406: Why You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do Instead

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In this episode I sat down with TED speaker Tina Yong to talk about why students don’t have to write about trauma in a college essay to stand out—and what they can do instead.

We discussed, among other things:

  • Tina’s experience as an immigrant/racialized person feeling the pressure to turn her personal story into a personal statement with a linear, digestible plot—and how she realized how damaging this could be damaging to students of color

  • How Tina believes this is more a systemic issue

  • The recent Supreme Court ruling and how it can be okay to talk about race in the college application, with certain caveats

  • An example personal statement that mentions race but speaks specifically to qualities of character and unique abilities the author would bring to a college campus

  • Other ways students can share their identities in ways that allow them to take ownership of their story

  • Practical exercises students might use to talk about their different identities in their application—identities that include but aren’t limited to race

  • Supplemental essay prompts that ask specifically about challenges

  • Specific advice from Tina for students and for counselors

Play-by-play:

  • 0:00 - Intro

  • 4:17 - Who is Tina Yong?

  • 4:36 - Ethan and Tina’s backstory

  • 7:40 - ICYMI: recap of Tina’s TedX Talk about her experience as an immigrant applying to US universities

  • 10:16 - What inspired Tina to speak on trauma in college essays?

  • 11:43 - How and why Ethan changed his workshop approach

  • 13:04 - What response did Tina get after her TED Talk? What was the impact?

  • 15:01 - What has Tina learned since giving her TED Talk?

  • 18:00 - How will applicants of colors be affected by the recent Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious admissions?

  • 20:18 - Is it okay to discuss race in your application?

  • 22:35 - Ethan & Tina read of a sample personal statement that discusses race

  • 26:35 - Tina’s analysis

  • 29:04 - Ethan’s analysis

  • 31:36 - Three ways that students can share their identity in their personal statements—that don’t focus on a traumatic story with a happy ending

  • 36:27 - How to avoid writing a “sob story”

  • 37:17 - How to structure a challenges-based essay

  • 38:06 - What are colleges looking for in a college essay?

  • 39:47 - Practical brainstorming exercises for finding great personal statement topics

  • 45:36 - Navigating supplemental essay prompts

  • 50:03 - This isn’t the “Vulnerability Olympics”

  • 54:08 - Counselor resources & takeaways

  • 55:43 - Student resources & takeaways

  • 58:19 - Book recommendations from Tina on psychology & trauma

  • 59:53 - Closing thoughts

Resources: 

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