A Literal Master of Science
In which I relate the journey that turned me into a writer.
Author’s Note: This is the first time I show my face in any Substack-related thing. So enjoy my beautiful face, lol.
Last Sunday, I attended the graduation ceremony for my Master’s Degree from the University of Maryland. It was a strange experience, having to undergo what I went through almost ten years ago when I got my Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University.
But I’m not here to talk about my day career. Instead, I want to talk about how this particular part of my life ended up turning me into a bona fide writer.
In order to do that, I’m going to rewind a couple years back.
I have always been interested in writing stories. But being a naturally introverted person, I was never comfortable in sharing my writing with others. At some point after I graduated from Rutgers, I decided to write a book, a science fiction novel to be precise. I was able to get almost 90,000 words in before I gave up; I was about halfway through the plot. Looking back, it was a blessing in disguise. That book was a mess; at the time, I simply did not have the discipline to write a novel. I thought then, that it was the end of my writing career.
Soon after, I got a job for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). I worked there for about five years, and my book was forgotten. Of course, I continued to come up with various story ideas and write them down in digital notepads in my free time, but there was nothing serious. I never seriously entertained the idea of releasing my writings to the public.
About three years ago, I decided to enroll in the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) for my Master’s Degree. I figured a remote university would have been a better fit for someone with an actual job. My field of study was Management with a specialization in Homeland Security Management. Why? Because I was in the TSA at the time and that was the field that I had real experience working in.
At some point, I resigned from the TSA because I was planning to move to Indonesia, but that crazy 2020 event happened and put a hold on my plans. I’m still living in the United States, but I continued my studies. The result was the video above.
But how did my studies turn me into a writer?
Like any post-graduate educational programs, my Master’s Program included a lot of research and writing. Even more than my Bachelor’s Degree. Whether it be discussion posts, essays, or presentations, I have to be able to regularly produce something for the class.
Now that I think about it, I found the Graduate School experience to be bizarre. When I first started, it was somewhat a struggle to produce something. I dreaded long essays in which I have to put in 10 pages of double-spaced words. But by the end, I was able to write a 20 page report with little problem.
When I finished the classes required for my diploma, I found out that I needed to wait a few months until my official graduation. It was then that I found myself with a lot of time on my hands.
How I ended up putting pen into paper for Inquisitor’s Promise is a complicated story that I’ll save for another day. However, it would never have come to be if I had never enrolled in Graduate School. Those assignments given to me by the UMGC had accustomed me to writing on a consistent basis.
When I finally had no more classes to go through, I found that I needed an outlet for my writing/creative energy. Thankfully, I had been nursing my love for fiction-writing for years. And so, I finally wrote a finished book — just as I had dreamed all those years ago.
It’s ironic — going to the TSA basically killed my first attempt at a book, but it set into motion the events that led me into finishing one. If someone were to ask me where I can see the hand of Providence at work in my life, this would be my answer.
And I’m sure that I’m not the only one who had experienced crazy events where everything ended up fitting together. Such is God’s Providence in this universe.
Until next time,
Michael P. Marpaung
Do you like this blogpost? Then check out my works of fiction at ‘Germanicus Publishing’:
