Testimonial
John Kachuba
IMA Graduate,1996
Hometown: Loveland, OH
It wasn't until I was in my mid-forties
that I started thinking about furthering my education in creative writing.
Already a working writer for several years, I began to pay attention
to how often themes related to Native American culture and history were
surfacing in my work. These were topics I had been interested in all
my life, but suddenly they were beginning to gain importance in my writing.
I decided that I wanted to explore
the works of modern Native American writers and see what
relationships, if any, existed between their writing and my own. Further,
I wondered
what specific techniques or styles could be learned from
these writers that would make my own work better.
In addition to my interest
in Native
American literature, I was also interested in learning how
to write better short stories in general; the short story genre
was one that
I had found to be particularly difficult to master. So, my
goal in furthering my education became centered around the
short story with something of
a specialization in Native American writing.
Where would I find a school with a
program that would include those subjects?
Antioch was the only school I found
that would allow me the freedom to learn what I wanted to learn, what
was important to me and my work, rather than what was important to some
advisory board or that met the established requirements of a particular
school. At my age, I had no interest in being spoon-fed what somebody
else thought was important for me to learn.
The freedom to choose my own course
of study, to define specific courses, and, yes, even to pick my own
faculty was exhilarating. I was able to enlist some well-known writers,
whose work I had admired, to serve as my faculty: Among others, Lee
K. Abbott as my chairman, Barry Hannah and Louis Owens as evaluators.
The relationships I developed with these writers, and the lessons I
learned from them, were invaluable. Three years later, I am still in
touch with them. I don't think these experiences could have been replicated
in any other graduate program.
The IMA program is not meant for everyone,
but it perfectly suited my purposes. My experience tells me that the
type of student who will flourish in the Antioch program is one who
is well-organized, is an independent thinker and problem-solver, and
who is highly motivated. Also, a student in this program needs to be
analytical and unafraid to criticize his own work, since it is the student
who designs his own courses, determines what he expects to learn from
them, and then evaluates his own accomplishments against his goals.
Even now, with the program three years
behind me, I find that the ability to criticize and evaluate my program
has proven particularly useful in my life as a writer. I have learned
to become a more critical reader of my own work, a better editor, and
ultimately, a better writer.
The Antioch program is a wonderful
opportunity for exceptional students.
