Sarah Certa ’10
I graduated from Winona State University in 2010 with a bachelor’s
in English and a handful of grad school applications. I didn’t know
what I would do next except that I wanted to write poems and
stay at home to raise my then-one-year-old daughter.
In the fall of 2010 I was accepted into the low-residency MFA
program at Vermont College of Fine Arts, which has enabled me to
be both a full-time graduate student and a stay-at-home mom.
But I needed to generate an income, and after pursuing several odd-
jobs I started my own photography business. I’ve always loved
making photographs, and offering my services to others allows
me to work from home as well as it feeds my incessant impulse
to create.
I never sit still for long, though. Currently I also intern for a
small poetry press and contribute as an editor for a literary review.
It’s important to me to immerse myself in the creative writing
community as much as I can.
Because I’m mostly my own
boss some days I still feel
like I don’t know what
I’m doing. But then
I remember I’m
completing my first
full-length book of
poems, soon I’ll
graduate with an
MFA, and I’ve been
doing it all with
my daughter at my
side, watching her
grow, inside and out.
Sarah is a regular contributor
to the magazine.
WSU Currents •
Winter 2012
15