This is Why: Student Stories from a College Essay Workshop

Wondering what motivates us here at Story2? It’s seeing the tangible impact storytelling makes in our students’ lives. During a visit to the coffee shop recently, one of our coaches ran into an English teacher from The Young Women’s Leadership School of the Bronx (TYWLS). The coach had taught this teacher’s class storytelling for college admissions essays. The teacher later asked her students to write “Person of the Year” essays about people from their English class who impacted them. The coach was shocked and honored to learn that several of her students chose to write about their Story2 experience. Here’s some of the feedback the TWYLS students gave about how our curriculum has affected them.

“Something new and lively to bring to the classroom...It almost seemed like we knew him for 2 weeks. He then gave us his story, showing us how we should write about our experience with a lot of detail and imagery. I thought his advice was helpful because I’m not the best storyteller and he gave great pointers on how to grab a person’s attention like he did with our class. Everyone liked him so much that the next day people were asking, Where [is he]?”

“[He] came to our class and demonstrated the best version of a college essay. With his tone of voice, descriptive words and movements he was able to capture our attention and show us the parts of him that you wouldn’t know just by looking at him. He also taught us how to identify the important moments in our lives and what makes us the person people can’t see.”

“I expected him to be another encouraging speaker who would come in and read off the textbooks that he worked with. Instead, his presentation was engaging and I found myself paying attention to the words he had to say. Before he had come in, I had previously written a college essay which lacked depth and my personality didn’t shine. After the Story2 presentation however, I was able to look at the process more lightly and wrote a better essay because of that. Although he came close to the end of the year, [he] taught us about making the writing process more personal and beneficial for us as students.”

“The first time the class and I met him he was willing to open up with us and share a story of his. Every pinch of detail that he used combined with the energy he had was fun to watch - it made me think of this college essay not just as an essay I should do the night before it’s due. But, really think hard and choose wisely of what to write about because this essay can determine where I go to college.”

“He reminded me that ‘The way you tell your story and what story you tell, is the way they remember you.’”

“I chose him because he was very inspiring, and taught my class a lot. We learned more about the college process, ow to write a perfect essay, and what to say to grab a college advisor’s attention. [He] also introduced us to the 3 D’s: detail, dialogue, and description.”

“He only came to class once, but his story was memorable. The story, the actions were the only reason I remember his character. He had life and excitement and personality...The way he left his imprint on the class when he told his college story. He was very enthusiastic and he grabbed the classes attention. It was very interesting to see how he told a small part of his life.”

“He was able to teach us, what is it that colleges want to see in our college essay. Both [he] and Story2 played a big role in our English class towards the end of the year. He was able to remember most of the class names in one day which is very impressive.”