Personal Essay Writing Crash Course

This online course is a mini-course focused on teaching students how to write personal narratives and perspectives, with a specific focus on creating a personal essay for college applications. The course is self-paced with weekly meetings with the instructor, and has a rolling start date between June 10 and July 8, 2024, with a deadline to complete the course by August 30, 2024. The course is geared towards rising seniors who want to write their personal statement essay for college over the summer, as well as rising sophomores and juniors who enjoy writing and would like to try writing about themselves or get a head start on understanding how to write a personal essay for college.

The course structure includes weekly meetings to brainstorm, workshop, and learn about personal essays and engaging writing. The work is paced out so that students will create a polished essay by the end of the course, as well as several shorter writing pieces. The course requires high-speed, broadband internet, a sound card and microphone, and streaming video capabilities. Evaluation and feedback will be provided through extensive feedback on writing assignments and narrative feedback, rather than grades. Communication will be through Canvas, and parents and students are encouraged to reach out.