Image: JR P About a year a half ago, when I first started talking to my undergraduate writing teachers about applying to MFAs, I recall saying: “I’ll go to a two year program, because that’ll mean less time out of the job market.” The professor smiled, from the corner of his mouth, like he was prone to do when someone wasn’t quite right, but he liked their efforts. He said, “What’s three years, if you’re already going to be there for three years?” I was younger then, more focused on five-year plans than realizing what kind of growth I needed to make as a writer. Maybe I didn’t realize the value of time until I actually started my MFA, when I saw the changes in my writing, just from being in a program for a few months. But time is really what so many writers are chasing after, hoping for just an hour between responsibilities to jot down the ideas from last night’s dream, this morning’s shower. For many of us, this is why the …