like many folks in this sub, freaking out over transcripts and letters of recommendation!
hi, 27F here, graduated from undergrad in 2021. for as long as i can remember i wanted to write, then somewhere around my teen years i started wrestling with my mental health and self esteem. i convinced myself that i couldn’t do it, that my writing wasn’t good enough, and because of that, it was even easier to convince myself that i didn’t want it (the most insidious lie of all i think.) i’ll spare everyone the details of my sob story, but things didn’t get better for me in college. i had a lot of personal struggles, experienced some of the most fraught years of my life, and just barely managed to graduate with a journalism degree and a 2.3 GPA.
lately i’ve sort of been coming home to myself, and coming home to writing as a byproduct of that. this is always what i’ve wanted, i just couldn’t admit it to myself again until now. realistically, i’m a few years away from being ready to apply to any MFA programs (and even that timeframe may be generous.) but i know it’s something i want for myself eventually. i’ve seen folks on here say that GPA doesn’t matter, but how much truth is there to that? would it be wise for me to take some college courses to bump that number up? and what worries me more is letters of recommendation - i always got lots of praise from my journalism professors on the actual quality of my writing, but you don’t get a 2.3 GPA by being a star student. i doubt any of them would be willing to vouch for me. has anyone been in this position? who wrote your recommendation letters, if so?
i realize that i’m absolutely getting ahead of myself and catastrophizing, trying to just focus on re-establishing some creative habits and building confidence in my work for now. but i’m also the type of person who needs to map everything out as much as i possibly can, and i know i’ll continue to spiral over this, so i thought it couldn’t hurt to ask. thank you if you’ve read this far :)