This afternoon I skyped my sister, Julia, a senior in high school to go over her college application essays. She had previously sent me a copy of her Common Application essay, and I went into the appointment prepared to go through that essay, but also wanting to try out idea formation techniques that would help her brainstorm for the essays and short answer questions she has yet to write. I've edited many papers before, whether it be my friend's or my classmate's, but I have never before this class attempted macro edits, or constructive rather than descriptive comments. In short, I knew I could rearrange sentences and fix grammar to make the paper sound and look better, but I had never tackled the essence of the paper itself - the ideas. Also, I wanted to take into account Straub's article about control. As a person who likes to take control, I wanted to make sure I let Julia take the reins and just act as a sounding board for her to create her own ideas.
The appointment went extremely well, and I felt as if I learned as much (if not more) than she did. We began by just catching up, and I asked her about her college application process and how she felt about her essays so far. I had the benefit of already having a personal connection, so it was easy to fall into a comfortable discussion of her writing. We started with a short essay that she had yet to write with a prompt that asked the student to pick one adjective to describe themselves and then explain their choice. This was interesting because at the beginning she was not excited about writing her answer at all, but after we discussed what kind of image she wanted to present herself as she became much more invested. For example, we discussed the 2 ways she could go - either pick a positive adjective like "responsible" and write a straight essay, or pick a more controversial and even negative adjective to shock and interest the reader and then somehow turn it into something quirky. I think I did a good job at leading her with questions towards both becoming excited about her response and raising some interesting options for her without handing her the response itself.
During the second half of the appointment, we took a look at an actual piece of writing that she had just written that day for a specific college's application. I had to fight the urge to rearrange sentences or words, to make stylistic edits rather than focus on the big picture, but I'm very glad I did because we were able to have a wonderful discussion about the ideas central to the essay. The prompt was on the values, experiences, and goals that one has. Julia's answer, though well written, just sat on the surface of the question rather than dove into the deep end, and by asking her questions like "What is your definition of values? How are values, experiences, and goals interconnected and how do they build off of and create each other?" I was able to help her really sink her teeth into the prompt.
All in all, I was extremely pleased with this appointment. Helping someone I know and love was a wonderful way to ease into the position of writing consultant, but I look forward to the challenge of helping and collaborating with someone whom I do not know.
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