of grad school (not counting all the stuff we do outside of school), and all of a sudden it’s over.

We didn’t have that whole year of “thesis hours.” But alas, a two-year program pushed us to produce work both creative and scholarly, in a certain amount of time, and we had to write our thesis at the same time we were in classes. I think that’s good. I mean, when we go on to work, we’ll have to write when we are busy working. This is a good prep for being out in the real world (or being in academia, as a teacher or whatever).

And I don’t know about everyone else, but I don’t know if I could do another year. I’m ready to be done with school. I’m ready.

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I’m gonna miss seeing my friends a few times a week all year. Luckily, we’ve built a pretty solid community among ourselves (not to mention the community already established before us with alumni and faculty). We know each other’s work, and we know each other’s new projects.

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So yeah, we won’t have classes anymore, but we will have each other’s work, each other’s support, and, ultimately, each other’s friendship

XOXO to my cohort.