Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, "On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling." I'm Tom Campbell, former Pomona and Holy Cross admissions officer, and one of the CEG podcast co-hosts, alongside my lovely colleagues Tillie and Ethan. In this series, we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be.

In this episode, we break down an essay that we're calling The Translator. This student, who worked with one of our amazing essay coaches Lavon Robinson a few years back, wanted to share how he acted as a translator not just for his brother on the autism spectrum, but for other neurodivergent students in his school and wider community. It's a model for anyone who wants to write an essay about a relationship that's been particularly meaningful to them, but is nervous about making the essay too much about the other person.

If you're the kind of person who enjoys seeing how things get made, whether it's a great meal, a film scene, or a piece of writing, I have a feeling you might enjoy this one.

Lavon (he/him) has always been a coach. From managing fundraising campaigns, teaching swimming, and school counseling, Lavon finds joy in coaching others to find their joy. He earned his BA in Business from Illinois Wesleyan University and his M.ED from DePaul University. He also has a College Counseling Certificate from UCSD. He currently works as a school counselor at an independent school in Chicago after spending eight years as a college counselor at a large suburban high school. He has hosted webinars with 500+ families on how to best work with their school counselor and visited various colleges around the country for professional development. His students have been accepted to colleges including Northwestern University, the University of Southern California, Williams College, and the University of Florida. At the core of his work is building connections with unconditional positive regard as he works with students to build trust and reach their potential. He understands the college admissions process is stressful and takes the most joy in supporting students to relieve anxiety while going through the process.

We hope you enjoy.

Play-by-Play

3:15 – Lavon shares his path from school counseling to becoming a CEG essay coach
6:52 – What kinds of students does Lavon tend to be matched with as a CEG essay coach?
9:29 – How does Lavon use CEG's brainstorming exercises to help students reflect, even outside of essay coaching?
10:49 – What has surprised Lavon most about being an essay coach, and how has his perspective grown?
13:01 – Do college essays need a title?
14:06 – Lavon introduces the student behind "The Translator," and how he arrived at CEG already deep into drafts about his brother
18:41 – How many drafts did it take to find the right balance between the brother and the student himself?
21:16 – Which brainstorming exercises helped unlock the "translator" theme?
27:01 – How does Lavon connect a student's roles and identities to CEG's admission nutrients?
31:30 – Lavon reads the essay, which we're calling "The Translator"
36:27 – Which admission nutrients show up throughout the essay?
38:26 – What works well in this student's opening paragraph?
45:13 – How did Lavon help the student build more vulnerability into each draft?
46:13 – How does bringing in his own emotional experience keep the essay focused on the student, even while writing about his brother?
47:52 – How can students write about their extracurriculars without over-explaining them?
53:00 – How did Lavon coach the student to write about his research in an accessible way?
54:11 – What does it mean to be "strategically general" in a college essay?
59:48 – How does closing turn the essay's focus back to the student himself?
1:04:53 – Why small, specific details are what take an essay from good to great
1:05:59 – Closing thoughts

Resources

715: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 12: The Translator) with Lavon Robinson

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

715: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 12: The Translator) with Lavon Robinson