Whenever folks ask me what I am going to school for (English – Creative Writing) and what I want to do with that degree (write fiction, young adult) they always follow it up with, “And how are you going to support yourself?” Now I am almost 100% sure that these same folk, when speaking with a Pre Med or student in Law School, do not ask them how they will make a living after getting out of college. Now I know that folks mean well, but I had a hard enough time deciding to follow my passion, I don’t need the negative reinforcement. I think the best rule of thumb is, don’t listen to anyone who isn’t successful in your chosen field of study. I am proud of the fact that I am attempting school on the other side of 35. I do have a Business Degree, I have attempted entrepreneurship, but what I really am is a writer. The creative arts seem to get a bad rap. The term “starving artist” tells it all. Don’t tell me you have heard “starving CEO” or “starving banker.” I do think that if I believe in the futility of my chosen career path, I will fail. I need to head onto my new path with positivity and a desire to succeed. Maybe I should stop telling strangers that I am at school when they ask, or maybe I could start making things up. So if you run into a short curly – haired chick at the dog park and she tells you she is studying to become a burglar, don’t believe her.
● About Me
I wrote and published my first blog post on May 26, 2009. I was about to turn 36 and had been accepted to Mount Holyoke College as a non-traditional student, on my way to completing a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Medieval Studies. I had managed, finally, to know what general direction I was traveling. As a self proclaimed voracious reader I knew that I needed a vocation that would allow me to engage daily with words: reading words, writing words, and hearing words. I also needed to eat, so I navigated my way to a teaching position and I began to fine tune my craft. I love to teach and I love my students, but I also needed to continue to hone my own literary technique, voice, and style. I continued my education in order to delve deeper into literature, making connections, and most definitely, writing. I gained more confidence as a reader as well as a writer of both creative and analytical text. That first blog post in 2009 is short, the writing average, and the topic mundane, but as I continued to learn from other writers I began to understand that to become a better writer I needed to write more. Each time I write and release a poem, a post, or a story, I hone my skills. I invite you along for the ride, for this journey of mine as I attempt to wrangle a wealth of ideas and competing directions into an organized freshly paved path to publication. I might get distracted along the way, but sometimes those detours lead us to amazing views and new friends.
Laura Smith Writer 
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