Two years ago my sister, a gymnast-turned-singer/songwriter, called asking for last-minute help on three college transfer and application essays. They're my babies, she said. Be nice to them.
I was on the road, but I managed to find time to look at her writing. More recently, after coming back from her study abroad in France, she told me that she'd felt more confident about the essays after I gave her my feedback. "You asked some probing questions that made them more relatable", she said. I had to think in a deeper way.
She'll be graduating this May with a degree in French. And while I think she would have gotten into her new college without my help, I do hope, as her big brother, that I've helped her a little along the way, helped her become more aware of what she thinks and better able to communicate it to others.
As I grow more experienced, I have become more confident that that is what I want: to see students developing their own thoughts and personalities, moving forward in life and learning to articulate themselves from a standpoint of genuine interest and intelligence. This has led me to focus on big-picture issues when I read the work of other writers, encouraging them to dig deeper into their own beliefs and values and looking for ways they can communicate their opinions more effectively. My degree in English with a writing concentration (Wheaton College, 15), my lifestyle as a freelancer and fiction writer, and my experience with college entrance exams all corroborate these goals.