Tony Abbot posted a link to Lee Martin's blog post about getting the most out of an MFA program, and I have to link to it, because it's just so true. It's written from the perspective of a full-residency program, but is also applicable to low-res programs. Maybe even more so, because residencies are the times when community is created. That's when visiting writers come, when seminars happen, when your work is workshopped and you participate in the critique of others' work.

We're all temped to slack off, to not attend everything, to not be fully engaged in seminars and workshops, to not spend quite as much time on critiquing, to not attend readings. The bigger the program, the easier it is to slip under the radar. Some people do it out of a sense of "I'm only going to do what I think I'll get the most out of." Others may simply feel isolated because they haven't made an effort to get to know people, or engage with them.

But Martin is right: to get the most out of a program, you have to make an effort. It's your opportunity, to take advantage of the community and support so many creative people are dying for. It irritates me when I hear students in my MFA program complain that they "didn't hear something" because they weren't there (because they didn't see the immediate relevance, or wanted to go out, or whatever), or complain that someone else "never" does something, so why should they... take responsibility for yourself. You're the only one you can be responsible for, and the only one who can make the effort to get as much out of a program as possible in the short time you'll be there (and it will feel way too short). Focus on your creative journey, suck the marrow out of any opportunity you have to learn or make a connection.