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I was in �鶹��ƵAPK’s first MFAC class of 2007, just as it was launching. The air in the room was jittery with nervous expectation. No one among us had yet graduated to show us how to break through as an author in the competitive world of children’s literature. We were all taking a leap of faith in �鶹��ƵAPK’s program and in ourselves. Looking back, I simply would not have become the writer I am today without taking that leap into �鶹��ƵAPK’s MFAC. I allowed myself to become immersed in creative experimentation, critical thinking, taking chances and being brave. My faculty mentors believed in me as they pushed me beyond what I thought I could do. They saw me as the writer I could become when I couldn’t quite see it for myself. In those two years at �鶹��ƵAPK, I honed my writing skills, filled up my writer's toolbox, found community in my writing cohort, held full-hearted appreciation for my faculty mentors, and when it was time, graduated with a new mission in life. Mine was a leap of faith to join �鶹��ƵAPK’s MFAC. It was a leap I needed to take to have a writing life. It’s a leap everyone takes who comes to �鶹��ƵAPK’s MFAC program. But isn’t that what writing is all about—being brave and taking that leap.