Don't Write an Essay. Write a Speech.

A couple weeks ago, one of our seniors gave a chapel speech.  We're an Episcopal school; we celebrate chapel weekly.  Different chapel services take different forms and some are more formal than others.  Some include guest speakers.  Sometimes community members offer a spoken reflection.

Julia offered our most recent student reflection.  She spoke about compassion and helping others cope with loss.  She spoke about learning to manage her own emotions during challenging situations so that she could offer emotional support to others.  Julia learned these difficult lessons while working each of the last two summers at a local hospital.  It was an engaging, brave, and moving reflection Julia shared with us.  And I was privileged to already know many of the stories she told.  In fact, I knew them fairly well: Julia's chapel speech grew from one of the college application essays she had shared with me.

And that got me to thinking.  What if more students approached their college essay as a speech?  When I worked in admission I repeated the same refrain I still hear in info sessions and visits with college reps: the essay is your opportunity to have your voice heard; be authentic and engaging; share something of yourself we don't already know.  It's that first suggestion that I'm now thinking more literally about.  Have your voice heard.

It's a great test for a college essay.  Would you read this aloud like a speech?  How would it go over?  What would you share?  How would you keep your audience engaged?  Likewise, if you're having trouble starting your essay, start by considering a topic you would want to speak about.  Maybe even go a step further and actually tell the story aloud.  Before you write, dictate.  Turn on the voice recorder on your phone and talk it out.  Or read the essay aloud to a friend, teacher, or college counselor after you've written it.  Take notes on what works and what doesn't, and revise.  Did your jokes actually land?  Did the right message come across?  You might not end up with your entire upper school on their feet applauding you (unless, of course, you take the brave step to offer a chapel speech like Julia did), but you might get some solo applause from that admission counselor reading your application at their desk - and that would be a win.  At the very least, you could be confident you had your voice heard.