College Essay Bootcamp
- During the college essay writing bootcamp, I think I grew as writer in two specific ways. The first being that inorder to stay on track, I had to push through my tendancy to write and rewrite most of my sentences multiple times in my head before I wrote them on the paper. During this project, I tried my best to push through that and get all my thoughts down on paper initially before I mastered the wording of each sentece. The second being I was more open to critiques than I have been in the past. I took each of my peer’s suggestions seriously and made the changes to comply with their thoughts and to improve the quality, message, and flow of my essay. Although uncomfortable, after receiving the feedback of making my fourth paragraph the opening paragraph, I tried it. I had to rework some of the other paragraphs, but this change makes my opening hook much stronger, my essay more intriguing, and helps keep the reader interested.
- My first essay was very wordy. Although it was very descriptive and illustrative, it was typical of the reader to have to reread several of the sentences or even paragraphs to understand.
- When my college counselor told me to make my forth paragraph the first and to cut out my favorite paragraph entirely my heart rate sky rocketed. I initially was very defensive and unwilling to make the change. Honestly, the only reason I complied with her suggestion was because we are paying money for her service and I didn’t want it to go to waste. However, after I made that change my essay instantly became more interesting and exciting, exactly how it needs to be to grab the addmission officer’s attention.
- I think the most important part of my proccess to make this change happen was my open mind about the critiques. If I hadn’t had that open mind, or shifted to it, my essay would still be good, but not as excelent as it needs to be.