Quotes from Goddard Alumni
“...the activity of writing seeks discovery.”
Walter Butts, BFA in Creative Writing
“Goddard has been the foundation for everything I have been fortunate enough to achieve.”
Reuben Jackson, People
“My Graduate work was such a life fulfilling experience, and Goddard was a key element in that being so. If you are thinking about going back to school, you should look into Goddard’s low residency programs - they really fit real life.”
Kelly Johnson, MA in Individualized Studies
“...I yearned for personal intimacy, intellectual freedom, and the opportunity to make a creative contribution...”
Mary Johnson, MFA in Creative Writing
“My experience at Goddard gave me confidence and a powerful feeling that I am capable of being the change I want to see in the world.”
Diane Nichols, MA in Education
“I’ve received tremendous individualized support from my advisors...There are no one-size-fits-all curricula at Goddard; every student comes away from individual advising sessions with something unique.”
James Gapinski, MFA in Creative Writing
“At Goddard, there are no boundaries for your thinking.”
Jamie Simmons,
“I entered Goddard saying, 'Why am I here? I’m not a writer.' I left saying, 'I am a writer, and I do belong.'”
Wallace Wilhoit, MFA in Creative Writing
“Professionally speaking, Goddard prepared me very well to step into the field.”
Hillary Webb, MA in Individualized Studies
“I graduated from Harvard College, but I learned more at Goddard than I ever did there. It’s an amazing model of education and it works.”
Lawrence Goodman, MFA in Creative Writing
“I think Goddard was one of the few places that took seriously the idea that adult college students could make their own minds up about what they wanted to do.”
Evalyn Bates (GJC '37, BA RUP '43), People
“I can support student work in linguistic and non-linguistic media...”
ellie,
“One of the most innovative and nurturing MFA programs you'll ever find. Meeting students where they're at while pushing them to discover and expand the greater potential of their practice.”
Michael Sakamoto, MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts
“The Goddard experience was truly life-changing for me. Goddard gave me space to explore and a professor who took an interest in me as a person and gave me the tools I needed to learn, excel and succeed. ”
Don Mayer,
“Goddard is where I found a real sense of community. It is where I nurtured my still evolving social and political perspectives. It is where I discovered how to learn from life experiences...”
Fred Wilber, Bachelor of Arts
“If you want to be intellectually, personally and spiritually challenged, go to Goddard. If you want an easy degree, go somewhere else.”
Gerald Dryer, BA in Education
“Goddard built me a community to learn in. Looking back, I think that was the college's greatest contribution to my life.”
Cara Powers, MA in Individualized Studies
“Come to Goddard the way you are, the college told me. Leave the way you want to be.”
Virginia Ramus, MFA in Creative Writing
“My Goddard education was a wonderful, formative experience for me. The learning community challenged me to think in new ways.”
Josiah Litant, MA in Education
“Goddard is one of those rare places that makes it easy for you to be the best version of yourself.”
John Christian Sevcik, MFA in Creative Writing
“For the first time in my life I felt unburdened by expectation and given the support and freedom to seamlessly experience life and education at the same time.”
alumni Brian Boyes,
“Goddard is really on the vanguard of creativity; it's different from anywhere else I have ever been.”
Siobhan Dolan, BA in Health Arts and Sciences
“Goddard changed my life, filling me with a life-long sense of curiosity that's led to 3 Oscar nominations and two Emmys! ”
Vincent DiPersio ,
“My book, Makara, could never have happened without my experiences at Goddard College...I deeply send my thanks out to every student and faculty member I grew to know and love.”
Kristen Ringman, MFA in Creative Writing
“Goddard taught me to how to engage with the beautiful and limitless possibilities that result from rigorous, critical engagement and experimentation.”
Christine Goldbeck, BA in Individualized Studies
“I want to help students court the unusual, the unexpected, and I look for ways to push and pull students through to some new adventure in their work.”
nicola morris,
“I came to Goddard as a writer; I leave as an artist.”
Porschia, MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts
“Goddard is a magical place where you can free your mind to explore and imagine without boundaries. ”
Mike Hardee, BA in Individualized Studies
“Goddard allowed me to follow my interests, with the added benefit of wonderful guidance from my advisors. I feel much more confident as an artist, and clearer about my direction.”
Mollie Burke, MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts
“Teaching and writing for me are two activities that bless each other and dare each other.”
Michael Klein, MFA in Creative Writing
“My stay at Goddard was a transformative experience. It changed my entire life. It opened up a world for me.”
Archie Shepp,
“I emerged from Goddard with a creative thesis that became my first published book...”
Shawn Kerrivan, People
“As a Goddard student during the late 1960s, I found the educational atmosphere liberating, flexible and challenging.”
Donald Willcox, People
“At Goddard...I learned more about teaching and learning than I had in my previous 25 years of academia.”
Richard Schramm, People
“At Goddard, I mainly worked one-on-one with my advisor, and I benefited from the intensity and continuity of that communication throughout a semester.”
Kiara Brinkman, MFA in Creative Writing
“I encourage writers to take risks—to be bold—for it is only through risk that we can experience growth.”
Laurie Foos, BFA in Creative Writing
“In all my teaching, I try to make a loving place for people to gather, find courage, and trek into the wilds of their lives.”
Caryn, MA in Individualized Studies
“Goddard is an amazing place that challenges you to dream and do. It absolutely changes your life. You leave as the person you were always meant to be.”
Anne Rutherford, BA in Health Arts and Sciences
“Dear Nation, / What is claim, what is anchor? / What myth stitches / history to place?”
Monica, BFA in Creative Writing
“As a result of my Goddard studies, I am a stronger woman.”
Lynn Larned, MA in Individualized Studies
“I believe that there are no limits to what you can do on the stage, screen or page. ”
Deborah Breevoort, People
“One of the most enlightening, transformative experiences of my life; I have now completed my PhD—something I never would have dreamed of pursuing were it not for Goddard.”
Tammy Hanks, MA in Psychology and Counseling
“In my first semester I quickly found that the faculty resources, particularly in regard to recommended reading, spoke precisely to what enriches my thoughts.”
Claudia Turnbull, MA in Individualized Studies
“Goddard's program was the only one I found where you could start by doing a whole semester of research, come up with a curriculum, and then put that into action.”
Sara Barber-Just, MA in Education
“Writing is serious business that also requires serious play. Experimentation with subjects, forms and voices are essential practices. ”
Sara Michas-Martin, Bachelor of Fine Arts
“I am a First Amendment absolutist. I believe in creative freedom. Let the writing answer to the writer's vision, and damn the torpedos. ”
Ryan Boudinot,
“My Goddard experience has given me the confidence to know that I can always find the answers I seek.”
Sebastian Marino, MA in Individualized Studies
“A friend showed the work I did at Goddard to a 60-year-old woman with MS. She said my thesis gave her courage every day of her life.”
Rhonda Patzia, MA in Individualized Studies
“My overall experience at Goddard was unlike any other institution of higher learning. For the first time in my life, I was in control of my education. ”
Roxxane Joseph, MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts
“My performances challenge conventional beliefs about race, sexual orientation, and gender in contemporary culture.”
Danielle Abrams, MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts
“Goddard allows me to address the looming issues we face in the world today with knowledge, an open heart, and a grounded sense of being.”
Lexi Heiser,
“Goddard College was the perfect fit for me, a woman in her mid-fifties, who was told 10 years prior by a neurologist regarding injuries sustained in a car accident, that I would never finish my college studies. ”
Desiree, MA in Individualized Studies
“I support Goddard College's Annual Fund because I believe in Goddard.”
Chris Pratt,
“As an older student I was hesitant to return to school but my experience at Goddard was a gift where I felt both understood and nurtured in the process. ”
Richard Brunner, BA in Health Arts and Sciences
“Not only did I become a better writer with Goddard’s help, I became a better person, and one clear about her role in the vast universe.”
Elizabeth Rollins, MFA in Creative Writing
“At Goddard you design a study plan each semester, keeping in mind what your life is like. I do a little bit of schoolwork every day. The flexibility is there.”
Reggie Harris, BA in Individualized Studies
“My time as a Goddard student has helped me find the courage, clarity, and integrity to use my words to honor my self, my experience, and my message.”
Karla Haas Moskowitz, MFA in Creative Writing
“I encourage students to pay attention to analogous discoveries they make in their own life processes. My basic belief is that any discovery actually reveals the identity of self. Connecting with that power is, for me, the promise of soul.”
Beth Hagens, People
“Goddard allows you to take the talents you have, and come out with something you really love.”
Mary Ellen Dale, MA in Psychology and Counseling
“Goddard College gives writers a kind of freedom they can't get in any other program in the country, and the kind of close reading and objective inquiry you can't get doing it alone.”
Cara Hoffman, MFA in Creative Writing
“I believe community, connection, and developing a spiritual understanding are important to the process of growth and that both student and teacher can be changed in the process of education. ”
Jim Sparrell,
“The Goddard model is about human development and human potential, about creating learning experiences that cannot be measured by standardized testing, performance, grade point average, or the prestige of position.”
Dr. Barbara Vacarr, President's Office
“My creative and intellectual interests hover around hybrid texts—works that blur boundaries between fiction, poetry, the essay, visual poetry, and image...”
Jill Magi, BFA in Creative Writing
“Being able to work toward a master's degree without having to uproot myself was such a blessing.”
Anna Hawkins, MA in Individualized Studies
“My experience at Goddard changed the way I see and know the world.”
Jacqueline Elmo, MA in Individualized Studies
“Goddard introduced me to people who were serious about their writing, and helped me to find the critical skills I needed to continue to grow. ”
Lowell Williams, MFA in Creative Writing
“My job is to...be a part of your conversation about how your writing connects with the bigger world around you.”
Jocelyn, BFA in Creative Writing
“Goddard asks more of you than other schools—you are required to really engage with your learning.”
Leah Bry,
“At Goddard, every graduate's work is respected.”
Jesse Sage,
“ It was only while on faculty at Goddard that I undid my head and connected to my whole being, since that is what our pedagogy is about.”
Karen Werner,
“I can’t say enough wonderful things about Goddard. I’m so grateful I found it. It was just the perfect support system to help me pursue my passions. ”
Neely Cohen,
“The program here gave me hands-on experience. I interned at a family clinic where I was able to put into practice all I had learned.”
Mary Ellen Dale, MA in Psychology and Counseling
“Goddard’s emphasis on diversity and individuality really appealed to me.”
Matthew Quick, MFA in Creative Writing
“I found my time at Goddard to be extremely rewarding, challenging, and fulfilling. The residencies are the highlight of the program. Within one week you grow as an individual.”
Jill Langford, MA in Education
“As a teacher of writing, I have tried to develop spaces in which writing – its extensions and evolutions – feel completely possible.”
Bhanu Kapil quote, MFA in Creative Writing
“I went to Goddard for more than just resuscitating my writing career, I went there to kick-start my life. I accomplished my main goal in attending Goddard which was to complete a second novel.”
Chris Millis, MFA in Creative Writing
“Goddard was a fantastic experience and very liberating for me. It is an environment where I could take risks in ways I had not found possible elsewhere.”