Event

Writing a Compelling College Admissions Essay: Workshop 3

While the workshops are designed to be taken as a series, participants may opt to take individual workshops. The cost for each is $60.

Workshop 3: Working with Structure and Finding Meaning, Sunday, August 25, 6pm. What makes you both unique and of service to the greater community? What does your essay say about who you are? Together, we will mine your seed idea for deeper meaning and incorporate these findings into the essay. We will walk through a variety of essay structures, and explore techniques such as foreshadowing, flashback and the cultivation of suspense. The goal in this workshop is to arrive at a working draft of the essay.

Workshops will be held at Bird in Hand Book Café (11 E. 33rd Street), and will include snacks and drinks. Participants will work around a large farm table, facilitating brainstorming and peer reviews. Sarah will assign homework after each workshop to support and augment the writing process. Participants are encouraged to purchase a copy of College Essay Essentials: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Successful College Admissions Essay by Ethan Sawyer, which will be available at Bird in Hand.

For instructor Sarah Shellow, writing is a conversation with the world. She has more than 20 years of experience teaching writing to elementary, middle, high school and college students, as well as to teaching fellows. She teaches new public-school teachers about the art and science of teaching writing, and trains staff at the Baltimore-based Holistic Life Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to nurturing mindfulness and literacy. Sarah has a master's degree in education from Bank Street College in New York City and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Goddard College in Plainfield, VT. This is her second year of teaching this workshop series for The Ivy.