Well, it's done. Last night I fulfilled the final requirement for my Masters Degree. I presented my final project at the SMU Capstone Forum. Students in the Graduate Program for the Liberal Arts are required to attend the forum and present their final projects. I brought Kim and Jackson along for this last jaunt in the process.
My project took me down an unexpected path. As a history teacher I expected to write a research thesis. I had many ideas in mind. However, one of my creative writing projects caught the attention of my Academic Advisor. He thought I had the beginnings of a novel in one of my short stories. So I went with it and the process kind of snowballed until a novel began to take shape. It was going so good that I decided to submit it as my Capstone Project.
I owe a great deal of thanks to Dr. Gary Swaim for his great advice and encouragement. He was a great help to me. He is a legend in the Dallas literary community. My novel is a satirical road novel that details the changes in social dynamics that occurred in the mid-1990's with the advent of the internet, right before social media and smart phones ruined everything. It's filled with existential angst, self-loathing and unresolved narratives: basically all your garden variety cliches of Generation X fiction.
After the forum, my wife and son walked around the campus to look at the Christmas lights. Above is Dallas Hall, the oldest building on campus and where I had many of my classes. I will miss coming to The Hilltop every week. Southern Methodist University was a great place to learn and I met a lot of great people over the years.
So, I still have a lot of work to do. I have a lot of revisions and editing yet to do before I submit it for publication. But that's the goal, publication with a real publishing house. And I'm in no hurry. I want to get this right.
Next comes graduation. I could have walked this Saturday but there's too much going on with the Holiday Season. I decided awhile ago to attend the May ceremonies. That's when I'll get my diploma. It's been a fun ride.
A Master of Liberal Studies in the Humanities.
