T-minus 60 Minutes

 

T- minus 60 minutes to my very first MFA Creative Writing class.

No one prepares you for this big moment. Especially since we are currently living with a backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been going on for 6 months now. Daphne Kiplagat did give me a pep talk. ‘Let’s write’, she said. Brief and straight to the point. She’s an MFA student at FAU; a writer, story-teller and literary giant on whose shoulders I now stand. We hold hands as we enjoy this beautiful world of literature where great things await.

It’s 12:00 midnight. I just got off the phone. I was talking to my dear friend Julie. I had asked her to call me and be my alarm so that I do not oversleep. I’ve had a busy day. The weather has morphed severally like it usually does in Ngong, Kenya. It was drizzling in the morning, then some sunshine in the evening and now it is cold. So cold that I can feel it in my fingertips. After an early dinner, I watched an episode of my favorite medical drama The Good Doctor and took a nap. The mission was to wake up and get ready, at least an hour before class- 1:10am.

‘This is not for the faint-hearted, you know,’ Jules says with a hearty laugh. ‘But you will hack it,’ she reassures me through the phone. Pretty sure she’s talking about the night shift but it also applies to MFA. Julie is a Telecommunications Engineer, so she works night shifts mostly. She can sense my nervousness, I think.  I’m a bubbling brook of emotions right now. Excited, thrilled, edgy, sleepy and excited. Yes, twice as much! We digress and talk about graphic design, illustrations and animations. I love to sketch and draw. So this conversation is going well. At least I can feel myself relax and ease up a bit. Python, java, coding, programming…we really get into it. I’m now fully alert.

I have always been a night owl. That’s no problem for me at all. Back in high school, I was for sure the last one to go to bed in our dormitory, in boarding school. In campus (undergrad) I basically functioned better at night. That’s when I’d complete my projects and assignments, chill with my friends while moon gazing and yes, binge-watch entire seasons of Game of Thrones through the night. This, right here, right now, feels different. A good kind of different. My mind and my heart are in sync. Like when you open a vault and the grooves and bolts lock, then there’s a click and the pressure eases. That’s how accurate my intuition feels right now. I want this, I got this.

I brew a cup of Emrok tea, chai as we call it. Stir in some Marigat Gold honey. The dogs are barking outside. Other dogs from the neighborhood chime in. They love company. Maybe they are not used to seeing the lights on this late at night or early morning. I’m layered up in warm clothes, some socks and a throw blanket. It’s a chilly, overcast night. I cozy up into the chair at the desk and power up my computer, switch on the desk lamp and unstrap my leather-bound notebook. My pen sits eager, ready for some action. Phew! It’s nerve racking! A sip of chai should calm my nerves. T-minus 10 minutes. The thumping in my ears gets louder. This is it. Here we go.

I adjust my camera and launch Zoom. A semester like no other. This is it. Oh, wait; it’s 6pm in Florida! I’m way too early. Almost logged in an hour in advance. Time zone difference legiterally needs a calculator. Oi! Guess I’ll be waiting until 2:10 am. More chai?

-Gloria J is first year MFA candidate at FAU. Her works focus on pre-colonial Africa, lifestyle, health and environment. She’s also a book lover, photojournalist and illustrator. She loves to try new recipes in the kitchen and bask in the mid-morning sun.