I just compared the entire MFA application process to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:

The more I consider it, the more I begin to see the same hope, the hard knocks, the tease of an all-you-can-lick fantasy world, and the cruel, dispassionate torture of the oompa loompas, all under the heartless supervision of one reclusive factory owner.

Now I turn my attention to Tom Petty’s “Don’t Do me Like That,” as I begin to scour the interwebs (and my brain) for other pop cultural references relevant to my situation.