Season Those Words.
It’s officially Fall (Autumn) here in the US and with that comes the crisper air, the shifting lights and the leaves; lots and lots of them with their yellowed and browned edges and the sounds they make as they crackle underfoot.
As an educator, this season brings with it its own peculiar changes—the unbridled enthusiasm of newly-admitted students on the one hand and the tension in the air regarding promotion or tenure decisions for faculty.
Whether we talk of the former or the latter, one thing common to these two processes is a personal narrative statement or essay. These statements more than anything to me, need a second pair of eyes on them to ensure that we as the applicants are capturing our reviewers’ or judges’ attention with the right (and correct) details.
At GFE, client testimonials regarding successful outcomes based on outstanding personal narratives keep rolling in.
One of our clients was recently selected for a National Editorial Board position and another was a finalist for Preceptor of the year out of over 5,000 applicants nationwide. The beautiful thing about these stories are that the narratives were based on the wonderful work they had already done, their statements just needed active highlighting, which was where GFE came into the picture.
But, how do we highlight our work without making it appear bloated and boastful? This is a good question, and one deserving of attention since many people might be of the opinion that it could be unseemly to write or talk about one’s self so “grandly.”
The central thing I tell clients during consultations is to ensure that their words show confidence. As the reader, I should not be trying to interpret your narrative statement, instead the essay should speak strongly for you in your absence (and in the presence of a level playing field).
One might be asking; How do words show confidence and can they even “exude” confidence? One of the definitions of confidence is “the state of feeling certain about the truth of something.” If your statement can inspire that feeling in your reader/reviewer, then you know you have scored points.
I have a few narrative writing checklists that I share in client consultations which I share below, because I want all my clients winning and winning bigly too.
Another key idea to mention here is that of ensuring good record keeping. Keeping record of how we use our different knowledge, skills and abilities at work and at play and in volunteering is essential to filling in the gaps when we sit down to actually write.
As we continue in the new academic and non-academic cycles for the year, remember to keep seasoning your narratives with professional, extracurricular and volunteer activity flavors.
Resources and Readings
While there are many resources directly related to writing essays and personal statements, the two books on writing I list below are some of my favorites; reminding me about the power of words and their ability to enrich our lives.
- “Grammar for a Full Life: How the Ways We Shape a Sentence Can Limit or Enlarge Us” by Lawrence Weinstein
- “On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction” by William Zinsser
“Sometimes a narrative can come out of a single word.”
