This week we are starting serious work on college application essays. It will take time and effort to explore yourself first, and most of you should have finished by the end of July.

We’ll be talking in class, but you might as well read some of the text I have posted in this blog – in categories and under tags “essays”, “application essays”, etc.

A good starting point.

I’ll expect you to write a lot on these broad topics.

Rumen is a volunteer with the Turkish project Youth Caravan. Here is his first article about his Turkish adventure:

Why I cry, when Turkey smiles at me

It was early in the morning, when we packed our things, and on the youth bus, we prepare to leave for Istanbul.

I was sitting next to a Turkish volunteer girl, Selin. Because it was very early in the morning, around 4-5 A.M. all of us, were tired and wanted to sleep.

After some attempts to move into the right direction to sleep, she offered her help, to make it more comfortable for both of us, to put my head on her shoulder, so I can sleep better. Then I looked at her, and gritted my teeth, because I was starting to feel how the tears are coming to my eyes.

This girl, whom I have known for not a long time, made everything for me, during the trip, to make sure, I sleep comfortably and every time I wake up, she ask me-“Do you feel comfortable, is that ok”

I had a difficult time to answer her, because I was going to burst out in tears, and say a big “Yes!”

Why is my reaction so? What is the big deal, of a polite girl, to show some manners and to make sure, I am comfortable.

It has to do, with the fact, that I am from Bulgaria and she is from Turkey.

Some of you, will say, “So what?” “Big deal”

But go to some of the Bulgarians blogs, especially when elections are coming, and read some of the posts there.

You’ll read about the fears of people, that the Turkish party, will take control, that Turkish people are taking over Bulgaria. New organization have been established, like Attack, that promote “ clean” Bulgaria and that the Bulgarian society has to kick out all Turkish influence from Parliament.

With this mindset, of those people, who will see me, as a person, speaking with the enemy, how can I explain to the Turkish Volunteer Selin, that I should not like her, because in my country, they will see her as an enemy. How can I explain this to my dear coordinator, who is taking such good care of me that I can’t accept his help, because of the wrong mind set of my country.

How can I open my heart for Turkish friendship when in my country some people will call me a traitor. How I will explain to them, that when I return to my country, I want to tell everyone about Turkish hospitality, how good they have treated me, to tell about different Turkish volunteers, to remember their names, their friends’ names. How can I explain all this, without some people looking at me in a strange way and asking me “So, are you going to vote for DPS (the Turkish party in Bulgaria) then”

I was thinking of these things when I was going to sleep, shoulder to shoulder, head to head, with Selin. And that made me sad, really sad. Her hospitality and kindness, was too much to expect from somebody. She broke my expectation, of a friend, of somebody who can take care. Who am I to her? Just a volunteer from Bulgaria, or a dear friend?

My eyes were wet, and I tried to stay quiet in the bus, but my heart was screaming with confusion and anger, and all these stereotypes that don’t let people fully relax and embrace the diversity and other cultures. Because of the past, because of the present, between Bulgaria and Turkey.

When I went to a baklava shop, and started looking at the sweets they have, a man came with some samples and lemonade and offered me some, without asking whether I was going to buy something or not. I took some baklava and drank lemonade, looking confused, where is the catch. There is always a catch. It can’t be for free. There must be something I have to pay. I am not used to free things.
The man was speaking little English, so he asked me where I came from, and what I was doing in Turkey. All the time he was very polite and smiled.

How can I explain to him, that I can’t take his hospitality? That because of our nationality he has to stay away from me, as some people will say to me.

I was overcome by warm emotions, of this hospitality. But it was too much to take. I have never been so spoiled by attention and affection, by people who have known me for 2 or 3 minutes and they already wants to be my friends.

I want to say big thanks to Selin, my coordinator Gurkan and many, many other volunteers and people I met, that they support me and give there friendship and make me cry, every time they smile.

Now you know, why I cry, when Turks smile at me.

Hope that the tears will go away and I can give them, as much as possible, of my friendship, because they disserve it.

The trip to Istanbul was wonderful, thanks to the ultimate help of Selin, and my eyes in the end were so red, but hopefully nobody noticed. A big thank you…THANK YOU!!!

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How do you plan to earn your living? Some skills will be in demand, while others … Think!

A simple essay on Robert Reich’s ideas about the future of work. I have copied it from here.

Reich (Robert Reich) was the nation’s 22nd Secretary of Labor and is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. His latest book is “Supercapitalism.” This is his personal journal. If you are interested in his books, I might lend you one or two of them

Reich uses the term of “symbolic analysts” to describe what he feels one
of the three main job classifications of the future will be. The symbolic
analysts will be someone who is a problem identifier, a problem solver, or an
innovator who can visualize new uses of existing technologies. This class of
workers includes scientists, engineers, and other scientific or technical
specialties as well as marketers, investors, some types of lawyers, developers
and a wide variety of consultants.

The symbolic analysts will have a high level of education, both in the
classroom and on the job experience.

Reich believes that this new, actually redefined, class of workers will
be the best bet for job growth and success into the next century. Opportunities
for job growth will remain rather high. This is a result of two factors, a
slowing growth in population and the future retirement of the baby boomer
generation (Reich, 203). It is not the number of jobs in the future that is the
problem, its the quality of those jobs. On the whole, Reich identifies two
trends in job quality. The number of mundane, manufacturing jobs will decrease
as well as the number of in-person service jobs e.g. bank tellers, but growth in
the number of symbolic analytical positions.

The loss of repetitive manufacturing is primarily a cost saving plan of
American corporations. Corporations seeking to lower their costs of labor move
their large, low-skilled manufacturing to points all over the globe in attempt
to find the lowest wages. Replacement of some in-person services is attributed
to technological change. Examples of this cutting of numbers can be seen in the
blossoming of automated teller machines, unmanned self service gas stations, and
home shopping capabilities.

The symbolic analyst, however, contains a commodity that is both
valuable and irreplaceable. This is the human thinking and problem solving
abilities that is becoming ever more important in international business.
Specialized groups of problem identifiers and solvers will sprout all over the
globe, selling their services to a wide variety of customers. This growth might
not seem beneficial for America in the traditional sense, as analysts will work
for foreign companies just as easily as American ones, but the intangible gains
of knowledge and experience stay within our country. People cannot be shipped
and marketed as easily as a new VCR.

The interesting point of Reichs theory for the future is that it offers
no easily visible solutions of raising the standard of living for those who
reside in the United States. In fact, I believe his symbolic analyst will only
enlarge the growing income inequality between the rich and poor. Unless you
are benefited by a high education and superior thinking abilities, your
potential to earn good money in the future is dark indeed. With fewer low skill
jobs around, those who are not prepared will be scrapping to find enough work to
get by. Meanwhile, the symbolic analyst, with respect to their abilities, could
be raking in the dough.

Reich suggests that the United States is in the best position to capture
the growth of the symbolic analyst, allowing for the coming boom. The U.S. has
the best university system on the globe. While most elementary education is
still backward, there are also some schools which prepare young minds for their
futures as analysts. The U.S. also has an advantage over developing countries
in that the analyst has been here already for some time. There are specific
zones of learning and innovation already present in our country that will take
years to develop elsewhere. This gives the United States a jump-start heading
into the next century.

Veselina Hristova

Biography

“I decided to transfer to a four-year institution because I consider myself a life-long learner and I believe that in order to work for the good of the community, I need to constantly increase my knowledge of the world around me.”

Program: 2009 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Recipient

Resides: Coronado, CA

Hometown: Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria

Age: 21

TED is one of your best friends who has been helping you improve your English listening skills and expand your perspective on the world.

Ask not what else TED can do for you – ask what you can do for TED. Join the open translation project.

When I was a kid, a CV / resume meant a short narrative, starting with a couple of lines about your family: “I was born in a humle working-class family. My father is a member of the Communist party.” It was such a relief when the lean list/ table was introduced in the 90s: we could write only the relevant, and the readers could easily spot what they needed. They could ask us to elaborate on the items at interviews.

Not all colleges require a resume. Some of them just ask you to fill in some information into grids they have provided on their application forms or to include it in a personal statement. Providing them with a lean list of activities and awards could be easy, but it might not reveal much about you. That’s why I have been encouraging students  to elaborate a little on most items.

Here you can find  an older text on resumes with a sample attached. However, I don’t like the format anymore. A lot of space is used on activity titles and numbers ( hours per week, weeks per year, school years, etc.) and the most meaningful information is squeezed into the last column. It’s true it looks much nicer in a landscape rather than portrait format, but still … That’s why I believe it would be much better to produce a one-column thing, with titles in Bold, and the “numbers” included in the title. The elaborations should go below.

Basketball – 9, 10, 11, 12 year – 6 hours / week, 50 weeks / year

Some elaborations -  bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blablablabla bla blablablablablal bla bla blabla blab la blab la. (that’s 150 words!)

The list does not need to follow the order I have provided in my older text. I believe it should follow the order of importance for the applicant.

Why should you elaborate on items?

1. Because some of their titles are sheer mystery to readers. What does “A member of the BZDP” mean? Take a look at the activities in this resume – that’s what I advise AGAINST.

2. Even if readers understand the title, it might still tell them too little. Everybody knows what “basketball” means, but how could one know if you have played for fun with the kids on the block or professionally on the national youth team? What if you have coached a group of kids as well?

3. You could use the opportunity to show that the activities have done you good, that they have helped shape you as the nice (versatile, etc.) person you are today.

4. You could show that you have developed some skills and characteristics that you can benefit from throughout your college experience.

5. You could demonstrate you have (acquired) some skills and characteristics that will help you succeed in your chosen career (if you are declaring it at a liberal arts school or applying to a career preparation program).

What do you need to tell?

1. Describe the activity – you already know that even self-evident words like “basketball” do not offer enough information, but do avoid definitions of popular words like “basketball”.  Take a look at this resume – it offers specific information – I like that!

2. If you have been part of a team, describe YOUR part of the job.

3. What challenges have you faced?

4. What have you gained – what have you learned, realized, etc.?

5. What impact have you made? How have you been useful to other people, to the environment, etc.?

How long should a separate entry be?

Well, if you could squeeze it into 150 words, it could be really nice, but it might be impossible. I suggest you start by writing down everything you feel like sharing, and then I’ll help you cut down. Be lavish during the first drafts and frugal on the final. The perfect draft: when nothing more could be added. The perfect product: when nothing more could be cut down.

What are the items worth mentioning?

Everything matters during the first draft! Write as much as you can; be careful not to omit anything you have done out of the classroom, even the things you find unimpressive. It doesn’t matter if you have done these alone, with a friend, with you grandma or as part of a formal group, no matter if  you can provide (official) evidence or not. I’ll help you rule out the things you’d better not mention.

Don’t wait for a complete first draft to send to me. You’d better send a separate entry as soon as it is ready, so that we work faster!!!

Some colleges are interested in who you are. How could you show them?

Your resume (CV) is about what you have done. What you have done is related to who you are, but it does not tell the whole story.

Who you are might be defined by what you have experienced, by the challenges you have faced (you might have been fighting a serious disease or taking care of a relative), by the opportunities you have taken ( you might have made use of available resources rather than complain about the lack of resources; you might have worked on an interesting project) , by the special circumstances in your family (you might have been raised by a single parent or survived a parent’s alcoholism; you might have been raised in poverty; you might have been engaged in your family business), etc. Both positive and negative experiences are important!

It might be a good idea to write the story of your life and send it to me. I might spot some information that could be turned into an essay or some that is worth mentioning in a recommendation (you might later remind your teachers of your special circumstances).

You might jot down an outline first, so that you make sure you have included every relevant event / scenario. Then you might briefly elaborate on each of them (within a paragraph).