Notes from Perelandra College graduates:

From Jaimie Baird, Creative Writing MA, 2009:I LOVED my education at Perelandra.  I would not trade it for any other distance learning program.

I began the program in Creative Writing while working full-time to help put my husband through Graduate School. It was a tough journey, but what I loved about the structure of the program was that I could take classes at my own speed. The workshop atmosphere of the classes helped me to overcome my fear of criticism, and forced me to grow and stretch myself to accomplish things I thought I could never do. The class sizes were small (3-6 students) and the class forum was easy to access and use.  The professor's comments were very soon to follow assignment postings and interaction with peers and their opinions on the same readings and original works were so valuable. 

I experimented with poetry, which is the most difficult for me, short stories, character studies, and ultimately completed an original novella, which fulfilled the thesis portion of the MA degree in Creative Writing. I was exposed to other students' writing styles and got a healthy dose of classic works, as well as modern novels and novellas. The classroom forum was set up in a user-friendly manner and students made use of it with questions and comments on reading assignments and individual student's writing projects. Though a vitally important piece of any graduate education is exposure to the masters of the craft and imitation of their examples, the most valuable piece of of my experience at Perelandra was my personal growth as a writer – and as an individual. I learned to comment carefully and thoughtfully on other students' work. I received valuable insight and commentary on my work from skilled professors and my observant peers. And ultimately I learned to quiet my own critical voice when embarking on a writing project; turning the journey from a narrow set of rules into a wide open experience of discovery, acceptance, and mastery. This process I could never have learned without my education at Perelandra College.

The thesis project I completed was a novella was especially fulfilling as I got to work directly with the professor, knowing that my work was being giving individual attention.
 

From Elizabeth Kropf: My growth as a writer was two-fold at Perelandra.  First, the high quality of work demanded taught me to revise, revise, revise.  Working with Gary Swaim, who was my thesis instructor, helped me accept criticism from “this poem needs to be completely revised,” to “send it off for publication.” Secondly, the assignments brought about poems I never would have thought to write.  Many of my first published poems were assignments.  When I first entered Perelandra I had a long list of rejection letters.  My first poem was accepted for publication when I was a student and now I have had six poems and one story  published, and have won several awards. I also have a complete manuscript of a poetry collection. My degree also qualified me for my current job: teaching Composition at Bryant & Stratton College online.   Perelandra’s influence on critical thinking and the low-residency design made the transition to teaching online seamless.  Who wouldn’t want to teach in their pajamas with a dog or two curled up next to them?

From Stephanie Reary: I am a secondary English teacher and a student in Perelandra College’s M.A. in Creative Writing program.  At Perelandra, I am learning techniques that I can use with my own students while at the same time working toward my personal goals of writing and publication.  Perelandra's knowledgeable faculty have provided me with relevant writing exercises that I have already used with success in the classroom.  Through Perelandra's supportive critique sessions with published writers, I have been able achieve my biggest accomplishment:  the completion of my first novel, which is now ready for submission.  As a teacher, I have to continue to develop myself professionally.  I am so thankful that I can do it in a place that lets me develop myself artistically as well.