Today I Skyped my brother--a senior in high school--to talk about college and the college essay. It was really interesting because at first all of his ideas and statements were so formulaic--like I was interviewing him for a job or something. So after a little while of hearing that, I just told him to talk to me as me, not like I was an interviewer. It was hard at first for him to break out of that mind set, but after I prompted him with a few questions about specific examples of his qualities, he began to flesh out his statements and add depth to his experiences. We talked for about an hour, with the majority of the conversation actually focused on college and writing. Toward the end, I asked him again what I had brough up initially--what he might like to talk about in a college essay of 250-500 words. His answer this time was very different; he named a few specific experiences that he could talk about respectively in different essays, with his focus being on how those experiences shaped him and his outlook on life or how he exemplified his character through them.
I hope that I actually accomplished what I was supposed to in my Skype session with him, because I honestly didn't know if I was doing everything that I was supposed to do, or if I was doing too much.
It sounds like you did a good job! Getting someone to relax with you and brainstorm is not easy. That was your goal for the first session, and it sounds as if you accomplished that.
ReplyDeleteI know how it feels to do a consultation over skype. I almost feel like it is harder because you cant share a piece of paper and see what the person is writing to learn of the brainstorming ideas. It was a little difficult getting ideas out of my little sister without almost giving them to her from my own brain.
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