At an information session for Arcadia University’s MFA in Creative Writing a few years ago, Program Director Joshua Isard told prospective students that the program would teach them how to build writing into their lives. It’s something that resonated with Veronica Murphy ’23MFA. “That’s exactly what I was looking for because I have a full-time job and a toddler.”

The most significant draw for Murphy, though, was the study abroad aspect. Arcadia’s MFA candidates participate in a week-long residency in Edinburgh, Scotland. She says this was 90 percent of what led her to Arcadia.

Murphy, who hails from Duval County, Fla., by way of Kyiv, Ukraine, is now in the home stretch and is laser-focused on finishing her book and graduating. As for future plans?

“I would love to get an agent, publish more stories, and make writing my career. Even if none of that pans out, I have no regrets. My Arcadia experience has been awesome. I have made lifelong friends, published a story in my dream magazine, and wrote a whole book.”

Also on the post-grad agenda is collecting and restoring typewriters, which Murphy used to do and says she would love to get back into.