Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, "On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling." In this series, we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be.

In this episode, we break down an essay that is one of my new favorites. It's conceptually rich because even though it's on molding clay, it could be considered any of these montage types: I love/I know, Essence Objects, Skills/Superpower, Identity, Home, or Uncommon extracurricular activity. That's not a goal I'm suggesting you pursue, by the way, just interesting to note.

To discuss it, I'm joined by Calvin Pickett, the Director of Essay Coaching here at CEG. Calvin has been a college essay coach for more than eight years, and a lover of words and stories since he can remember. Calvin studied English Literature at Vassar before earning his master's in Secondary English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. He believes in the potential for this college essay writing process to be transformational for students, and loves helping them see and shape their own stories in ways that empower self-knowledge and self confidence and lead to exciting college opportunities.

If you're a craft nerd at heart (the kind of person who watches behind-the-scenes footage twice), I hope you'll feel right at home.

We hope you enjoy!

Play-by-Play:

2:16 – Calvin sets context for the essay and the student who wrote it
3:40 – Calvin reads the essay, "Molding Clay"
9:23 – How did the author come up with her topic?
11:21 – Calvin and Ethan discuss the first paragraph and how it grounds the reader
14:31 – How does the author use insight in her second paragraph to convey details that might not be elsewhere in her application?
18:49 – How do the author's core values guide her metaphors and examples throughout the essay?
20:53 – What is a montage essay and how did the author decide on which parts to include in the final draft?
23:47 – What is the balance between "showing" or "telling" in a college essay?
29:26 – How does the author's unique voice help her stand out?
32:52 – How can students weave in parts of a challenge or narrative into their montage essay?
38:31 – How important is a strong closing paragraph?
42:43 – What are some key concepts from this essay that students can apply to their own writing?
48:31 – Why might students choose to avoid AI in the college essay writing process?
51:40 – Closing thoughts

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