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Why You Should Approach Your College Essays as Storytelling

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Christopher Kilner in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

Generating ideas, organizing your ideas, common themes across essay types, assembling a narrative.

College essays can seem intimidating. What do you write about? How should you write it? When you think about your college essays as an opportunity to tell your personal story—your struggles, your passions, your accomplishments—they will be more memorable to admissions officers. This article will take you through the process of approaching your college essays as storytelling, from coming up with ideas to planning and writing them. 

Before you start writing your college essays and before you even start planning, you have to first figure out what you think would be an interesting story to tell.

For a personal statement essay, for example, you can start by thinking about your main passions. You might be surprised how far brainstorming about even a simple interest can take you. Maybe you really love nature or a particular animal. Where does that idea lead? What’s a story or a memory you have that demonstrates this love of nature? From there, you can begin to see your ideas and potential topics take shape.

Ideally, you should be able to come up with at least two different concepts for your personal statement. Start to sketch out where you can see these concepts going—you may want to draw in different passions or think that sharing an anecdote would work best to illustrate your point. No matter your storytelling angle, keep in mind that the essay is about the fundamentals of who you are and what you want to do.

After you’ve put your ideas onto paper, you can organize them. An outline will help you see clearly where the essay will go. You might find that a narrative essay that you thought would work well is actually a bit of a dead end or doesn’t really speak much to who you are. Don’t be afraid to get feedback on your outlines. The opinions of a friend or a teacher can help you look at your ideas in a different light.

Once you have more of a plan for your essay, you can think about whether you want to add more, just to make the story more interesting. The personal statement is limited to 650 words. For a first draft, it’s better to go above the word count than come up short. Editing something down is easier than racking your brain to come up with more to say.

After you’ve come up with several different ideas, you should be able to write a large amount for your initial draft. You can even find ways to make them all work together! Your life has involved different elements; your essay can have multiple ideas in it too.

Outlining and planning ahead will make writing your personal statement much easier, and it will also help you when it comes time to write supplemental college essays . If you’ve been able to identify and plot out your different ideas and passions, you’ll be able to see more easily how different parts of your life come together.

When you look at your supplemental essay prompts, you should try to figure out how you can tie them to your personal statement. You’re working to create a cohesive picture of yourself that you can present to an admissions committee . Sticking to common themes will make the writing process a bit easier.

It helps to know what supplemental essays you’ll be writing before you draft your personal statement. You can plan for the topic of one supplemental essay, and you’ll know to drop a line that relates to it in your personal statement.

Referring to your list of passions and ideas will provide you with essay topics for the supplemental essays. If you’re athletic and want to use a story from your sporting career as a supplemental essay while writing your main essay about something else, you can put a line or two about your athletic history in your personal statement. As an organizational tool, you can try color-coding each particular idea. Then, when drafting, highlight each idea as it comes up, so you can see what you’re incorporating into your writing. 

The common themes that you touch on in multiple essays will enable colleges to see the different elements of your personality and your journey and how they all work together. In writing your particular story, you want to present a cohesive narrative that also provides the fullest picture of yourself.

After you’ve listed all your many ideas and outlined a few of your essays, you’ll be able to see what kind of story you want to write about yourself.

If you’re thinking about doing many different things but feel unsure of where to begin, it’s helpful to think chronologically. What were you passionate about as a child? Where did your interests first start, and how did you act on them? Thinking about these things might help you come up with a special anecdote to share. You can then start to think about where you’ve ended up: how are you acting on your interests now, and what do you want your future to look like?

It can feel like putting a puzzle together. You’re trying to tell a story, so you want to build up a narrative in a way that makes sense. Maybe you visited the zoo often as a kid and were always reading books about animals and nature. Now, as you prepare to go to college, you’ve taken many science classes and know that you want to go into conservation and environmental studies.

Your personal story doesn’t have to be particularly unique. Don’t worry that you’re not special or that you’re sharing things that people have heard before. What matters most is that you tell a story that’s true to who you are and that you tell it well.

Your writing matters and how you structure your essay matters. If you’ve already done most of the planning, you should be able to assemble a coherent and interesting narrative . You should concern yourself with how accurately you’re portraying yourself, your interests, and your goals. That’s what’s really important in writing your college essays.

Nobody else has the exact same passions you do or the exact same life that you’ve lived. You shouldn’t be afraid to take pride in yourself and your accomplishments. That’s what college essays are for! Writing them is a great opportunity to lay out all your different thoughts and passions and gain greater insight into who you are as a person. When it comes time for you to write, you’ll know what story you want to present, and you’ll also have a better idea of who you are.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Crafting Compelling Narrative Essays: Storytelling Techniques for Students

Narrative essays offer a unique platform for students to convey their stories, experiences, and viewpoints. Unlike other forms of academic writing that demand strict adherence to factual information and formal structure, narrative essays provide a creative avenue for personal expression. They allow writers to connect with their readers through the art of storytelling, bringing to life their experiences, observations, and insights. This article aims to guide students in harnessing the power of storytelling to create compelling narrative essays. By mastering certain storytelling techniques, students can transform their essays from mere collections of events to captivating stories that resonate with their audience.

Understanding Narrative Essays

A narrative essay is essentially a story told from a personal perspective. It involves characters, a setting, a plot, and often a moral or conclusion drawn from the events narrated. Unlike expository or argumentative essays, narrative essays typically focus on personal experiences and are less rigid in structure and style. This freedom allows for greater creativity and expression, making them a favorite among students and a common assignment in academic settings.

The essence of a narrative essay lies in its storytelling aspect. It’s not just about presenting facts but about weaving these facts into a coherent and engaging story. The challenge for students is to maintain the balance between being informative and creative, which is where storytelling techniques play a crucial role. A narrative essay should not only inform the reader but also connect with them on an emotional level. This connection is what makes narrative essays stand out and is often what students aim to achieve when they seek help from services like Writepaper , which guides them in crafting impactful narratives.

Storytelling Elements in Narrative Essays

Effective storytelling in narrative essays revolves around several key elements:

1. Character. Every narrative essay needs a protagonist, often the writer themselves. Developing a well-rounded character with relatable traits and emotions is essential for creating a connection with the reader. 2. Setting. The backdrop of the story sets the tone and context. Whether it’s a physical location, a historical period, or a cultural background, the setting can significantly influence the mood of the essay. 3. Plot. This is the sequence of events in the essay. A well-structured plot with a clear beginning, middle, and end helps keep the reader engaged. Including a climax or a turning point makes the narrative more compelling. 4. Conflict. The challenges or problems faced by the characters are crucial in creating suspense and interest. Conflict can be external (against other characters or forces) or internal (within the character’s mind). 5. Resolution. How the conflict is resolved forms the crux of the narrative. The resolution brings closure to the story and often carries the underlying message or moral of the essay. Each of these elements contributes to the overall effectiveness of the narrative essay, making the story engaging and memorable for the reader.

Developing a Strong Narrative Voice

The narrative voice is the perspective through which the story is told, and it plays a crucial role in how the story is received by the reader. A strong, distinctive narrative voice can make an essay stand out. To develop this voice, students should consider the following:

1. Choose the Right Perspective. First-person narratives create intimacy, while third-person narratives offer more flexibility in describing events and characters. 2. Be Authentic. The voice should reflect the writer’s personality and experiences. An authentic voice resonates more with readers. 3. Consider Tone and Style. The tone should match the content of the essay. A serious story might require a formal tone, while a humorous one can be more casual and conversational. Developing a unique narrative voice takes practice, but it significantly impacts the essay’s tone and the reader’s engagement.

Creating Vivid Descriptions

Descriptive language is a powerful tool in narrative essays, enabling writers to create vivid imagery and engage the reader’s senses. Here are some techniques for crafting vivid descriptions:

• Use Sensory Details. Describe what is seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched to paint a clear picture in the reader’s mind. • Show, Don’t Tell. Instead of stating facts, show them through descriptions and actions. For example, instead of saying, “It was a stormy night,” describe the howling wind and torrential rain. • Be Specific. General descriptions can be dull. Specific details add depth and authenticity to the narrative. Balancing descriptive writing with the narrative’s pace is key. Overly detailed descriptions can slow down the story, while too few can leave it feeling flat and unengaging.

Building Emotional Connection

An emotional connection with the reader is what elevates a narrative essay from good to great. This connection is achieved when the reader feels invested in the story and can empathize with the characters and their experiences.

Here are strategies to build this connection:

• Use Relatable Experiences. Choose topics or situations that are likely to resonate with your audience. Sharing common human experiences, such as triumphs and failures, can evoke a sense of empathy. • Express Emotions. Clearly expressing the emotions experienced by the characters, especially the narrator, helps readers connect on an emotional level. Show how the events affected the characters emotionally, not just physically. • Create Tension and Release. Building tension, be it through conflict, challenges, or uncertainty, and then providing a release keeps readers engaged and creates an emotional payoff. By focusing on these elements, students can make their narratives more impactful and emotionally engaging, fostering a deeper connection with their readers.

Structuring Your Narrative Essay

A well-structured narrative essay helps maintain clarity and ensures that the story flows logically. The structure typically involves:

1. Introduction. Set the scene and introduce the characters and the premise. Begin with a hook to capture the reader’s attention. 2. Body. This is where the plot unfolds. Describe the events in a logical sequence, and include the conflict and build-up to the climax. 3. Conclusion. Offer a resolution to the conflict and reflect on the story’s significance. End with a closing statement that leaves a lasting impression on the reader. Good structure is essential for guiding the reader through the story without confusion, keeping them engaged from start to finish.

Editing and Refining Your Essay

Editing and refining are crucial stages in crafting a compelling narrative essay. This process involves:

• Reviewing Content. Ensure that all the elements of a good story are present and effectively conveyed. Check for clarity in the narrative and consistency in the characters and plot. • Proofreading. Pay attention to grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. These can distract from the story and affect the essay’s overall quality. • Seeking Feedback. Getting feedback from peers, teachers, or a mentor can provide new insights and help identify areas that need improvement. Editing and refining can transform a good narrative essay into an excellent one, making this stage as important as the initial writing process.

Final Thoughts

Crafting a compelling narrative essay involves more than just recounting events; it requires skillful storytelling, emotional engagement, clear structure, and careful editing. By employing these techniques, students can elevate their narrative essays, making them not just assignments to be completed but stories to be cherished and remembered. Just as one might turn to the best paper writing service for guidance in academic writing, mastering the art of narrative essay writing requires practice, feedback, and a willingness to learn and grow as a storyteller.

In conclusion, narrative essays offer a unique opportunity for students to express themselves creatively and connect with their readers. By utilizing storytelling techniques effectively, students can create essays that are not only academically successful but also personally fulfilling and engaging for their audience.

College Essays That Worked: See Examples

Experts say a good college essay features a student's voice and personality.

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Students should know themselves and write authoritatively so they can share a sense of their lives with admissions officers.

Many college applications require a personal essay, which can be daunting for students to write.

But a few simple tips, some introspection and insight into what admissions officers are looking for can help ease the pressure. U.S. News has compiled several college essay examples that helped students get into school. Shared by admissions staff or referenced from admissions websites, these essays stand out, they say, because the student voices shine, helping the school get to know the applicants.

"Students can get caught in the trap of overthinking it and write the essay that's going to impress the admissions committee," says Andrew Strickler, dean of admission and financial aid at Connecticut College . "The best essays, the ones that really pop, are the ones that come across as authentic and you really hear the student's voice."

The essay gives schools a feel for how a student writes, but it's the content of the essay that matters most, admissions professionals say. In other words, while it's important to showcase sound grammar and writing, it's even more important to showcase your character and personality.

"I care more about their stories than if it is a perfect five paragraph essay," David Graves, interim director of admissions at the University of Georgia , wrote in an email.

Many schools give students a wide range of topics to choose from, which experts say can be beneficial in helping students find their voice.

While you want your voice to be apparent, it's wise to be aware of your tone, says Allen Koh, CEO of Cardinal Education, an admissions consulting company that works with students to craft and revise their college essays. The goal of the essay is to make a strong case for why you’re different from all the other applicants, not necessarily why you’re better, he adds.

"You have to pass the genuine likability test. Sometimes kids are so busy trying to brag or tell their story that they’re forgetting they have to sound like a likable person. That’s a very simple test, but it’s really important."

Good essays tend to be "positively emotional," he says. It's best to avoid using sarcasm because it tends to fail on college essays.

Any humor used "really has to be a very positive, witty humor, not sarcastic," which he says can be hard to pick up on in an essay.

The Perils of Using AI for Essays

Choosing the right tone can be a challenge for many students, but admissions pros encourage them not to take shortcuts to completing their essay.

Though some college professors have embraced artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT in their classrooms, Strickler says he's begun to stress in recent talks with high school audiences the importance of original work and avoiding the use of AI tools like ChatGPT to craft college essays. While it might produce a technically well-written essay and save time, your unique voice will be stripped away, and it may leave a bad impression on admissions offices as well as prevent them from truly getting to know you, he says.

Instead, Graves says, start early and take time to write it yourself, then "actually read it out loud to someone ... to listen to the rhythm and words as they are 'read.'"

Each spring on his admissions blog , Graves shares an enrolling student's essay and why it was strong. The essay excerpted below, shared with the permission of the University of Georgia, uses descriptive word choice and gives the admissions office deep insight into the student's life, their love for writing and their connection to their family, Graves says.

It was chosen as an example "to show our applicant pool how to express themselves through similes, sensory language (words that capture the senses of the reader), and emotion," Graves wrote on the blog.

Here's how the essay opened:

If you asked me what object I’d save in a burning fire, I’d save my notebook. My notebook isn’t just any notebook, it’s bubble gum pink with purple tie dye swirls, and has gold coil binding it together. But more importantly, it’s the key that unlocked my superpower, sending me soaring into the sky, flying high above any problems that could ever catch me. However, my notebook is simply the key. My real power rests in the depths of my mind, in my passion for writing. But to know how my powers came to be (not from a spider or a special rock), I must travel back to the first spark.

Four years ago, I wrote my first 6-word memoir in my eighth-grade rhetoric class. Inspired by my father’s recently diagnosed terminal illness, I wrote “Take his words, don’t take him”. It was as if all the energy of my powers surged into six meaningful words meant to honor the man that I would soon lose to a villain known as ALS. This was the first time I felt my writing. Three years ago, my dad’s disease severely progressed. The ALS seized his ability to speak and locked it in a tower with no key. The only way we could communicate was with an old spiral notebook. ...

The essay counted down each year ("three years ago," "two years ago," etc.) and concluded with this paragraph:

One month ago, I needed my powers more than ever before. I needed them to convey who I truly am for the chance at the future of my dreams as a writer. Except this time, I didn’t need the key because my powers grew into fruition. Instead, I opened my laptop only to type out one sentence… “If you asked me what object to save in a burning fire, I’d save my notebook.”

This style of storytelling, which shows not just the triumph at the end but also the conflict, struggle and evolution in between, makes for great essays, Koh says.

"The student also used an intriguing timeline (counting down years and month) to tell their story, and showed how she had grown," Graves says.

This next essay, by an anonymous writer and shared on Connecticut College 's admissions page , "manages to capture multiple aspects of the writer's personality, while not becoming overly cluttered or confusing," writes Susanna Matthews, associate director of admission at the school.

Every person who truly knows me believes that I was born in the wrong century. They call me "an old soul" because I'm a collector, attracted to books, antiques, vinyl records and anything from the 80's. But they also think I am unique in other ways. I believe it is because of the meaningful connections to my two languages and two cultures.

When we moved into our first American house, I was excited to decorate my new room. The first thing I knew I needed was a place to organize my most cherished possessions I have collected throughout my life. I searched and finally found a bookshelf with twenty-five thick sections that I could build and organize alphabetically ... Each shelf holds important objects from different parts of my life. ...

These books are a strong connection to my Brazilian heritage. They also remind me of the time when I was growing up in Brazil, as a member of a large Italian-Brazilian family.

The writer continues on, describing the types of books on each shelf, from Harry Potter to books used to learn English. They describe the bottom of the bookshelf housing some of their most prized possessions, like an old typewriter their grandfather gave them. They wonder about the words it has crafted and stories it has told.

As I grab my favorite Elvis vinyl to play, I can only wonder about the next chapter of my life. I look forward to adding new books, new friends, and a wide variety of experiences to my bookshelf.

"By placing one subject (the bookshelf) at the center of the piece, it lends some flexibility to layer in much more detail than if they had tried to discuss a few different interests in the essay," Matthews writes. "You learn a lot about the person, in a way that isn't in your face – a great thing when trying to write a personal essay."

Some colleges require a supplemental essay in addition to the personal statement. Typically, admissions pros note, these essays are shorter and focus on answering a specific question posed by the college.

The University of Chicago in Illinois allows students to submit essay prompts as inspiration for the admissions office and gives students some latitude in how they answer them. Essay prompts range from questions about the school itself to asking students to pick a question from a song title or lyric and give their best shot at answering it.

"We think of them as an opportunity for students to tell us about themselves, their tastes, and their ambitions," the school's admissions website reads. "They can be approached with utter seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between."

While the University of Chicago says there is no strict word limit on its supplemental essays, other schools prefer brevity. For example, Stanford University in California asks students to answer several short questions, with a 50-word limit, in addition to answering three essay questions in 100 to 250 words.

Georgia asks for a school-specific supplemental essay that's 200-300 words in addition to a 250- to 650-word personal essay.

"Sometimes a shorter essay response is not as polished an essay, but instead is a more casual, more relaxed essay," Graves says. "In addition, sometimes a student needs to get to the point or be concise, and this helps see if they can give us their story without overdoing it."

Other schools allow for a little more creativity in how the supplemental essay questions are answered. Babson College in Massachusetts, for example, gives students a 500-word limit to answer a prompt, or they can choose to submit a one-minute video about why they chose to apply to the school.

One student, Gabrielle Alias, chose to film a "day-in-the-life" video , which she narrated to answer the prompt, "Who Am I?"

"Visiting campus twice, I know I could see myself as one of the many interesting, innovative, and enticing students that come out of Babson," she says in the video. "But who am I you ask? I am a student. I am a reader. I am a researcher. I am a music lover. ... I am Gabrielle Alias and I am excited for who I will be as a graduate of Babson."

An essay by Babson student Bessie Shiroki, seen below, describes her experience in the school's admissions office and how she immediately felt comfortable.

I immediately smiled at the sight of my favorite board game. Babsonopoly. I love the combination of strategy and luck in this traditional family pastime. Seeing this on the wall in the admissions office gave me immediate comfort; I knew I was home.

Shiroki describes what she felt set Babson College apart from other schools, such as being surrounded by "sophisticated and mature individuals" and a tight-knit, entrepreneurial environment that would help her reach her career goals.

It is natural for me to be in a small class where more than one language is spoken. I am accustomed to discussions with diverse viewpoints, open minds, and where differences are seen as advantages. I embrace my cultural uniqueness, and I will add my voice to the community. I can’t imagine not continuing this in college.

She notes that as she toured the campus and saw students studying, she could see herself as one of them, feeding off of their studious and entrepreneurial energy. She mentions that Babson's Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship class got her attention immediately and she saw it as a launch pad for a future that included running a business.

Babson recognizes the potential of their students, and FME is a great way for young entrepreneurs like me to find our place in the business world and learn from our mistakes. I am capable of this challenge and will conquer it with tenacity. I will bring my dedication, commitment, and innovative skills to Babson College.

Now it’s my turn to pass go and collect my Babson acceptance letter. I’ve found my next challenge.

Babson College offers several tips for what make good essays, including a strong "hook" to engage the reader from the start and a topic that allows you to share something that's not as obvious on your application.

When it comes to writing a college admissions essay – whether personal or supplemental – experts advise students to follow these rules:

• Find your voice.
• Write about a topic that matters to you.
• Share your personality.
• Express yourself.
• Proofread extensively.

With both traditional essays and supplemental essays, Koh says it's best to write long and work with someone you trust to edit it down. Teachers, friends and parents can all be helpful proofreaders, but experts note that the student voice should remain intact.

A good editor can help edit a long essay to keep the main message but with fewer words. “If I see 400 words, I know I’m a dozen drafts away from getting it to 650,” he says. “If I see 1200 words, we might just be one or two away. It’s at least going to be a shorter haul.”

Strickler encourages students not to stress too much over the essay or put unnecessary weight on it as part of their college application . While a strong essay helps, he says, it doesn't make or break an application.

"There's this sense that you write the most amazing essay and it gets you over the top because it opens the door to the pathway to the Magic Kingdom," he says. "But it's just one piece of a myriad of pieces that allow us to get to know a particular student and help us figure out if they're a good fit and how they're going to contribute to our community."

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To write a memorable college essay, tell a story

Essays without concrete information are quickly forgotten.

As I regularly tell students in my AP English classes, essays full of generalizations aren’t worth the paper they are written on.  An essay that fails to include concrete examples of the concept under discussion is forgotten the moment the reader reaches the end—if, indeed, the reader gets that far.  

Samples of Writing With and Without Concrete Information

The above paragraph was itself full of generalizations.  To drive the point home, I offer the following examples.

My AP Literature students just finished reading Pride and Prejudice .  For their summative assessment, students wrote essays analyzing Darcy’s character. Here’s a sample paragraph:

At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Darcy demonstrates an outsized sense of pride in his status as an aristocrat. He regards it as beneath him to associate with the middle classes, barely deigning to speak when in their company. He also thinks his status gives him the right to be rude about Elizabeth’s physical appearance. After a while, he falls in love with Elizabeth and proposes to her. His proposal, however, is insulting and she rejects him.

Shortly after reading this paragraph, the reader will recall nothing other than that we are supposed to regard Darcy as a snob. A couple of days later, we won’t even remember how we were supposed to regard him. (Was it as a snob?  Or was there something about being bad at making marriage proposals?  I forget.)

Here’s the level of detail that should be included to illustrate each point in the above paragraph:  

At the beginning of the novel, Darcy demonstrates an outsized sense of pride in his status as an aristocrat. We first meet him at an assembly room ball. Unlike his friend Mr. Bingley, who dances gleefully with every girl in the room, Darcy dances only with Mr. Bingley’s sisters, “declined being introduced to any other lady, and spent the rest of the evening in walking about the room, speaking occasionally to one of his own party.” When Mr. Bingley urges Darcy to dance with Elizabeth, Darcy responds—within Elizabeth’s hearing!—that “she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.” After several more encounters with Elizabeth, however, Darcy becomes aware that Elizabeth’s face is “rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes.” Unable to resist Elizabeth’s charms, but still deeply conscious of his social superiority, Darcy proposes to Elizabeth. His brief declaration of love is followed by an extended articulation of his “sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacles” inherent in their widely differing social classes. Darcy evidently believes he is bestowing a favor upon Elizabeth in asking her to marry him. Alas! Darcy does not know Elizabeth as we do. Elizabeth roundly rejects his proposal and provides a frank assessment of his character:

From the very beginning—from the first moment, I may almost say—of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.

Upper class Darcy is sent packing by middle class Elizabeth, doubtless to the delight of Austen’s largely middle-class readership.

Concrete Examples Tell Stories, and Stories Are Memorable

The second paragraph about Darcy is more effective than the first because it provides specific examples of each point of analysis, with each example essentially being a short story in itself. The paragraph contains a story about a ball, a story about Darcy becoming smitten with Elizabeth, and a story of a marriage proposal. As Jonathan Gottschall notes in The Storytelling Animal:  How Stories Make Us Human , there is no more effective way to convey information or to persuade a reader of the truth of an idea than through story-telling:

As anyone who teaches realizes, most information bounces off with little impression and no recollection. Good professors and statesmen know the indispensable potency of story. This is not a new observation, but nowadays we have a better understanding of why it’s true. Changing the brain requires the correct neurotransmitters, and those are especially in attendance when a person is curious, is predicting what will happen next and is emotionally engaged. Hence successful religious texts are not written as nonfiction arguments or bulleted lists of claims. They are stories. Stories about burning bushes, whales, sons, lovers, betrayals and rivalries.  Story not only sticks, it mesmerizes.

Stories appeal to the emotions and thus help to form memories and persuade. As readers, we find the second paragraph about Darcy to be more compelling than the first because we can relate to our own experiences, ones doubtless charged with emotion. Who has not been rejected at some point? Who has not been slighted because of a relative lack of physical beauty? Who has not had their pride punctured when they least expected it? Who, then, cannot relate to Elizabeth and Darcy and be disgusted by Darcy’s arrogance?

The Best College Essays Include Concrete Details and Elements of Story-Telling  

The need to include concrete information applies as much to the college essay as it does to literary analysis. As a twelfth grade teacher and private tutor, I have spent many years coaching students in the college essay, and the process typically goes like this:

Draft #1:  Students will generally describe themselves as leaders, athletes, activists, or volunteers, as the case may be. The essay at this stage would be forgotten by any admissions officer within a second or two of moving on to the next essay.

Draft #2:  Students will provide examples of themselves in one or more of those roles, but the examples are still broad and contain few memorable details. These essays are better than the first, but students still fail to distinguish themselves from thousands of other applicants.

Final draft:  Students tell stories about themselves, using vivid language and specific detail, to engage the reader’s emotions. These are the essays admissions officers remember long after they have reached the end of the pile.

The best advice I can give to high school seniors apply to college, then, is to use the essay to tell stories about themselves—even if this means excluding other information they would love to convey. Essays that are essentially laundry lists of students’ achievements will rapidly dissolve into the blah, blah, blah of thousands of other essays. But powerful stories well-told are rarely, if ever, forgotten. 

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How to Write a College Essay | A Complete Guide & Examples

The college essay can make or break your application. It’s your chance to provide personal context, communicate your values and qualities, and set yourself apart from other students.

A standout essay has a few key ingredients:

• A unique, personal topic
• A compelling, well-structured narrative
• A clear, creative writing style
• Evidence of self-reflection and insight

To achieve this, it’s crucial to give yourself enough time for brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

In this comprehensive guide, we walk you through every step in the process of writing a college admissions essay.

Table of contents

Why do you need a standout essay, start organizing early, choose a unique topic, outline your essay, start with a memorable introduction, write like an artist, craft a strong conclusion, revise and receive feedback, frequently asked questions.

While most of your application lists your academic achievements, your college admissions essay is your opportunity to share who you are and why you’d be a good addition to the university.

Your college admissions essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s total weight一and may account for even more with some colleges making the SAT and ACT tests optional. The college admissions essay may be the deciding factor in your application, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

What do colleges look for in an essay?

Admissions officers want to understand your background, personality, and values to get a fuller picture of you beyond your test scores and grades. Here’s what colleges look for in an essay :

• Demonstrated values and qualities
• Vulnerability and authenticity
• Self-reflection and insight
• Creative, clear, and concise writing skills

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

It’s a good idea to start organizing your college application timeline in the summer of your junior year to make your application process easier. This will give you ample time for essay brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

While timelines will vary for each student, aim to spend at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing your first draft and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Remember to leave enough time for breaks in between each writing and editing stage.

Create an essay tracker sheet

If you’re applying to multiple schools, you will have to juggle writing several essays for each one. We recommend using an essay tracker spreadsheet to help you visualize and organize the following:

• Deadlines and number of essays needed
• Prompt overlap, allowing you to write one essay for similar prompts

You can build your own essay tracker using our free Google Sheets template.

College essay tracker template

Ideally, you should start brainstorming college essay topics the summer before your senior year. Keep in mind that it’s easier to write a standout essay with a unique topic.

If you want to write about a common essay topic, such as a sports injury or volunteer work overseas, think carefully about how you can make it unique and personal. You’ll need to demonstrate deep insight and write your story in an original way to differentiate it from similar essays.

What makes a good topic?

• Meaningful and personal to you
• Uncommon or has an unusual angle
• Reveals something different from the rest of your application

Brainstorming questions

You should do a comprehensive brainstorm before choosing your topic. Here are a few questions to get started:

• What are your top five values? What lived experiences demonstrate these values?
• What adjectives would your friends and family use to describe you?
• What challenges or failures have you faced and overcome? What lessons did you learn from them?
• What makes you different from your classmates?
• What are some objects that represent your identity, your community, your relationships, your passions, or your goals?
• Whom do you admire most? Why?
• What three people have significantly impacted your life? How did they influence you?

How to identify your topic

Here are two strategies for identifying a topic that demonstrates your values:

• Start with your qualities : First, identify positive qualities about yourself; then, brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities.
• Start with a story : Brainstorm a list of memorable life moments; then, identify a value shown in each story.

After choosing your topic, organize your ideas in an essay outline , which will help keep you focused while writing. Unlike a five-paragraph academic essay, there’s no set structure for a college admissions essay. You can take a more creative approach, using storytelling techniques to shape your essay.

Two common approaches are to structure your essay as a series of vignettes or as a single narrative.

Vignettes structure

The vignette, or montage, structure weaves together several stories united by a common theme. Each story should demonstrate one of your values or qualities and conclude with an insight or future outlook.

This structure gives the admissions officer glimpses into your personality, background, and identity, and shows how your qualities appear in different areas of your life.

Topic: Museum with a “five senses” exhibit of my experiences

• Introduction: Tour guide introduces my museum and my “Making Sense of My Heritage” exhibit
• Story: Racial discrimination with my eyes
• Lesson: Using my writing to document truth
• Story: Broadway musical interests
• Lesson: Finding my voice
• Story: Smells from family dinner table
• Lesson: Appreciating home and family
• Story: Washing dishes
• Lesson: Finding moments of peace in busy schedule
• Story: Biking with Ava
• Lesson: Finding pleasure in job well done
• Conclusion: Tour guide concludes tour, invites guest to come back for “fall College Collection,” featuring my search for identity and learning.

Single story structure

The single story, or narrative, structure uses a chronological narrative to show a student’s character development over time. Some narrative essays detail moments in a relatively brief event, while others narrate a longer journey spanning months or years.

Single story essays are effective if you have overcome a significant challenge or want to demonstrate personal development.

Topic: Sports injury helps me learn to be a better student and person

• Situation: Football injury
• Challenge: Friends distant, teachers don’t know how to help, football is gone for me
• Turning point: Starting to like learning in Ms. Brady’s history class; meeting Christina and her friends
• My reactions: Reading poetry; finding shared interest in poetry with Christina; spending more time studying and with people different from me
• Insight: They taught me compassion and opened my eyes to a different lifestyle; even though I still can’t play football, I’m starting a new game

Brainstorm creative insights or story arcs

Regardless of your essay’s structure, try to craft a surprising story arc or original insights, especially if you’re writing about a common topic.

Never exaggerate or fabricate facts about yourself to seem interesting. However, try finding connections in your life that deviate from cliché storylines and lessons.

Admissions officers read thousands of essays each year, and they typically spend only a few minutes reading each one. To get your message across, your introduction , or hook, needs to grab the reader’s attention and compel them to read more..

Avoid starting your introduction with a famous quote, cliché, or reference to the essay itself (“While I sat down to write this essay…”).

While you can sometimes use dialogue or a meaningful quotation from a close family member or friend, make sure it encapsulates your essay’s overall theme.

Find an original, creative way of starting your essay using the following two methods.

Option 1: Start with an intriguing hook

Begin your essay with an unexpected statement to pique the reader’s curiosity and compel them to carefully read your essay. A mysterious introduction disarms the reader’s expectations and introduces questions that can only be answered by reading more.

Option 2: Start with vivid imagery

Illustrate a clear, detailed image to immediately transport your reader into your memory. You can start in the middle of an important scene or describe an object that conveys your essay’s theme.

A college application essay allows you to be creative in your style and tone. As you draft your essay, try to use interesting language to enliven your story and stand out .

Show, don’t tell

“Tell” in writing means to simply state a fact: “I am a basketball player.” “ Show ” in writing means to use details, examples, and vivid imagery to help the reader easily visualize your memory: “My heart races as I set up to shoot一two seconds, one second一and score a three-pointer!”

First, reflect on every detail of a specific image or scene to recall the most memorable aspects.

• What are the most prominent images?
• Are there any particular sounds, smells, or tastes associated with this memory?
• What emotion or physical feeling did you have at that time?

Be vulnerable to create an emotional response

You don’t have to share a huge secret or traumatic story, but you should dig deep to express your honest feelings, thoughts, and experiences to evoke an emotional response. Showing vulnerability demonstrates humility and maturity. However, don’t exaggerate to gain sympathy.

Use appropriate style and tone

Make sure your essay has the right style and tone by following these guidelines:

• Use a conversational yet respectful tone: less formal than academic writing, but more formal than texting your friends.
• Prioritize using “I” statements to highlight your perspective.
• Write within your vocabulary range to maintain an authentic voice.
• Write concisely, and use the active voice to keep a fast pace.
• Follow grammar rules (unless you have valid stylistic reasons for breaking them).

You should end your college essay with a deep insight or creative ending to leave the reader with a strong final impression. Your college admissions essay should avoid the following:

• Summarizing what you already wrote
• Stating your hope of being accepted to the school
• Mentioning character traits that should have been illustrated in the essay, such as “I’m a hard worker”

Here are two strategies to craft a strong conclusion.

Option 1: Full circle, sandwich structure

The full circle, or sandwich, structure concludes the essay with an image, idea, or story mentioned in the introduction. This strategy gives the reader a strong sense of closure.

In the example below, the essay concludes by returning to the “museum” metaphor that the writer opened with.

Option 2: Revealing your insight

You can use the conclusion to show the insight you gained as a result of the experiences you’ve described. Revealing your main message at the end creates suspense and keeps the takeaway at the forefront of your reader’s mind.

Revise your essay before submitting it to check its content, style, and grammar. Get feedback from no more than two or three people.

It’s normal to go through several rounds of revision, but take breaks between each editing stage.

Also check out our college essay examples to see what does and doesn’t work in an essay and the kinds of changes you can make to improve yours.

Respect the word count

Most schools specify a word count for each essay , and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit.

Remain under the specified word count limit to show you can write concisely and follow directions. However, don’t write too little, which may imply that you are unwilling or unable to write a thoughtful and developed essay.

Check your content, style, and grammar

• First, check big-picture issues of message, flow, and clarity.
• Then, check for style and tone issues.
• Finally, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

Get feedback

Get feedback from 2–3 people who know you well, have good writing skills, and are familiar with college essays.

• Teachers and guidance counselors can help you check your content, language, and tone.
• Friends and family can check for authenticity.
• An essay coach or editor has specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and can give objective expert feedback.

The checklist below helps you make sure your essay ticks all the boxes.

College admissions essay checklist

I’ve organized my essay prompts and created an essay writing schedule.

I’ve done a comprehensive brainstorm for essay topics.

I’ve selected a topic that’s meaningful to me and reveals something different from the rest of my application.

I’ve created an outline to guide my structure.

I’ve crafted an introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.

I’ve written my essay in a way that shows instead of telling.

I’ve shown positive traits and values in my essay.

I’ve demonstrated self-reflection and insight in my essay.

I’ve used appropriate style and tone .

I’ve concluded with an insight or a creative ending.

I’ve revised my essay , checking my overall message, flow, clarity, and grammar.

I’ve respected the word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

Congratulations!

It looks like your essay ticks all the boxes. A second pair of eyes can help you take it to the next level – Scribbr's essay coaches can help.

Colleges want to be able to differentiate students who seem similar on paper. In the college application essay , they’re looking for a way to understand each applicant’s unique personality and experiences.

Your college essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s weight. It may be the deciding factor in whether you’re accepted, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurricular track records.

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

While timelines will differ depending on the student, plan on spending at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing the first draft of your college admissions essay , and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Don’t forget to save enough time for breaks between each writing and editing stage.

You should already begin thinking about your essay the summer before your senior year so that you have plenty of time to try out different topics and get feedback on what works.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

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How to Write a Narrative Essay

Crafting a perfect narrative essay—the ultimate guide

Writing a great narrative essay for college is easy as long as you follow the normal plot rainbow (narrative arc) of exposition, rising action, climax, and closure. Make sure to use strong imagery in your wording and remember that you are telling a story, so ensure it’s interesting for the reader.

While you probably gained some experience in writing essays when you were in high school, college is a time when you will be expected to write several kinds of essays that you have not encountered before. The narrative essay is one such kind of essay.

The purpose of this guide from Ultius is to provide you with comprehensive information on how to go about writing a narrative essay. The guide will contain the following sections:

Purpose of a narrative essay

The concept of narrative, elements of a good narrative essay, how to write a great narrative essay.

• Samples/examples
• Additional information

By the time you are done reading this guide, you should have a solid idea of how to write a narrative essay, as well as resources you can use in order to help with writing that.

Narrative essentially means story , and the fundamental purpose of a narrative essay is to tell a story to the reader. You, the writer, must come up with an idea for the story, and then you must write it in vivid and captivating terms. A narrative essay is not like many other forms of essays in that it relies far more on imagination than reason. In this sense, for example, a narrative essay is quite different from an argumentative or persuasive essay.

Avoid arguments or persuasion when writing a narrative essay

One should carefully understand and study the core differences between narrative and other kinds of essays in order to get a firm understanding of the purpose.

Important note: A narrative essay is not quite the same thing as a short story. This is because the narrative essay, still being a form of essay, is non-fictional. That is, the writer is generally expected to write about an experience that actually happened. If the story were fictional, then this would no longer be a narrative essay but rather a short story.

Related how-to guide— How to write a persuasive essay .

The importance of narrative essays (especially when you’re in college)

In general, people bond by telling each other stories, and it is through listening to stories that people develop empathy for each other and learn to see the world through another person's eyes. In fact, according to one study reported in Scientific American , it was found that reading literature helped subjects develop stronger empathy and the ability to read the emotional states of others in real life. These skills were gained as a result of reading literary works with a strong narrative element (such as Hamlet or others).

Writing a good narrative essay can enable you to share your experiences with others in a powerful way. This can persuade people to want to see the world you see it (because they find it intriguing and/or beautiful), and it can also inspire them to be more passionate and creative in the way that they experience their own lives. The narrative essay is a vehicle for sharing the world according to you with others.

The central core of the narrative essay is, of course, the story itself. It is important that you tell your story in a way that is compelling to other people. Even if you have a great idea in your head, execution is everything when it comes to storytelling (as most of us have probably found out the hard way in real life).

If you don't tell your story well, then no one is going to bother to listen, even if the main idea is interesting.

According to the Ultius glossary, a narrative story is one that is based on a person’s experiences and is intended to tell a story that follows the same lifecycle as human life (start to end).

People have been telling and writing stories for a long time, and there are some key elements that have been built up around the concept of narrative. One of the main elements that is worth discussing here is the narrative arc.

Following the narrative ‘arc’

In its standard form, the narrative arc has five main phases:

• 1. exposition
• 2. rising action
• 4. falling action
• 5. denouement (resolution)

In literary theory, this is called Freytag's pyramid, named after Gustav Freytag, who is the person who first described this format. Most compelling stories start with the first phase and end with the fifth phase, passing through the other phases on the way.

Here are the descriptions of the five main phases of the standard narrative arc.

This pyramid is also similar to the concept of a plot rainbow (shown below):

Not all parts of the plot rainbow are required for a good narrative essay, but they are usually included in some capacity. Just make sure to include the most basic elements and avoid using an anticlimax (especially if you’re just learning how to write a narrative essay for college).

An anticlimax is when the author builds up the narrative arc but then disappoints the reader with the opposite of a climax (a real let down). Read more about how to avoid anticlimaxes .

In summary, you should ensure that your narrative essay is interesting by including the basic elements of the plot rainbow and avoid letting the reader down with an uninteresting climax.

The formal elements of narrative

Aside from the narrative arc, you should also pay attention to the formal elements of narrative . There are four important ones to keep in mind:

• 2. character

Plot refers to the actual story that is being told. In order to develop an effective plot, you should follow the narrative arc described above in the discussion of Freytag's pyramid. That is a structure that has been tried and tested over a very long time, and it is generally a good format for delivering an emotionally satisfying experience to the reader.

Character refers to the people who are part of your story. In general, there is one main character and a few to several supporting characters. It is important to ensure that every character in your narrative essay contributes to the overall plot. In other words, care should be taken to not overpopulate your story, which can become distracting for the reader.

Setting refers to the actual location (in time and space) that your story is taking place. This is fairly self-explanatory.

Theme refers to the overarching message or driving ideas behind your story. Why have you chosen to tell this particular story in your narrative essay, and what would you like your reader to get from reading the story? If a story doesn't have a strong theme, then it can feel random, which would leave the reader confused and not sure why he bothered reading it. While this may not sound significant for a regular college class, it could be the difference between getting a scholarship or not ( click here to learn how to write a scholarship essay).

Here is a summary of each core element you want to use.

A note about using time

In terms of setting, the simplest way to write a narrative essay is to proceed in a linear way. This means that your story should start at one point in time, and then it should proceed forward through time until it reaches its conclusion.

In some forms of more experimental storytelling, writers jump around in time, using techniques such as flashbacks and stream of consciousness. Unless you are very good at using such techniques, though, there's a huge risk that your story will just fall apart. Anyway, such techniques are much more complex than what is generally required from a standard narrative essay. So, you should probably just stick to the linear time format.

If you are just learning how to produce a narrative essay, avoid the complex techniques of parallel or inconsistent time settings. You will get there, but know that it is confusing to readers if you don’t master the basics first.

There are certain key elements that will be included in every good narrative essay. We will now share these secrets of the craft with you.

Use a strong voice

One of the best ways to draw your reader into your narrative essay is to develop and utilize a strong voice . In writing, voice refers to the way you express specific things, the sentence structures you use, the different parts of speech, and so on. Everyone knows that there's a difference between reading a thriller and an instruction manual—and that difference has everything to do with voice.

Imagery in your vocabulary paints a picture for the reader so they can put themselves in the setting or situation. Use descriptive language to foster strong imagery.

One way to develop strong voice is to use effective vocabulary and strong modifiers. Vocabulary refers to the range of words at your disposal: the broader your vocabulary, the more able you will be to find the perfect words for the situation you are describing.

Modifiers refer to adjectives and adverbs that add meaning nouns and verbs, respectively. Modifiers can be powerful tools, but in general, you do not want to overuse them, and it is often better to just find a stronger noun or verb if one is available.

Parts of speech and vocabulary

The table below is an example of how the effective use of parts of speech and vocabulary can do a lot to change your voice.

There is no hard and fast rule about which specific voice is "better." However, most writers and readers would probably agree that "the collie pranced" is more compelling and effective than "the medium-sized dog happily ran". This is an example of how voice can seriously affect the quality of a narrative essay.

Feeling overwhelmed? Essay writing services from Ultius can help you get a custom document written from a professional writer.

Use a consistent point of view

Point of view refers to the perspective from which a story is being told. For narrative essays, the point of view is almost always first person: the writer speaks in his own voice, using "I" statements. This also means, though, that the writer should not include anything that he could not have known or seen for himself within the story, unless an explanation is given for how he knew or saw it. This is an example of what it means to keep the point of view consistent .

Use a coherent narrative arc in your essay

Finally, a strong writer (like the writers for Ultius who produce purchased narrative essays ) will always adhere to a coherent narrative arc. The specifics of the narrative arc have been developed above. While a narrative essay theoretically could be good without following that arc, that is quite rare, and it is nearly impossible to achieve if you are a beginner or do not have a very strong grasp of what you're doing.

For practical purposes, then, we can just say that a strong narrative essay adheres to the traditional narrative arc. This means that the story starts at a certain point in time, ends at a later point in time, builds up to a climax from the beginning, and then builds down from the climax toward the end. Attention should also be dedicated to ensuring that all of the formal elements of narrative are in order.

There are some things you can do in order to ensure that your narrative essay turns out fully baked. Here are a few of those things.

Plan your narrative arc before you jump in

While also true of any essay, in the narrative essay it’s even more important: it is much easier to stay on track and nail all the crucial elements of the narrative essay if you have a game plan in mind before actually writing it. The narrative arc provides good framework for you to plan your outline.

Example outline of a narrative essay Below is an outline modeled on the phases of the narrative arc.

I. Exposition (including a hook)

• A. It was my brother's birthday and a Friday evening: we all knew what that meant.
• B. It was time to go celebrate at the bar.

II. Rising action

• A. We called an Uber to make sure driving that night was out of the picture.
• B. At about 9 PM, we arrived at the local bar and ran into several of our friends.
• C. It was karaoke night, and our friends demanded that my brother sing a song.

III. Climax

• A. A. My brother picked a crowd pleaser of a song and sang at the top of his lungs.

IV. Falling action

• A. Everyone laughed and told him he sounded terrible but great at the same time.
• B. We continued drinking beers until closing time.

V. Denouement

• A. My brother was hungover in the morning, and he was embarrassed (but in a good way) when he saw a video of himself singing karaoke.

Make sure the assignment actually is a narrative essay

This may sound like strange advice, but bear with us for a moment. Many college students who are new to writing academic essays (and need writing help from professional essay writers ) may think that all essays are narrative essays, and they are thus in for a rude shock.

If your professor actually wants an analytical essay or an expository essay and you write a narrative essay instead, then you will almost definitely get a failing grade.

The other way around, a narrative essay is not like other academic essays: with the narrative essay, you are supposed to appeal to imagination more than reason, and to tell a strong story using your own subjective, personal voice. So, you should make sure that the assignment in front of you actually is a narrative essay, and then you should make sure you treat it as a narrative essay and not like any other kind of essay.

Vocabulary and sentence structure count for a lot

The difference between great writing and mediocre or bad writing often comes down to vocabulary and sentence structure. In order to write a great narrative essay for your college class, you should have various possibilities in this regard at your disposal, and you should know when to use the right ones.

For example, adverbs (such as "swimmingly" and most other -ly words) can be used to great effect, but if you use them too much or too often, then your writing can seem sloppy or lazy. Likewise, there is a time for simple, direct sentences, and there is a time for more complex sentences—and a lot of narrative effect can come from changing up sentence structure. This can help avoid monotony and thus keep your reader interested.

The types of sentences you will want to use will depend on the kinds of effects you want to have on the reader. For example, compound-complex sentences are often more elegant and flowing, whereas simple sentences are short and blunt. Either one could work depending on what you are trying to do.

Great narrative essays use vivid language that evoke the senses

It was mentioned before, and it’s worth mentioning again—great story-based writing for college requires imagery.

If you follow the infographic above, you will see that you have a plethora of options for describing the things you talk about in your narrative essay.

A sample narrative essay

The following sample narrative essay on birthday nostalgia follows the narrative arc and includes footnotes to highlight the major components involved. Go through the document and focus on how the story follows a natural progression.

Feel free to download the sample and use it for your own purposes if you are not interested in using Ultius writing services to have one produced for you.

Final thoughts and considerations before you write your own narrative essay

We have now arrived at the end of this guide, and we hope that you now have a much better idea of how to write a narrative essay. Here is a summary of some key points from this guide for your reference.

1. Adhere to the narrative arc

The standard narrative arc should be the foundation of your narrative essay. It is tried and true: it works.

2. Use excellent vocabulary and parts of speech

In order to make your narrative essay excellent, you need to use the right words and modifiers at the right times. This is true of sentence structure as well.

3. Pay attention to the formal elements of narrative

You want to develop a tight and coherent plot, include the relevant characters (and cut the others), move forward in time, and have a clear idea behind the story you are telling.

4. Use additional resources if you need them

Ultius has several resources, including glossaries and document-specific writing guides , that can help you write a great narrative essay. Please don't hesitate to look into them on our website.

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College Essay: The art of storytelling

“Ahlao, do you want to hear a story?” said Dad, addressing me by my childhood name more than 10 years ago in our living room.

“But I want to play with my toys!” I replied.

“Now now, come on,” my dad insisted. “You’re going to love it.”

He brought me to the small kitchen table, sat down on a chair and pushed away the books on the tabletop, replacing them with some pieces of paper and a pencil. What he did next with the pencil and paper would change me forever.

He steadily started illustrating out his history while telling his story. This way of telling his story managed to get me to listen.

“So there’s me and my family,” Dad said as he sketched out a few more stick figures. “We live in a village in Laos.”

As his story went on, his happy, slow-toned voice narrated the story while his hands swept across the fibers of the paper with the pencil, leaving traces of various lines, shapes and marks. Even though what he drew was just a collection of stick figures and poorly drawn houses, they grabbed my attention and I stared in awe as he doodled, and I thought to myself, “Hey, I can do that too.”

“After avoiding soldiers, crossing the Mekong River, living in a refugee camp, and getting ready to move to America, we’re now here,” Dad said, his lips curved slightly upward to form a small dimpled grin.

Once my dad ended his story, I grabbed the pencil he placed on the stacks of paper and right away started scribbling some shapes, animals and stick figures. I started to draw a house with grass on the ground, clouds in the sky and a sun peeking out on the left corner of the paper.

I lifted up the drawing to get a full view of it. Smiling, I could say that I was in love with drawing. I might cringe if I looked at it today, but it was the best piece of art that I had made up to that point. My dad’s passion for visual storytelling inspired me, and his doodles that day sparked my interest in art.

Since then, my art has evolved from stick figures and random doodles to video game fan art. In 2012, I started to take my interest in drawing more seriously. And video games became a big influence on my art. Video games can tell stories as well, and getting involved in the story as the main character and listening to it while I’m constantly pressing the system controller’s buttons gave me the inspiration to draw the characters in the game. I’ve drawn characters mostly from the Nintendo franchise, such as the Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and, mostly, Pokémon. Without these video games, my art probably wouldn’t be the same as it is today.

Drawing is now an embraced hobby. I love telling stories, and just like my dad, I want to tell those tales visually to everyone. While I have many dreams and careers that I’d like to reach, such as becoming an animator, graphic designer, computer engineer or concept designer, one career I’m most interested in is being a Mangaka, which is a Japanese-style comic creator.

From making money out of my art to gaining more skills and techniques to improve my artistic ability, I’ve been making a path of my own to get to where I’d like to go. My dad, who was my first artistic inspiration, supports my dream to become an artist. Besides my dad, there are several other artists and illustrators that I really look up to, such as Wenqing Yan, Allexis Kristedja and Mikiko Ponczeck, as they also tell stories visually. Currently, I’m creating my own story, which is a web comic that I hope to publish when I’m older.

I know as I develop my talent and my art gets more mature, I’ll never forget that it all started with my father telling me his story with simple stick figures.

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a nonprofit program of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas, uses the principles of strong writing and reporting to help diverse Minnesota youth tell the stories of their lives and communities.

The Power of Storytelling: Crafting a Compelling College Admissions Essay

As high school students embark on the challenging journey of college applications, the college admissions essay stands as a crucial opportunity to showcase their unique personalities, experiences, and aspirations. While academic achievements and test scores provide quantitative data, the college admissions essay breathes life into those numbers and allows admissions officers to connect with applicants on a personal level. In this blog, we explore the role of storytelling in crafting a compelling college admissions essay, highlighting the significance of narrative and the impact of professional college admissions consultants in shaping a successful application.

The Essence of Storytelling in College Admissions Essays

Human beings are hardwired to respond to stories. From childhood fairytales to blockbuster movies, storytelling captivates our hearts and minds. Similarly, a well-crafted college admissions essay that employs storytelling techniques can elicit an emotional response from the reader – the admissions officer. A compelling narrative not only presents the applicant’s accomplishments but also delves into their growth, challenges, and the lessons learned. By conveying their journey through storytelling, applicants can make a lasting impression and create a memorable experience for the reader. Let’s delve deeper into how stories create a lasting impact and help you stand out from the crowd.

• Emotional Connection : Stories have the power to evoke emotions, and the same applies to college admissions essays. Admissions officers read countless essays, and a well-crafted narrative can create an emotional connection that makes an applicant stand out. By sharing personal experiences, challenges, and triumphs, applicants can tap into the reader’s emotions, evoking empathy and a sense of relatability.
• Memorability: A compelling story has a lasting impact on the reader. When an admissions officer reads a memorable essay, it stays with them long after reading. Crafting an essay with storytelling techniques helps applicants differentiate themselves from the sea of applications. By engaging the reader’s imagination and leaving a lasting impression, applicants increase their chances of being remembered.
• Demonstrating Personal Growth: College admissions officers are not only interested in an applicant’s accomplishments and personal growth and development. By weaving a narrative that showcases the challenges faced and the lessons learned, applicants can demonstrate their ability to overcome obstacles and evolve as individuals. This provides insight into an applicant’s character, resilience, and maturity.
• Authenticity and Self-Expression: Stories provide a platform for applicants to express themselves authentically. Through storytelling, applicants can showcase their unique perspectives, values, and experiences. This allows them to present a genuine and sincere portrayal of who they are, which can be more compelling than merely listing achievements and qualifications. Admissions officers are looking for students who will bring diverse perspectives and contribute to the college community, and storytelling enables applicants to convey their individuality effectively.
• Engaging the Reader’s Imagination: A well-told story captures the reader’s attention and engages their imagination. By using descriptive language, vivid imagery, and sensory details, applicants can transport the admissions officer into their world, enabling them to visualize the experiences and events being described. This immersive experience keeps the reader engaged throughout the essay, making it a memorable and enjoyable read.
• Structuring the Essay: Storytelling techniques help applicants structure their essays effectively. A narrative arc, which includes a beginning, middle, and end, creates a sense of coherence and purpose in the essay. Applicants can create a compelling and well-structured narrative that keeps the reader engaged by employing storytelling elements such as introducing a conflict, building suspense, and offering resolution.
• Highlighting Personal Qualities: Storytelling allows applicants to indirectly highlight their personal qualities and strengths. Instead of explicitly stating their positive attributes, applicants can demonstrate them through their choices, actions, and how they navigate challenges in their stories. This provides a more nuanced and authentic portrayal of their character, allowing admissions officers to gain insight into their potential as future students.

Crafting a Compelling Essay: The Role of Storytelling Techniques

Crafting a compelling college admissions essay requires more than listing achievements and accolades. It involves the art of storytelling, which brings life and depth to the applicant’s experiences and aspirations. Here, we delve into the role of storytelling techniques in creating a compelling essay:

Here are some essential storytelling techniques that can enhance the impact of an essay:

• Engaging Introductions: The opening of the essay sets the tone and captures the reader’s attention. A compelling introduction can be achieved by starting with an intriguing anecdote, a thought-provoking question, or a vivid description. It should be designed to make the reader curious and eager to continue reading.

Example: Instead of beginning with a generic statement like “I have always been passionate about science,” try starting with a specific incident or experience that sparked your interest, such as “The moment I witnessed a chemical reaction causing vibrant colors to dance in the lab, I knew I had discovered my passion for chemistry.”

• Descriptive Language: Using descriptive language enhances the sensory experience for the reader, making the essay more engaging and memorable. Describing sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures helps bring the story to life and allows the reader to visualize the conveyed events and emotions.

Example: Instead of simply stating “I was nervous,” provide sensory details that illustrate the feeling, such as “My heart pounded against my chest, and a prickling sensation crept up my spine as I stepped onto the stage, the spotlight glaring down like a searing sun.”

• Conflict and Resolution: Incorporating a central conflict or challenge faced by the applicant adds depth and interest to the essay. Applicants can demonstrate resilience, problem-solving skills, and personal growth by describing the obstacles encountered and the strategies employed to overcome them.

Example: Share a story where you faced a significant obstacle, such as leading a team project with conflicting personalities. Describe the difficulties encountered, how you approached the situation, and the positive outcomes achieved through effective communication and collaboration.

• Show, Don’t Tell: Rather than simply stating accomplishments or qualities, showing them through specific examples and anecdotes is more impactful. Describing experiences, actions, and outcomes allows the reader to draw conclusions about the applicant’s character and abilities.

Example: Instead of saying, “I am a dedicated leader,” describe a situation where you took the initiative, rallied a team, and achieved a common goal, highlighting your leadership qualities through your actions and their impact.

• Theme and Cohesion: An effective essay should have a clear theme or message that ties the various elements together. The theme can be based on personal values, growth, or a central idea that unifies the narrative. Ensuring cohesion throughout the essay helps maintain a sense of purpose and readability.

Example: If the theme of the essay is resilience, consistently refer back to the theme by showcasing different instances where you demonstrated resilience in the face of challenges, connecting them to your personal growth and future aspirations.

By incorporating these storytelling techniques, applicants can create a compelling narrative that engages the reader and leaves a lasting impression. It is important to strike a balance between showcasing personal experiences and conveying relevant information about one’s academic and extracurricular achievements. The goal is to provide insights into the applicant’s identity and their potential contributions to the college community. Remember to revise and refine the essay, seeking feedback from mentors, teachers, or college admissions consultants to ensure that the storytelling elements are effectively incorporated, and the overall essay is compelling and impactful.

The Role of Professional College Admissions Consultants:

Recognizing the significance of the admissions essay, many students seek assistance from college admissions consultants. These experts offer valuable guidance, ensuring the applicants’ stories are effectively conveyed to officers. College admissions consultants can help identify compelling narratives, fine-tune writing, and provide constructive feedback throughout the essay crafting. Their expertise can lead to an essay that resonates deeply with the reader and increases the likelihood of acceptance.

In the competitive realm of college admissions, a compelling essay that showcases an applicant’s unique personality, experiences, and aspirations can make all the difference. Storytelling techniques breathe life into the application, allowing admissions officers to connect with the candidate beyond their academic achievements. Through powerful narratives, students can stand out among the thousands of applicants and leave a lasting impression on the reader. Additionally, the support of college admissions consultants can further refine and elevate the essay, enhancing the chances of securing admission to their dream college. Remember, your story is your superpower – use it wisely. Happy writing!

Write engaging essays with Rostrum

At Rostrum, our experienced mentors assist students in honing their storytelling skills by providing feedback on essay drafts. They ensure the essays employ engaging storytelling techniques to captivate the reader and leave a lasting impression. They also carefully review and edit essay drafts to offer constructive feedback. They help students refine their writing, improve clarity, and enhance the essay’s overall quality while ensuring it aligns with the desired theme and message. For more information, schedule a free consultation today.

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Articles & Advice > College Admission > Blog

The Importance of Storytelling on Your College Application

Your college application should be the ultimate story about you! Here's how to tell your story from beginning to end beyond your admission essay.

by Nicole Iwuala CollegeXpress Student Writer

Last Updated: Aug 16, 2023

Originally Posted: Sep 13, 2021

Your life is a story: it has ups, downs, friends, foes, plots, and plot twists. And every relevant piece of your story as a high school student has a place on your college application. Who you are matters, as does what you have accomplished. Possessing a studious personality may show in your grades, but you are much more than a GPA. You know yourself best, but admission offices don't, and there are many opportunities to share this when applying to colleges—and not just in your admission essay. Perceiving your application from the outside looking in will help shape your story into what you want it to be. Here’s how you can share your story from beginning to end throughout your college applications.

Characterization through your personal brand

Before college admission committees understand your story, they should get to know your character. That’s when the term “personal branding” comes into play. This is more than the type of classes you took or the clubs you were involved in; this is about your traits, values, skills, and interests that shape your image from an outside perspective. You are the creator of your personal brand, and what ultimately will matter is how the public perceives it. Every author and business founder has to be cautious about idolizing their creations in preparation for the public’s candid criticism. Thankfully, authors use editors, and CEOs hire managers. Sometimes it’s better to ask others “Who am I?” than to ask yourself the same question.

Related: You're an Ideal Applicant! Now It's Time to Show Colleges Why

Rising and falling actions

Colleges aren’t looking for the perfect college application but rather the “did’s” and “tried’s”. Your personality has less merit if it doesn’t show through actions. For example, you may have tried to establish a speech club at your school because you’re the person who loves speaking in front of a large group or presenting to your class. Some students may not have worked hard enough in core classes or undertook any extracurriculars until later in high school. COVID-19 may have done the opposite by canceling activities you’ve done since freshman year. Practice advocating for yourself, and don’t be afraid to address these gaps. Admission officers see the worth in these topics , but only if they can be tied back to being a perfect fit for the school.

Plots can speak without narration

While narration provides more insight into the events that occur in a story, actions should also speak for themselves. Extracurricular and volunteer activities are indicative of “actions” in high school, yet there’s more you can include. A teacher may describe in your letter of recommendation a moment when you helped another student who was failing their class, revealing that you are considerate. Another instance maybe when you were featured on your school’s website or recognized in a publication. On the flip side, be careful about what you or your friends post about you on social media . Everything placed on the internet stays on the internet, and some college admission officers will dig around to learn more about you.

Related: 4 Summer Activities That Will Impress Colleges  

A conclusion to the old story and exposition to the new

On the day you open your college letter that states the status of your application, don’t be dejected if you get rejected. Some stories aren’t the right fit for an institution, whether for college or your future career. Being true to yourself throughout this process will eventually lead you to a happily ever after you may have never expected.

Still looking for your happily-ever-after college? Check out our article on How to Transform Your College Search, Cinderella Style .

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About Nicole Iwuala

Nicole Iwuala is a six-foot-tall high school student at Village Tech Schools in Duncanville, Texas. She’s an AP and dual-credit student who values hard work and independence. Not only is she a writer for CollegeXpress, but she also writes for her school’s yearbook and news website in addition to working as a math instructor. During her leisure time, Nicole loves to read literature, cook for her family, and study the Bible. Through her future-focused articles, she hopes to give students the knowledge and confidence to enter college like a champion.

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Career Vision

Extraordinary College Essays Tell “Ordinary” Stories      

Are you getting ready to apply to colleges? If so, the thought of writing your college essays probably has you sweating a little. You probably have all sorts of questions running through your head, like:

• What topic should I chose?
• How will I grab the audience’s attention?
• What will I do to keep people interested in what I have to say?

These are very important questions. After all, particularly in highly-selective colleges, your application essay carries a lot a weight in the admission process. In fact, some college insiders estimate that these essays account for 10 – 30% of admissions decisions!

Why do essays carry so much weight? Because colleges are looking for students who know themselves well; have academic goals and a career direction; and can articulate them clearly. And, while the standard sections of the college application provide information about your SAT / ACT scores; grades; rigor of your coursework; and your extracurricular, volunteer, and work experiences, these matter-of-fact details tell college admissions representatives how well you work .

Yet, admissions reps also need to know how you think . So the primary purpose of the college essay is to give you the opportunity to tell your whole story… especially the parts of you that undoubtedly cannot be voiced through a fill-in-the blank form.

The Leading Question

When it comes right down to it, your essay can set you apart from applicants with similar academic achievements. That’s precisely why college essay questions are meant to be challenging. Most college applications give you multiple essay prompts to choose from — all of which are broad and open-ended by design. Therefore, the essay exercise essentially boils down to that one leading question: “What do you want the readers of your application to know about you?”

Tell Your Story

To write a personally-meaningful college essay that tells college admissions reps who you are as an individual:

The most impactful and memorable college essays focus on an ordinary topic that resulted in deep self-reflection and increased self-insight. In your own voice, tell a story that reveals a defining moment that helped to shape who you are today and influences who you’ll be tomorrow. In other words, your college essay should give the reader a real sense of your unique personality, characteristics, and qualities.

As such, outstanding college essays don’t always center on stellar accomplishments. Sometimes they expose weaknesses or struggles instead. Say, for example, you’re on the varsity basketball team. Did you learn more about yourself when you made the winning shot or when you missed it? An essay that shows your humility, vulnerability, and authenticity is usually much more powerful than one that recounts your accolades.

You can write about pretty much anything — an experience, an inanimate object, a movie, a place, a person — as long as your essay reveals how that circumstance, experience, thing, movie, place, or person made an impact on you.

College admissions reps read hundreds of college applications each year; yet, they rarely come across an essay that really surprises them. So, to capture your reader’s attention from the very first sentence, start your story in the middle of the action (rather than writing in a linear fashion).

For instance, instead of opening with “As a member of the varsity basketball team, I played in some really close games,” hook the reader with “There were only five seconds left in a tied game against our rival team when I stole the basketball on the inbound play.” No doubt the admissions rep will want to know the rest of your story — no matter whether your action resulted in a win or a loss for the team!

To keep the reader’s attention, use language that transports college admissions reps to the time and place you’re describing; provides insight into your experience, thoughts, and emotions; and (perhaps more importantly) reflects on the lessons learned.

The Moral of the Story

The college admission essay is your opportunity to let college admissions reps know who you are. Turn your “ordinary” story into an extraordinary essay by captivating your reader while providing insight into the qualities, characteristics, and traits that make you uniquely you .

College Nut

Best College Essays Written: The Art of Storytelling

The power of storytelling in college essays.

As an admissions officer, I’ve read thousands of college essays. The ones that stand out the most are the essays that tell a story. The art of storytelling is a powerful tool that can make all the difference in the college application process. It allows admissions officers to gain insight into who you are as a person and what you value. Telling a compelling story can also help you stand out among other applicants.

Tips for Telling a Great Story

• Start with a strong opening sentence that hooks the reader.
• Use sensory details to help the reader visualize the story.
• Show, don’t tell. Use dialogue and actions to reveal character traits rather than just stating them.
• End with a satisfying conclusion that ties everything together.
• Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable or share personal experiences.

The Importance of Authenticity

One of the biggest mistakes students make when writing college essays is trying to sound like someone they’re not. It’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to impress admissions officers with big words and impressive accomplishments, but this approach often falls flat.

Admissions officers want to see the real you, not a version of yourself that you think they want to see. Authenticity is key. When you write from a place of authenticity, your essay will be more engaging, unique, and memorable.

How to Write Authentically

• Write about something that genuinely interests you.
• Don’t be afraid to show your personality.
• Use your own voice – write the way you speak.
• Be honest and genuine in your writing.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

There are a few common pitfalls that students should avoid when writing college essays. One of the most common mistakes is writing about a topic that is too broad or generic. Admissions officers have read countless essays about overcoming adversity, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or going on a mission trip. If you choose to write about one of these topics, be sure to make it unique and personal to you.

Another mistake to avoid is trying to cram too much information into your essay. Focus on one specific event or experience and use that as a jumping-off point to explore your values, beliefs, and personality.

Common Essay Pitfalls to Avoid

• Writing about a topic that is too broad or generic.
• Trying to cram too much information into the essay.
• Using cliches or overly flowery language.
• Focusing too much on accomplishments rather than personal growth.

The Role of Revision

Writing a great college essay is a process. It takes time, effort, and multiple drafts to get it right. The revision process is crucial to crafting a polished and effective essay.

During the revision process, you should focus on refining your storytelling, honing your voice, and tightening up your writing. It can also be helpful to get feedback from others, such as teachers, counselors, or family members.

Tips for Successful Revision

• Give yourself plenty of time to revise.
• Put your essay away for a few days before revising.
• Read your essay out loud to catch errors and awkward phrasing.
• Get feedback from others.

The Takeaway

Writing a great college essay is not easy, but it’s also not impossible. By focusing on telling a compelling story, being authentic, avoiding common pitfalls, and revising your work, you can write an essay that will make a lasting impression on admissions officers. Remember, your essay is an opportunity to show admissions officers who you are beyond your grades and test scores. Use it to your advantage.

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Story-telling College Essays Samples For Students

3 samples of this type

During studying in college, you will definitely need to write a lot of College Essays on Story-telling. Lucky you if putting words together and turning them into meaningful content comes easy to you; if it's not the case, you can save the day by finding an already written Story-telling College Essay example and using it as a model to follow.

This is when you will certainly find WowEssays' free samples directory extremely helpful as it contains numerous expertly written works on most various Story-telling College Essays topics. Ideally, you should be able to find a piece that meets your criteria and use it as a template to build your own College Essay. Alternatively, our competent essay writers can deliver you an original Story-telling College Essay model written from scratch according to your custom instructions.

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Are Your Students’ College Essays About Great Storytelling?

An independent educational consultant recently asked me this question: “Is the essay about great storytelling?”   Day after day, we get emails and calls like this one from counselors, teachers and educational consultants with questions and challenges. We’re always happy to answer.

This time, my answer was “Nope.” That’s a myth.   We say this all the time: At its core, the college essay is all about reflection –  NOT great storytelling, and not great writing. We say it because it’s true.   Some people believe the essay should be beautiful. Perfect. Like a piece of art. A story written with dynamic words, fancy sentences, flawless grammar and spelling.   But that’s a myth, too.   Because college admissions counselors who read application essays are not looking for great. Not before COVID-19, and not after. They want an essay that answers their prompt and will help them get to know the applicant beyond the application package. They want to hear what the student has to say, understand how that student thinks, NOT what the student thinks they want to hear.

As we move into application season in the most unsettling time in our history, it’s important to remember that great writers sometimes write great essays, but only if they show reflection. Just as many not-so-great writers crank out meaningful stories that get noticed inside the admissions office.

Questions? We’ve got answers.

MONTHLY FREE WEBINARS FOR STUDENTS AND PROS  

Pro Chats : Every month we record a new  College Essay Pro Chat.   Check out the recording , or  sign up for next month’s webinar . Wow CEO Susan Knoppow answers questions live for 30 minutes. Free Student Classes : If you’re a school counselor who wants to help students with the basics, encourage them to  sign up  for my next  free student class,  or  listen to the recording . You are welcome to sign up, too.

Stay healthy. We’re sending warm and calming thoughts to all of you.

Kim Lifton is President and Co-founder of Wow Writing Workshop  a premier college application essay coaching and  professional  training company, offering private, virtual writing coaching services to professionals and students throughout the world.  Since 2009, Wow has been leading the college admissions industry with our unique approach to communicating messages effectively through application essays, including personal statements, activity and short answer essays and supplements.  Kim leads a team of writers and teachers who understand the writing process inside and out. Kim blogs regularly about the college essay’s role in the admission process for multiple industry publications and websites. In 2019, she was named a  LinkedIn Top Voice in Education.

• Date May 4, 2020
• Author Kim Lifton
• Category Uncategorized
• Tag College Essay
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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Brittany Stinson — Personal Storytelling in College Admissions: Lessons from Brittany Stinson

Personal Storytelling in College Admissions: Lessons from Brittany Stinson

• Categories: Brittany Stinson College

About this sample

Words: 592 |

Published: Dec 28, 2023

Words: 592 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, authenticity and relatability, defining character and values, creating a memorable narrative, lessons from brittany stinson's essay, connecting on a human level, the power of vulnerability, illustrating growth and resilience, expressing passion and aspirations, engaging openings, story arc and resolution, be genuine and reflective, show, don't just tell, edit and seek feedback, works cited.

• Stinson, Brittany. “Brittany Stinson’s College Essay.” 2016.
• Hoffman, Lynn F., et al. “Assessing leadership in admissions essays: The impact of quantity versus quality.” International Journal of Educational Management 31.5 (2017): 630-641.
• Milosavljević, Nebojša, and Bojana Bulatović. “College application essays: Going beyond ‘how to write an essay’.” English Teaching: Practice and Critique 17.2 (2018): 208-222.
• Bauld, Harry. “On Writing the College Application Essay.” Collins Reference, 2012.
• Norton, Quinn, and John Schlueter. “The College Essay: A Comprehensive Guide.” Writers Digest Books, 2020.

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Connor’s College Essay: Storytelling Through Photography

Connor is an alum of our Yellowstone Photography program and wrote about the experience for his college essay, exploring the impact of photography and storytelling. This fall he’ll be attending George Washington University majoring in photojournalism at Corcoran.

When I think about photojournalism, I think about capturing raw emotion in images to share a story and convey a message. With this in mind, I strive to use my camera as a microphone to broadcast the wide scope of shared human emotion. My hometown was recently hit by Hurricane Ian, which caused widespread tragedy. There’s something so unifying about disaster and tragedy. Despite our backgrounds, it’s human nature to cling to our neighbors in a time like this and find peace in something that withstands every storm: each other. Photography allows me to capture this rare phenomenon.

In efforts to improve and develop my photojournalism skills, I participated in a Putney Student Travel Yellowstone photography workshop along with 20 other high schoolers and National Geographic Explorer, Federico Pardo. I was able to bond with more than just my fellow classmates and lead instructor. I bonded with one of the assistants, Mimi D’Autremont.

On the first day of the workshop, Mimi gave us a presentation about her past work. I was fascinated by her work immediately and it continues to amaze me. Mimi is an alumni of Corcoran photojournalism at George Washington University. Her ability to capture human emotion is captivating, and I enjoyed learning from her techniques.

To jumpstart my photojournalism career, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at the George Washington University would prepare me and better my skills of photographing emotion just like Mimi experienced. With access to global leaders, Corcoran offers endless opportunities. Becoming apart of a network of remarkable alumni including Mimi would be invaluable. One of my biggest dreams has been to become a National Geographic photographer, which requires some of the best skill. To become one of the best photojournalists, I need to be educated by the best. I need to be educated by Corcoran.

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Lindemann wins the 2024 grimes memorial competition.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications announced on March 27 that Marissa Lindemann is the 2024 George and Eva Grimes Memorial Competition winner. Lindemann is a sophomore broadcasting and journalism double major from Des Moines, Iowa.

The George and Eva Grimes Memorial Competition tests students' ability to use written or visual storytelling to make a compelling case for the benefits of international experience. All CoJMC undergraduate and graduate students accepted into a UNL international experience can enter the competition. Students submit a 1,000-word essay or a thirty- to sixty-second video demonstrating how funds will support their international experience.

Entries are judged by members of the CoJMC Scholarship and Student Success Committee. This year's judges were Assistant Professors of Practice Sharon Baldinelli and Shoun Hill, Lecturer Bill Doleman, Administrative Associate Tiffany Groteluschen, Marketing and Communications Coordinator Kaitlin Van Loon and Alumni Relations and Event Coordinator Zac Franzen.

The Grimes Memorial Competition provides the winner a $2,000 award to support the cost of international travel. Lindemann will use the award to support travel to Namibia during the summer of 2024. She will spend three weeks participating in a UNL Study Abroad course, Namibia: Wildlife Conservation, examining varied approaches to conservation in the country and their impact on endangered species.

Following the course, Lindemann will remain in Namibia for the summer to complete an internship with a Wildlife Conservation Organization. During her experience, Lindemann will use her journalism and broadcasting education to create real-world conservation stories about people working to make the world more sustainable and the wildlife that inspires them.

"Congratulations to Marissa for winning the Grimes Competition," said Shari Veil, Jane T. Olson Dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. "We are proud of her accomplishments and look forward to seeing the stories she will tell during her travels."

Established in 1991 by Lee, George and David Grimes, the George and Eva Grimes Memorial Competition commemorates the legacy of their parents. Both hailing from Nebraska, George and Eva Grimes began their journey at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1914. Notably, they both held the position of editor-in-chief at the Daily Nebraska, with Eva breaking ground as the first female editor in 1916, followed by George the subsequent year. After college and George's service in World War I, they spent their careers working in journalism before purchasing the Oxnard Press-Courier, which they owned until 1962. 

An endowment managed by the University of Nebraska Foundation supports the competition.

Should college essays touch on race? Some feel the affirmative action ruling leaves them no choice

CHICAGO — When she started writing her college essay, Hillary Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. About being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana and growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. About hardship and struggle.

Then she deleted it all.

“I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18-year-old senior at Lincoln Park High School in Chicago. “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.”

When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in higher education, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. For many students of color, instantly more was riding on the already high-stakes writing assignment. Some say they felt pressure to exploit their hardships as they competed for a spot on campus.

Amofa was just starting to think about her essay when the court issued its decision, and it left her with a wave of questions. Could she still write about her race? Could she be penalized for it? She wanted to tell colleges about her heritage but she didn’t want to be defined by it.

In English class, Amofa and her classmates read sample essays that all seemed to focus on some trauma or hardship. It left her with the impression she had to write about her life’s hardest moments to show how far she’d come. But she and some classmates wondered if their lives had been hard enough to catch the attention of admissions offices.

This year’s senior class is the first in decades to navigate college admissions without affirmative action . The Supreme Court upheld the practice in decisions going back to the 1970s, but this court’s conservative supermajority found it is unconstitutional for colleges to give students extra weight because of their race alone.

Still, the decision left room for race to play an indirect role: Chief Justice John Roberts wrote universities can still consider how an applicant’s life was shaped by their race, “so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability.”

Scores of colleges responded with new essay prompts asking about students’ backgrounds.

When Darrian Merritt started writing his essay, his first instinct was to write about events that led to him going to live with his grandmother as a child. Those were painful memories, but he thought they might play well at schools like Yale, Stanford and Vanderbilt.

“I feel like the admissions committee might expect a sob story or a tragic story,” said Merritt, a senior in Cleveland. “I wrestled with that a lot.”

Eventually he abandoned the idea and aimed for an essay that would stand out for its positivity.

Merritt wrote about a summer camp where he started to feel more comfortable in his own skin. He described embracing his personality and defying his tendency to please others. But the essay also reflects on his feelings of not being “Black enough” and getting made fun of for listening to “white people music.”

Like many students, Max Decker of Portland, Oregon, had drafted a college essay on one topic, only to change direction after the Supreme Court ruling in June.

Decker initially wrote about his love for video games. In a childhood surrounded by constant change, navigating his parents’ divorce, the games he took from place to place on his Nintendo DS were a source of comfort.

But the essay he submitted to colleges focused on the community he found through Word is Bond, a leadership group for young Black men in Portland.

As the only biracial, Jewish kid with divorced parents in a predominantly white, Christian community, Decker wrote he felt like the odd one out. On a trip with Word is Bond to Capitol Hill, he and friends who looked just like him shook hands with lawmakers. The experience, he wrote, changed how he saw himself.

“It’s because I’m different that I provide something precious to the world, not the other way around,” wrote Decker, whose top college choice is Tulane, in New Orleans, because of the region’s diversity.

Amofa used to think affirmative action was only a factor at schools like Harvard and Yale. After the court’s ruling, she was surprised to find that race was taken into account even at public universities she was applying to.

Now, without affirmative action, she wondered if mostly white schools will become even whiter.

It’s been on her mind as she chooses between Indiana University and the University of Dayton, both of which have relatively few Black students. When she was one of the only Black students in her grade school, she could fall back on her family and Ghanaian friends at church. At college, she worries about loneliness.

“That’s what I’m nervous about,” she said. “Going and just feeling so isolated, even though I’m constantly around people.”

The first drafts of her essay didn’t tell colleges about who she is now, she said.

Her final essay describes how she came to embrace her natural hair. She wrote about going to a mostly white grade school where classmates made jokes about her afro.

Over time, she ignored their insults and found beauty in the styles worn by women in her life. She now runs a business doing braids and other hairstyles in her neighborhood.

“Criticism will persist,” she wrote “but it loses its power when you know there’s a crown on your head!”

Ma reported from Portland, Oregon.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .

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How to Be Real With Your Kids

Actor penn badgley reads the essay “watching them watching me” and reflects on the power of apologizing to your children..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Love now and for always.

Did you fall in love?

Just tell her I love her.

Love is stronger than anything you can feel.

For the love.

And I love you more than anything.

(SINGING) What is love?

Here’s to love.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Anna Martin. This is “Modern Love.” Today, a conversation with the actor, Penn Badgley. Penn is best known for playing brooding characters. He plays a bookish, handsome serial killer who stalks women in the name of love on the Netflix show “You.”

Where is she? Tell me where she is! Tell me or I’ll kill you!

And of course, he played Dan Humphrey in the original “Gossip Girl.”

Within weeks, I was getting dozens of emails with stories about Upper East Siders, so I posted them anonymously.

Dan Humphrey is the outsider among this wealthy group of high schoolers. And spoiler alert for a TV show that finished airing in 2012, he ends up being revealed as the anonymous blogger ruining all of their lives. So, brooding might be an understatement.

At first, I thought the “Modern Love” essay Penn chose to read today felt like a departure from the work I’m used to seeing him in. It’s an essay about a father who needs to embrace his vulnerability in order to help himself and his three sons. Penn is also a father and a stepfather. And today with me, he opens up about what it means to be a parent who models humility and compassion.

Penn Badgley, welcome to “Modern Love.”

Thank you for having me.

So, I know I am not the first person to say this to you, but I am loving you on TikTok. You’re so good on TikTok.

[LAUGHS]: Thank you.

I mean, listen, you’re dancing, you’re singing. You have a TikTok about your feet. Explain that one.

Well, that one really was just because there were enough comments. I am often barefoot because when you’re inside, it’s either for me socks or barefoot.

Absolutely agree with you.

And I don’t know. I mean, I think a lot of us are barefoot. We’re just not all, like, on social media.

You’re getting so defensive. A lot of us are barefoot!

It’s a lot of us are —

Yeah, a lot of us do that.

I mean, it’s zany. It’s like, it’s just quick cuts.

It is zany.

This is me in my version of directing a comedy. This is like —

You are putting your whole self. It’s physical comedy, Penn. It’s physical comedy.

Yeah, which is to — I don’t know. I mean, to me, it’s like, what else are you going to do on TikTok? You know what I mean?

I mean, I love it. We get to see a totally different side of you, so different than the characters you play. It’s much lighter. It’s much more joyful. How does that feel for you?

Well, I mean, I have both sides to me. I’m quite capable of being serious and brooding, but I feel like at this point in life, that’s like a drag default. I don’t need to explore that anymore. You know what I mean? Not even as an actor, I’m saying as a person.

Like, there’s no — I don’t know if there’s value any longer in the seriousness and the brooding. I have that on lock. That’s 37 years of experience there.

Yeah. Was there a specific moment for you where you kind of felt yourself transition from —

Dark to light?

Yeah, to put it that way.

No, there’s definitely not one point. I would just say that for a number of reasons, I’ve been coming to terms with, as we often do as adults, probably the grievances, the grief maybe, the sadness of early life. And not everybody has a lot of sadness to pull from in their early life.

I happen to have had some experiences and events before 20 that kind of oriented me in a way where, frankly, those were the heaviest years. Like, those were very much the heaviest years. I would say throughout my 20s, I was unburdening. And then if there is one moment, I would say my 30th birthday, suddenly, something clicked a little bit, just a little.

I need to hear this because I’m 29, about to turn 30, so this is personally very important to me. Keep going. What happened on the 30th birthday?

So, I would imagine some people experience maybe something of the inverse, but I just really felt lighter because I think there’s something quite heavy about actually adolescence into adulthood, into early adulthood. By the time you’re 30, you just can no longer say — there is something where it’s like, all right, that stuff of youth is officially kind of over. It’s like, well, look, this is me. This is my life. I mean —

Mm-hmm, yeah. I mean, I know what you’re saying. When you’re 30, it feels like you’re fully responsible for dealing with what happens in your life, the things you can control and also the things that you can’t. It actually makes me think of the essay that you picked to read today. It’s called “Watching Them Watching Me,” and it’s about a dad and his children dealing with a tragedy together, something that none of them saw coming. Can you read that for me?

Sure. This is “Watching Them Watching Me,” by Dean E. Murphy.

“To celebrate our 25 anniversary, I had the videotape of our wedding converted into a DVD as a surprise for my wife. This was going to be a stay-at-home anniversary. We had splurged on our 20th, knowing that by this year, our oldest son would be frighteningly close to college, so a quiet dinner and a movie, our own movie, were what I had in mind. My wife and I hadn’t viewed the ceremony in years, but the routine was delightfully predictable. She would cry, on cue, at the moment when she choked up reciting her vows. And we would hold hands and give each other that knowing look, the one that said, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

I’d forgotten how long it took to get beyond our background stories, the high school swim teams, the travel, all leading to that electric day in Santa Barbara, California, when we first laid eyes on each other and knew almost instantly we were meant to be. I’ve met the man I’m going to marry, she reported to her mother that first night.

As the DVD played on, the tears began welling, but this time, long before we recited our vows, and it was me crying. My God, she looked gorgeous, as she stepped out of the white Cadillac, dodging the raindrops. She beamed a smile at the camera, her eyes filled with anticipation. Everything was perfect, down to her painted toenails. I remember it all so well, back when heaven was so generously shining on me, the lucky guy I was, this dream bride at my side.

My oldest son wandered into the room and grabbed a seat. He had seen the tape before, but didn’t really remember it and certainly had never watched it with such purpose. On screen, I had a full beard and thick, wavy hair and looked more his peer than the middle-aged father now sitting next to him. It was funny watching me pace with my groomsmen, awkwardly waiting for the ceremony to begin.

As I sat in front of the TV, I laughed and cried all at once, knowing with hindsight all that awaited us. His mother, well, she looked stunning to my son, too, and there was no mistaking her. Let’s get the show on the road, she ordered. My high schooler immediately recognized his mom, a quarter century of distance erased by a handful of take-control words. Still, he didn’t stick around. It turned out to be too hard for him to sit with me, his dad, by then, reduced to a helpless spectator to his own life. He felt like an intruder, he later confessed.

When one of his brothers happened by, he, too, was so unnerved that he darted out the front door. His eyes were swollen and red when he returned, not a word needing to be exchanged between us. You see, as hard as it had been for my three sons to lose their mother, she died rather suddenly, two months shy of our 25th. I learned that anniversary night that it has also been hard for them to watch me lose the love of my life.

As alone as I feel, I am not actually alone. I have three sons who can pinpoint with laser-like precision the gaping hole in my heart. It is an odd feeling as a father to be so transparent, so naked in front of the children you still provide for. But the death of a spouse rewrites the rules of a family in ways I never could have imagined. Some decisions in life, it turns out, are made for you, leaving you an unwitting accomplice and spectator at once.

My sons stood witness as I spent the better part of five months trying to keep my wife alive. She received a diagnosis of kidney cancer a few days after Thanksgiving, and we buried her the week before Easter.

In some ways, it was a flash, those 134 days fighting for treatments, arguing with insurance companies, pushing for another drug, getting her to the hospital for chemotherapy. Always another deadline, something to arrange, a problem to solve.

But the boys lived every day of it. And while I was caught up in the moment, they were watching in slow motion, each frame frozen in agonizing detail.

When they would act out or indicate neglect, I was frank in my plea to them. As harsh as this may sound, I can’t make you my priority right now. So, please, don’t insist on it. I love you and remain here for you, but my energies are focused on getting your mother healthy. She needs me like never before.

Not that they didn’t test me. Little things would conflate into big ones. The struggle over just getting to school on time became a flashpoint beyond reason, as the routines of everyday life from when to eat meals to whose authority to respect were suddenly up for negotiation.

My updates on their mother’s condition were rarely taken at face value. I was hiding something or spinning them, or worse, I was in the dark myself. In a near instant, the world was not what it used to be. It never would be. Nothing anyone did made much difference, not in stopping the cancer or even in managing the pain.

Still, when it became clear that she was not going to get better, she mustered her strength and invited the boys into our bedroom. It would be another 10 days before she died. But she said her goodbyes that night in the sanctity of our home and on her terms.

We all curled up on the thick, white sheets and fluffy down comforter, craving her every affection, tears streaming down our cheeks, incapable of saying much beyond “I love you.”

We knew this was one of life’s consequential moments, even if we did not wholly appreciate the finality of it.

Apart from the grief of a beloved spouse gone missing, a widow or widower has the institution of marriage to confront. Not just because you are suddenly without it, but with kids still at home, the marriage lives on in the world you’ve built as a family. The living room furniture you picked out together, the unfinished plans to remodel the kitchen, even who walks the dog in the morning, all residuals of a bygone bond.

Over the summer, we celebrated my middle son’s 16th birthday with a boxed cake I concocted with the help of his little brother and a tub of storebought frosting. Birthday cakes were his mother’s domain, and she made magnificent, artistic monuments to their lives, confections that told the story of the past year better than any journal entry or photo album. Mine was hardly that, but I did my best to keep my wife’s tradition alive, and with it, our marriage.

In a moment of despair, after every effort to save my wife had failed, her mother pulled me aside. I had never felt so helpless or inadequate, and she could see that. I may not recognize it now, she told me, but I had given my sons the greatest gift a father could give — the example of unconditional marital love.

What she didn’t say was that in providing that example, I was also inviting my sons into the inner chambers of my life. That is not something fathers normally do, at least not in the case of adolescent children. And once that door is open, it does not easily swing shut. That such an isolating time in my life that is, perhaps, not a bad thing. But this new order can take some getting used to. My mental health, social life, and work ethic are all fair game to my children. Is your belief in God shaken, Dad? Are you angry? How are you taking care of yourself?

On a visit to the doctor to get his flu shot, my 12-year-old lectured me on finding healthy ways to vent my sadness and frustration, gently pointing out that I might have come down too hard on his two brothers that weekend. To that same point, there was nearly a round of applause when I announced that I’d found a bereavement group I intended to stick with. You’ll like it, my youngest told me. Sometimes you just need to say whatever you want and not worry about it.

When I look back to the morning my wife died, it is now clear to me that my sons were well down this road, even then. That they recognized our family’s changed order and its consequences. As we were driving home from the hospice in exhausted silence, my oldest son, in the passenger seat, where his mom had always sat, turned to me, and then to his older brothers.

It is just the four of us now, he said. We’ll need to be here for each other.”

Thank you so much for that, Penn. That was really beautiful. What did it feel like to read?

Oh, it’s really — it’s poignant. To me, that is even richer than just sadness or tragedy because it contains, well, love, actually, is what it contains. It contains a lot of love.

After the break, Penn talks about unconditional love and learning how to say “I’m sorry” as a parent.

Penn, you just read Danny Murphy’s essay, “Watching Them Watching Me.” Did any part of this story in particular really resonate with you?

Yeah, for me, what he says about this gift that he’s unintentionally given his sons, that they’ve been able to glimpse something of unconditional love that he’s giving to their mother and that he’s also allowing them into, as he says, I think, the inner chambers of his heart or his life, which is not what fathers typically do, especially for adolescent sons. And I mean, oh, my goodness, that’s everything. That’s so uncannily beautiful. So beautiful.

That line, “I was inviting my sons into the inner chambers of my life. That is not something fathers normally do,” I want to ask, when you were a kid looking at your father, do you remember a moment where your father was open or vulnerable with you in the way the author of this essay is?

No, but I know that in some ways — I know that in his own way, he tried.

Can you say how you knew that?

I know it now. I’m not sure what I thought or knew then, but I know it now.

I mean, as a dad yourself now, do you remember a time where your kids saw you be vulnerable?

I have an interesting situation where I have a biological son and a stepson. And my stepson is — his father is very much in his life, so his father is his father, and I’m something else. So I have two different kind of parental roles. And then my biological son is only 3 and 1/2. So, that’s a very different thing, too. I’m going to need to be able to more consciously show him my vulnerability as he gets older in those years, you know?

I was going to say, your son is probably a little too young to perhaps register these moments of vulnerability from you now, but as you plan for childhood and teenagehood and adulthood and beyond, how were you thinking about incorporating vulnerability into your parenting?

Yeah, that’s a good question. Well, one would be to first understand what vulnerability is. Because we talk about it in a way that I think it’s often assumed that it’s just being — it’s like sharing a lot maybe or being open. And I don’t think that’s the — I actually think that the ways that I’m open are not always I have to tell you exactly what’s going on inside. It’s more like living it, demonstrating it.

Can you give me an example maybe of what that means? And again, I know that three is quite young, but I bet you’re still doing things even now to model how to interact with the world, how to interact with people. I would love an example, if you can think of one.

OK, well, first, I remember when my toddler started saying sorry.

Oh. [LAUGHS]

Like, I’m sorry. And yeah, that’s the right response because we, in our culture, say sorry all the time, and it’s meaningless. It’s like, oh, sorry. Oh, I’m right behind you. Sorry. Just sorry, sorry, sorry that. And then the first time you hear a little child, who’s learning words, anytime they say anything for the first time, you’re like, oh, that’s — you notice it’s the first time that word is being used.

So this little human saying sorry for the first time, I remember when he said it, it was like, oh. Like, you don’t need to be sorry about something, and I don’t recall exactly what it was. It weas something that was innocuous, but that, technically, was his fault. Like, maybe he — it wasn’t spilling because we don’t freak out about spills at all in our house. It was something small that none of us were upset about.

But he said sorry, and I think we were just like, oh, an apology is not needed. I remember just thinking to myself, let me reorient things so that you don’t have any compulsion to apologize when it’s not necessary.

And then furthermore, I remember the first time that I apologized to him.

[GASPS]: Tell me about it.

We were getting into the car, and he was being completely unreasonable as a toddler will be, you know? Like absolutely —

[LAUGHS]: Absolutely out of control three-year-old, yeah.

I mean, it’s just like, oh, you don’t want to do the thing that you just said you want to do because we’re doing it now? Oh, that makes a lot of sense.

You frickin’ maniac. If you translate that behavior to older people, it’s like, toddlers are just terrible people. But they’re not, of course. They’re not. This was actually the first time, really, more or less, the first time that I was becoming impatient with him.

He was 2 and 1/2 and, there was something around that age that changes, where they’re starting to just consciously defy you in a way that you can sometimes have nothing but patience and grace for. And then other times, it’s like we’re going to be 45 minutes late if you don’t — like, I know how this is going to go because I’m an adult, and you’re a stupid child.

And I have a watch. [LAUGHS]

And you’re saying no for no reason other than your brain doesn’t understand how to process your feelings any better than that.

Oh, my gosh.

And you want autonomy, but you don’t understand you’re not the center of the universe. And you know what I mean? It’s like, it’s just — if you look at it in a certain way, it’s a complete lose-lose. And if you get caught up in that, you can take it personally, and you can get really impatient and really angry with them. You really, really can, of course.

Absolutely.

And I was being short with him. I was like, well, we got to get you — I was just — I was being clipped. Because what had happened is I’d forced him into the car seat, and he was crying, but he’d stopped crying. And it was just like he looked kind of like devastated, you know?

Like, I’d broken his will somehow. And of course, this happens all the time, and they snap right back. And then I stopped for a moment, and I said, are you upset because I was being impatient with you? And he goes, yeah. And I said, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry for speaking to you that way. And that was for me, as a man and as a father, it was actually such a moving moment. And I was like, oh, I didn’t get that. That is really important, you know?

That, to me, is vulnerability. It’s not a bunch of sharing necessarily. It’s not even apologizing when you know it’s important. It’s meaning it. And it really was the first time, by the way. Like, that’s what’s so — I’ll always remember it.

We talk all the time about these moments where we realize our parents are human and make mistakes, too. And even though your son is maybe too young to completely understand your words or to remember this moment, I kind of feel like he’ll feel it in some way, you know?

That’s the thing. He won’t remember it, you’re right. There’s actually no neurological way he could ever remember it. He’ll only know it in his nervous system if he grows up with a father who keeps doing this.

Absolutely. I mean, it models for him how he can act in situations.

Yes, as he gets older.

I want to change gears somewhat and talk about another theme in the essay, this idea that we can’t protect kids from the hard stuff in life. The author, Dean E. Murphy, lost his wife, and his kids lost their mother. As much as he wanted to shield them from that pain, they still felt it so deeply. I wonder how you’re thinking about that in terms of your own child, the fact that you can’t protect him from the hard stuff.

Well, it’s impossible. In any other interview, if I just said this out of context, it would sound wild. But I think, in some ways, children should be accustomed to hardship.

Because they will encounter it, by the way. They will. And I actually think it’s more like, if we were to embrace reality, try to demonstrate unconditional love as much as we’re able, the truth is, is that in hardship, they would see vulnerability. They would see humility. They would see love from their family and friends. For whatever reason, those are the times that we seem to demonstrate it most.

You’re bringing up unconditional love again. And earlier, you talked about the part of the essay where the author’s mother-in-law tells him that he’s given his sons the greatest gift a father could give, which is an example of unconditional marital love. How do you think about unconditional love in your roles as a father and as a husband?

I think unconditional love is actually very hard and rare in a way. I think, for instance, with my wife, we’re learning to condition ourselves so that we can be unconditional, you know? Unconditional love, I don’t think, is ever just magically visited upon anybody. We say a parent’s love is unconditional. That’s actually not true.

It’s not true. It’s just not. It is conditioned quite often.

It just is. And that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person at all. Unconditional love is like — the author mentions God at some point. I’m personally spiritual and experienced God in my life and is part of my worldview. That’s the only love that’s unconditional, as I understand it. We’re learning and attempting to be unconditional. I really would want to interrogate anybody’s experience of so-called unconditional love because I think you, unfortunately, find a lot of conditions. [LAUGHS]

I think you’re articulating something really true, which is that love requires work, right? The author is giving his sons this model of unconditional love. But it’s not easy. There is so much effort there. There’s so much grief there. And even so, he still provides these moments of joy for his sons. He throws his son a birthday party. He decorates the cake.

To end on a bit of a lighter note, I wonder if there was a moment recently where you tried to give your child a moment of joy. It can be really small, even.

Yeah, I mean, that, especially with a toddler, is easy. That actually happens all the time.

Yeah, how gorgeous is that, huh?

Well, yeah, it is gorgeous. It’s a beautiful, beautiful dimension of life. There’s joy often, so often. I’ll actually switch to my 15-year-old for that one. Very recently, we had a rare kind of like bedtimes — and when you have such an age spread, it’s kind of hard to make time for everybody. And he’s older, and he doesn’t want to spend that much time with us anyway.

So this was like a night, an evening where I was sacrificing sleep after many nights of not much sleep, I think. Our littlest was sick, but it struck me, and I was like, hey, we need to watch a movie. We are going to watch “The Edge of Tomorrow” with Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.

OK, I love —

And it is such a good action movie, like such a — you know what I mean? It’s like, there’s something — it’s the best that an action movie has to offer.

So you say to your 15-year-old, we need to watch this movie tonight.

Yeah, because it was just like we are going to have a great time together. And it was one of those very male — we didn’t talk that much because it was super late. And frankly, I was exhausted, and I was like, I’m going to get maybe four or five hours of sleep. And whatever. But I just knew it was important. It was like the stars had aligned so that my wife and youngest son were asleep, and I was just like, this is a good time to do this. You’re not going to play video games right now. We’re going to do this.

What did your 15-year-old think?

Well, he loved it. No, he loved it. And you want to talk about Modern Love. One of the ways you got to do that is watch things with people.

That is so sweet. I love that. You were like, dude, let me unlock the best film ever. I have to tell you, I had to covertly google it as you were speaking because I’ve never heard of it. But I need you to know that later, I will be watching this movie.

You’re welcome in advance.

Yeah. Thank you so much. And actually, that’s what I wanted to say. Penn Badgley, thank you so much for this conversation. Such a treat.

Oh, thank you for having me.

Listeners, check out Penn’s podcast called “Podcrushed.” It’s about embarrassing middle school memories. We all have them. It’s very funny, and it is available wherever you get your podcasts. Next week, I talk to actor and singer/songwriter Miya Hawke about what she wished her life would have looked like as a child of divorce.

I think the dream situation is captured by the film “Parent Trap.”

[LAUGHS]: Secret twin.

Yes, secret twin, get your parents back together.

“Modern Love” is produced by Julia Botero, Christina Djossa, Reva Goldberg, Davis Land, and Emily Lang, with help from Kate LoPresti. It’s edited by our executive producer, Jen Poyant. Special thanks to Paula Szuchman.

The “Modern Love” theme music is by Dan Powell. Original music by Pat McCusker. This episode was mixed by Daniel Ramirez. Our show is recorded by Maddy Massiello. Digital production by Mahima Chablani and Nell Gallogly. The “Modern Love” column is edited by Daniel Jones. Miya Lee is the editor of Modern Love projects. I’m Anna Martin. Thanks for listening.

• March 27, 2024   •   32:38 How to Be Real With Your Kids
• March 20, 2024   •   32:14 Why Samin Nosrat Is Now ‘Fully YOLO’
• March 13, 2024   •   32:32 Brittany Howard Sings Through the Pangs of New Love
• March 6, 2024   •   33:21 Novelist Celeste Ng on the Big Power of Little Things
• February 28, 2024   •   37:46 Three Powerful Lessons About Love
• February 23, 2024   •   33:45 Modern Love at the Movies: Our Favorite Oscar-Worthy Love Stories
• February 21, 2024   •   25:21 A Politics Reporter Walks Into a Singles Mixer
• February 14, 2024   •   28:39 Un-Marry Me!
• December 6, 2023   •   29:18 I Married My Subway Crush
• November 29, 2023   •   34:56 Our 34-Year Age Gap Didn’t Matter, Until It Did
• November 22, 2023   •   25:22 Two Boys on Bikes, Falling in Love
• November 15, 2023   •   30:43 He Cared About Me, So I Broke Up With Him

Hosted by Anna Martin

Produced by Julia Botero ,  Christina Djossa ,  Reva Goldberg and Emily Lang

Edited by Jen Poyant

Engineered by Daniel Ramirez

Original music by Pat McCusker

With Kate LoPresti

Listen and follow Modern Love Apple Podcasts | Spotify

‘i really would want to interrogate anybody’s experience of so-called unconditional love because i think unfortunately you find a lot of conditions.’.

Penn Badgley has made a career out of playing deeply troubled characters. From his role as Joe Goldberg on the Netflix series “You” to Dan Humphrey on “Gossip Girl , ” Badgley has shown many times over how obsession and delusion can destroy love.

In his personal life, though, Badgley says he’s not doing too much brooding. He’s a father and a stepfather, and he opens up about the importance of being vulnerable with his kids. Badgley reads “ Watching Them Watching Me ” by Dean E. Murphy, an essay about a father who can no longer hide his emotions from his sons after they all experience a devastating loss.

Links to transcripts of episodes generally appear on these pages within a week.

Modern Love is hosted by Anna Martin and produced by Julia Botero, Reva Goldberg, Emily Lang and Christina Djossa. The show is edited by Jen Poyant, our executive producer. The show is mixed by Daniel Ramirez and recorded by Maddy Masiello. It features original music by Pat McCusker. Our theme music is by Dan Powell.

Special thanks to Larissa Anderson, Kate LoPresti, Davis Land, Lisa Tobin, Daniel Jones, Miya Lee, Mahima Chablani, Nell Gallogly, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Nina Lassam and Julia Simon.

Thoughts? Email us at [email protected] . Want more from Modern Love ? Read past stories . Watch the TV series and sign up for the newsletter . We also have swag at the NYT Store and two books, “ Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption ” and “ Tiny Love Stories: True Tales of Love in 100 Words or Less .”

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Should college essays touch on race? Some feel the affirmative action ruling leaves them no choice

By COLLIN BINKLEY, ANNIE MA and NOREEN NASIR Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. Yet the added weight of the college essay has fallen unevenly on students of color, who often feel pressure to exploit their hardships as they compete for a spot on campus. This year’s senior class is the first in decades to navigate college admissions without affirmative action. The Supreme Court upheld the practice in decisions going back to the 1970s, but this court’s conservative supermajority said it is unconstitutional for colleges to give students extra weight because of their race alone.

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Should college essays touch on race? Some feel the affirmative action ruling leaves them no choice

Hillary Amofa listens to others member of the Lincoln Park High School step team after school Friday, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. (AP Video: Noreen Nasir)

Hillary Amofa listens to others member of the Lincoln Park High School step team after school Friday, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. She described hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it all. “I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18 year-old senior, “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.” (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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Hillary Amofa, laughs as she participates in a team building game with members of the Lincoln Park High School step team after school Friday, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. She described hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it all. “I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18 year-old senior, “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.” (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Hillary Amofa stands for a portrait after practice with members of the Lincoln Park High School step team Friday, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. She described hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it all. “I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18 year-old senior, “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.” (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Max Decker, a senior at Lincoln High School, sits for a portrait in the school library where he often worked on writing his college essays, in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Hillary Amofa stands for a portrait after practice with members of the Lincoln Park High School step team Friday, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Hillary Amofa, second from left, practices with members of the Lincoln Park High School step team after school Friday, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. She described hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it all. “I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18 year-old senior, “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.” (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Max Decker, a senior at Lincoln High School, stands for a portrait outside of the school in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

*Hillary Amofa, reflected right, practices in a mirror with members of the Lincoln Park High School step team after school Friday, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. She described hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it all. “I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18 year-old senior, “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.” (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Max Decker, a senior at Lincoln High School, sits for a portrait outside of the school in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Hillary Amofa, left, practices with members of the Lincoln Park High School step team after school Friday, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. She described hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it all. “I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18 year-old senior, “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.” (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Hillary Amofa sits for a portrait after her step team practice at Lincoln Park High School Friday, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. She described hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it all. “I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18 year-old senior, “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.” (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

FILE - Demonstrators protest outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, in this June 29, 2023 file photo, after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, saying race cannot be a factor. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

CHICAGO (AP) — When she started writing her college essay, Hillary Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. About being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana and growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. About hardship and struggle.

Then she deleted it all.

“I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18-year-old senior at Lincoln Park High School in Chicago. “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.”

When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in higher education, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. For many students of color, instantly more was riding on the already high-stakes writing assignment. Some say they felt pressure to exploit their hardships as they competed for a spot on campus.

Amofa was just starting to think about her essay when the court issued its decision, and it left her with a wave of questions. Could she still write about her race? Could she be penalized for it? She wanted to tell colleges about her heritage but she didn’t want to be defined by it.

In English class, Amofa and her classmates read sample essays that all seemed to focus on some trauma or hardship. It left her with the impression she had to write about her life’s hardest moments to show how far she’d come. But she and some of her classmates wondered if their lives had been hard enough to catch the attention of admissions offices.

“For a lot of students, there’s a feeling of, like, having to go through something so horrible to feel worthy of going to school, which is kind of sad,” said Amofa, the daughter of a hospital technician and an Uber driver.

This year’s senior class is the first in decades to navigate college admissions without affirmative action . The Supreme Court upheld the practice in decisions going back to the 1970s, but this court’s conservative supermajority found it is unconstitutional for colleges to give students extra weight because of their race alone.

Still, the decision left room for race to play an indirect role: Chief Justice John Roberts wrote universities can still consider how an applicant’s life was shaped by their race, “so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability.”

“A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination,” he wrote.

Scores of colleges responded with new essay prompts asking about students’ backgrounds. Brown University asked applicants how “an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you.” Rice University asked students how their perspectives were shaped by their “background, experiences, upbringing, and/or racial identity.”

Hillary Amofa, reflected right, practices in a mirror with members of the Lincoln Park High School step team after school, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

WONDERING IF SCHOOLS ‘EXPECT A SOB STORY’

When Darrian Merritt started writing his essay, he knew the stakes were higher than ever because of the court’s decision. His first instinct was to write about events that led to him going to live with his grandmother as a child.

Those were painful memories, but he thought they might play well at schools like Yale, Stanford and Vanderbilt.

“I feel like the admissions committee might expect a sob story or a tragic story,” said Merritt, a senior in Cleveland. “And if you don’t provide that, then maybe they’re not going to feel like you went through enough to deserve having a spot at the university. I wrestled with that a lot.”

He wrote drafts focusing on his childhood, but it never amounted to more than a collection of memories. Eventually he abandoned the idea and aimed for an essay that would stand out for its positivity.

Merritt wrote about a summer camp where he started to feel more comfortable in his own skin. He described embracing his personality and defying his tendency to please others. The essay had humor — it centered on a water gun fight where he had victory in sight but, in a comedic twist, slipped and fell. But the essay also reflects on his feelings of not being “Black enough” and getting made fun of for listening to “white people music.”

“I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to write this for me, and we’re just going to see how it goes,’” he said. “It just felt real, and it felt like an honest story.”

The essay describes a breakthrough as he learned “to take ownership of myself and my future by sharing my true personality with the people I encounter. ... I realized that the first chapter of my own story had just been written.”

Max Decker, a senior at Lincoln High School, sits for a portrait in the school library where he often worked on writing his college essays, in Portland, Ore., March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

A RULING PROMPTS PIVOTS ON ESSAY TOPICS

Like many students, Max Decker of Portland, Oregon, had drafted a college essay on one topic, only to change direction after the Supreme Court ruling in June.

Decker initially wrote about his love for video games. In a childhood surrounded by constant change, navigating his parents’ divorce, the games he took from place to place on his Nintendo DS were a source of comfort.

But the essay he submitted to colleges focused on the community he found through Word is Bond, a leadership group for young Black men in Portland.

As the only biracial, Jewish kid with divorced parents in a predominantly white, Christian community, Decker wrote he constantly felt like the odd one out. On a trip with Word is Bond to Capitol Hill, he and friends who looked just like him shook hands with lawmakers. The experience, he wrote, changed how he saw himself.

“It’s because I’m different that I provide something precious to the world, not the other way around,” he wrote.

As a first-generation college student, Decker thought about the subtle ways his peers seemed to know more about navigating the admissions process . They made sure to get into advanced classes at the start of high school, and they knew how to secure glowing letters of recommendation.

Max Decker reads his college essay on his experience with a leadership group for young Black men. (AP Video/Noreen Nasir)

If writing about race would give him a slight edge and show admissions officers a fuller picture of his achievements, he wanted to take that small advantage.

His first memory about race, Decker said, was when he went to get a haircut in elementary school and the barber made rude comments about his curly hair. Until recently, the insecurity that moment created led him to keep his hair buzzed short.

Through Word is Bond, Decker said he found a space to explore his identity as a Black man. It was one of the first times he was surrounded by Black peers and saw Black role models. It filled him with a sense of pride in his identity. No more buzzcut.

The pressure to write about race involved a tradeoff with other important things in his life, Decker said. That included his passion for journalism, like the piece he wrote on efforts to revive a once-thriving Black neighborhood in Portland. In the end, he squeezed in 100 characters about his journalism under the application’s activities section.

“My final essay, it felt true to myself. But the difference between that and my other essay was the fact that it wasn’t the truth that I necessarily wanted to share,” said Decker, whose top college choice is Tulane, in New Orleans, because of the region’s diversity. “It felt like I just had to limit the truth I was sharing to what I feel like the world is expecting of me.”

Demonstrators protest outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, in this June 29, 2023 file photo, after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, saying race cannot be a factor. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

SPELLING OUT THE IMPACT OF RACE

Before the Supreme Court ruling, it seemed a given to Imani Laird that colleges would consider the ways that race had touched her life. But now, she felt like she had to spell it out.

As she started her essay, she reflected on how she had faced bias or felt overlooked as a Black student in predominantly white spaces.

There was the year in math class when the teacher kept calling her by the name of another Black student. There were the comments that she’d have an easier time getting into college because she was Black .

“I didn’t have it easier because of my race,” said Laird, a senior at Newton South High School in the Boston suburbs who was accepted at Wellesley and Howard University, and is waiting to hear from several Ivy League colleges. “I had stuff I had to overcome.”

In her final essays, she wrote about her grandfather, who served in the military but was denied access to GI Bill benefits because of his race.

She described how discrimination fueled her ambition to excel and pursue a career in public policy.

“So, I never settled for mediocrity,” she wrote. “Regardless of the subject, my goal in class was not just to participate but to excel. Beyond academics, I wanted to excel while remembering what started this motivation in the first place.”

Hillary Amofa stands for a portrait after practice with members of the Lincoln Park High School step team, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

WILL SCHOOLS LOSE RACIAL DIVERSITY?

Amofa used to think affirmative action was only a factor at schools like Harvard and Yale. After the court’s ruling, she was surprised to find that race was taken into account even at some public universities she was applying to.

Now, without affirmative action, she wondered if mostly white schools will become even whiter.

It’s been on her mind as she chooses between Indiana University and the University of Dayton, both of which have relatively few Black students. When she was one of the only Black students in her grade school, she could fall back on her family and Ghanaian friends at church. At college, she worries about loneliness.

“That’s what I’m nervous about,” she said. “Going and just feeling so isolated, even though I’m constantly around people.”

Hillary Amofa reads her college essay on embracing her natural hair. (AP Video/Noreen Nasir)

The first drafts of her essay focused on growing up in a low-income family, sharing a bedroom with her brother and grandmother. But it didn’t tell colleges about who she is now, she said.

Her final essay tells how she came to embrace her natural hair . She wrote about going to a mostly white grade school where classmates made jokes about her afro. When her grandmother sent her back with braids or cornrows, they made fun of those too.

Over time, she ignored their insults and found beauty in the styles worn by women in her life. She now runs a business doing braids and other hairstyles in her neighborhood.

“I stopped seeing myself through the lens of the European traditional beauty standards and started seeing myself through the lens that I created,” Amofa wrote.

“Criticism will persist, but it loses its power when you know there’s a crown on your head!”

Ma reported from Portland, Oregon.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .