This is a workshop I have given many times, on how to brainstorm and prepare to write the Common App personal statement. Hope it helps...

These two portraits are roughly the same size, six feet square. Gonzalo Borondo did the mural (left) on a wall in Rome about fifteen years ago, when he was still scrapping around as a street artist. Roberta Coni's painting (right) is displayed in a gallery in Venice  alongside original works by Salvador Dali.  I first saw the Borondo on a street art website  years ago. His ability to express so much humanity with a few slashing brushstrokes captured me. I am in awe of power l

A question for all of us. I hear kids ask this sometimes, when a friend has said or done something so out of character that it stops everyone. Generally, they all laugh—one person nervously, the rest with mild curiosity. Is this guy going to double down on the weirdness, or get back to 'normal'? It's a subtle but powerful reminder of the social compact; a clarifying moment of choice. Are you signaling a new 'you' or is this a momentary lapse? Growth is risky. We must shed old

Where I look for hope. I have never been to Minneapolis, but I know many of its children. Over the years, working with a community of people who I have come to cherish, I have had the privilege of helping dozens of their rising seniors write the college admissions essays that helped them achieve their dreams. Not one of them wrote about politics. It would not be appropriate for me to write about politics here, either. But I can speak to the diversity of opinions, ideologies a

Learning a new vocabulary, and a better way of looking at the people around us. sonder  [SON-der]. noun The feeling one has on realizing...

Hint: It's not about money. This year, the small community of students I serve here in Atlanta celebrated some major wins. Each...