Well, I have officially finished my first term online with Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). If you missed this information, I am currently in their graduate program for English and Creative Writing, and working on a writing sample with the help of my new mentor that will get me into SNHU’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a concentration in Speculative Fiction (we used to call this Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror back in the olden days). Once accepted to that program, my classes will be even more intense, I would imagine, but they will be well worth it. My thesis will be an 80,000-word novel, ready to publish. No pressure, right? Right. I will also have a certification to either be a professional author or an online teacher of all things MFA. I am not sure which I want at the moment, but I will have to decide soon . . . ish. I ended up with a 99.745% and a 4.00 GPA for my first class in the Master of Arts in English and Creative Writing class that I took for my first term. I have been very impressed with everything about SNHU. I am not giving you those numbers to brag. I give you those numbers to convince you that, if you apply yourself, and if you are thinking about a program like this, it is doable. Trust me.

People balk at the grading process when they see the rubrics. I know I did. I had never dealt with anything like this in my life, and I already have a graduate degree and two undergraduate degrees in other areas. Academic writing? No sweat. Creative writing? Whole different animal. I like this animal . . . I like it a lot. It has been waiting to be released for nigh 40 years, now, and I have finally allowed it to roam free, with excellent results.

My point here is this: if you are thinking about an online program for higher education, SNHU has very affordable tuition, is a top-notch school, and (despite what you may think) you can do this. I know you can. I would encourage you, if you have doubts but want to act out that dream of getting a degree in something that SNHU offers online or on campus, to reach out to one of the admissions counselors at the very least and talk to one of them about your goals in life. Do not let the opportunities that life is offering you slip away out of fear, uncertainty, or the classic “I’m-not-good-with-technology” excuse. There are people specifically trained to help you with all of that and more at SNHU. You meet people just like you, whether online or on campus, who have the same insecurities and dreams that you do. You will make friends, find mentors, and experience a better life knowing that you are accomplishing something and moving toward a major life goal.

I have to admit that, after all of the traditional classroom courses that I took over a period of 16 years, I was skeptical at best about taking online higher education courses. It is a lot of work. It is also so much more flexible when you have a busy life and your schedule does not allow for a traditional class or you do not want to relocate. Additionally, as I said before, it is very affordable in terms of higher education costs go. You have an advisor for absolutely everything to walk you through whatever you may be having issues or troubles with. They actually check on you if they do not hear from you for a while. Nobody nags at you, but they do not let you fall through the cracks, either. If you are at all interested, I urge you to find out more. Those commercials on TV about SNHU only scratch the surface of the awesome experience with self-development and career and life-changing goals that you could be a part of right now. If you find a different online university that you like better, go for it! Just please, please, please, don’t let your life slip away without trying to reach your personal goals. No regrets, right?