Um, well, it took:

4 years, being a surf bum in san diego, countless half-finished applications, some half-hearted studying for the GRE, a broken heart, a mended heart, moving across the country (twice), a lot of vodka, 3 "real jobs," some research, 6 weeks of wandering around Europe, and agonizing over a sufficient personal statement for way too long...

but I start grad school at DePaul in 6 weeks. FINALLY. English MA/PhD here I come. Bitches.