I am ready to write my college essay! Not really. That is long, long behind me, but after helping out at the college essay workshop at TC this afternoon, I feel as inspired as the 25 or so students who showed up. A range of volunteers from TC staff and alums to journalism professionals showed up as well at the gentle urging of TC parent Karen Schwarz who is organizing the 4 session workshop.
We explored how to look at ourselves objectively from the outside and realized that with the right hook almost anything can be turned into a story as long as the writer inserts his/her personality. It's all about being specific, painting pictures, demonstrating passion and getting the admissions officer to ask more questions.
Used to working with younger students, I was not expecting the level of passion and commitment I saw in these students of all backgrounds. Never mind that at first they were painfully reluctant to offer their contributions publicly. Kudos to Karen for creating an atmosphere where students felt they could experiment without having their heads bitten off. Good food always helps too! Writing burns a lot of calories, believe it or not.
Good luck seniors!
