Alexander Dunford

Today, I am celebrating my first day of spring break. My sub-term of three classes, 9 credit hours, taken at once in shortened 8-week increments are over. Now, I am back to just taking two classes at once every sub-term, and I have never felt so relieved. What made this start of the school year challenging was, right at the beginning my daughter was born, and I had to balance a heavy, my heaviest thus far, workload while adjusting to a second-child. I even had to put my real estate license on-hold. Obviously, I survived, but I came out panting and out of breath.

By the end of the year, I’ll have my degree. I honestly don’t want school to ever end—I have never been so happy in my life. I love learning (Straight A’s), but I will make myself ready for the new start this degree brings me: my gateway to grad school (where I am considering a Masters in Religion or an MFA), and a professional writing career. I’m definitely on course to be an amateur C.S. Lewis.

I am blessed to have such a supportive family—my wife, my mother, and my sister. I could not do it without their affirmations.

All of this is for my family. I have to be the man God made me to be, not what the world wanted of me, if I am going to raise children to believe, they too, can reach for the stars. Limiting beliefs (cautions) are dangerous, but that is a post for another day.

What’s new?

Well, I have began creating my own Harry Potter children’s book for my children. I am doing the illustrating, which is teaching me awesome things in graphic arts, and, of course, I am writing it too. Here is a sample of one of my characters I drew on the computer, with a mouse, the other day. I need practice, but I like the idea of where it is going.

There is something motivating in knowing that my children will learn to read on a book I made just for them.

As for anything else, I am just doing the same-old-same: reading tons of philosophy and French literature. Of course, now I am also writing better poetry—that helps with my lingering war with depression.