Kate Asche, associate director of Arts and Humanities at UC Davis Extension, just e-mailed me that my Creative Writing Certificate was being processing in the dean’s office. I will be the program’s first graduate, “The first one over the line.”
To be quite honest, I can’t wait to get my hands on that document. I hope it’s printed on ivory, premium quality paper and that it has my name and the name of the creative writing program displayed in impressive type and has the seal of UC Davis Extension embossed on the bottom somewhere–in gold. I plan to frame it and hang it in a prominent place in my office, where I can see it each time I sit down to write.
Which got me to thinking. Where was my Bachelor of Arts Certificate from Sacramento State College? Where was my Secondary Teaching Credential from the State Board of Education? Five years of angst, dedication, and hard work went into earning these awards, and I didn’t know where they were.
I checked my safe, expecting to find these documents mixed in with the “important stuff,” you know, the birth certificates, passports, and life insurance policies. But no. Though I did found my son’s kindergarten diploma. Go figure. Next, I checked the file cabinet. Ditto. That left the small fire-resistant box under my desk that I often use as a footrest. Holding my breath, I opened the lid.
Bingo! There they were, my BA degree and secondary teaching credential, a bit wrinkled and speckled with mold, but presentable. Which got me to thinking….
Why hadn’t I framed them? Why weren’t they hanging in a prominent place in my office, where I could see them each time I sat down to write? Why did a writing certificate, earned at UC Davis Extension much later in life, mean so much more to me?
The answer that came to mind first (usually the best, I’ve heard) is that I earned my BA and teaching credential in another life, under another name, during the days of my youth, when I was doing all the things I was supposed to be doing and expected to be doing for reasons that made sense at the time. But my creative writing certificate represents something I WANTED TO DO, FELT INSPIRED TO DO, WOULD DO OVER AND OVER AGAIN. This document, even if it doesn’t turn out to be printed on ivory paper in fancy type, with an embossed seal at the bottom, represents something I have done at an age when I know my own mind.
That said, I will frame all three documents and display them with pride in my office where I can see them each time I sit down to write. Because if it weren’t for the foundation I built in my youth, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I am a writer of fiction. And I love it. And it’s something I will devote the rest of my life to.
Can’t get much better than that.
