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Do Schools Do Enough to Prevent Bullying

• Categories: Bullying High School

About this sample

Words: 676 |

Published: Dec 16, 2021

Words: 676 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Group of bullies, ducators of today, school environment, bullies, students, schools, teachers, physical violence, student, teacher

Works Cited

• Espelage, D. L., & Swearer, S. M. (2020). Research on school bullying and victimization: What have we learned and where do we go from here? School Psychology Review, 49(2), 164-177.
• Bradshaw, C. P., Waasdorp, T. E., Goldweber, A., & Johnson, S. L. (2021). It takes a village: Building community-based models to prevent bullying and promote positive youth development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50(3), 507-523.
• Swearer, S. M., Turner, R. K., Givens, J. E., & Pollack, W. S. (2008). “You’re so gay!”: Do different forms of bullying matter for adolescent males?. School Psychology Review, 37(2), 160-173.
• Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Blackwell Publishers.
• Jimerson, S. R., Swearer, S. M., & Espelage, D. L. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective. Routledge.
• Mishna, F., Khoury-Kassabri, M., Gadalla, T., & Daciuk, J. (2012). Risk factors for involvement in cyber bullying: Victims, bullies and bully–victims. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(1), 63-70.
• Rigby, K. (2002). New perspectives on bullying. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
• Ttofi, M. M., Farrington, D. P., Lösel, F., & Loeber, R. (2011). Do the victims of school bullies tend to become depressed later in life? A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, 3(4), 219-227.
• Wong, D. S., & Espelage, D. L. (2014). Bullying prevention in schools: A course for teachers. School Psychology International, 35(3), 253-268.
• Smith, P. K., & Sharp, S. (1994). School bullying: Insights and perspectives. Routledge.

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Essay on My School for Students and Children

500+ words essay on my school.

Education is an essential part of our lives. We are nothing without knowledge, and education is what separates us from others. The main step to acquiring education is enrolling oneself in a school. School serves as the first learning place for most of the people. Similarly, it is the first spark in receiving an education. In this essay on my school, I will tell you why I love my school and what my school has taught me.

We have all been to school and we have loved each and every moment we have spent over there as those were the building blocks of our lives. A school is a place where students are taught the fundamentals of life, as well as how to grow and survive in life. It instils in us values and principles that serve as the foundation for a child’s development.

My school is my second home where I spend most of my time. Above all, it gives me a platform to do better in life and also builds my personality. I feel blessed to study in one of the most prestigious and esteemed schools in the city. In addition, my school has a lot of assets which makes me feel fortunate to be a part of it. Let us look at the essay on my school written below.

Why I Love My School?

From kindergarten through primary and secondary school, and subsequently, to faculty, school is a place where we always study, grow, and establish ourselves, socialize, be a friend, help others, and love and be loved. School is a buddy that will accompany us from the beginning of our youth till the conclusion of our lives. At school, we share all of our pleasures and sorrows, and we constantly rely on one another. This is made possible through the friendships we share. They assist us in effortlessly overcoming difficulties, sharing moments of enjoyment together, and looking forward to new paths.

My school strikes the perfect balance between modern education and vintage architecture. The vintage buildings of my school never fail to mesmerize me with their glorious beauty. However, their vintage architecture does not mean it is outdated, as it is well-equipped with all the contemporary gadgets. I see my school as a lighthouse of education bestowing knowledge as well as ethical conduct upon us.

Teachers have the power to make or break a school. The teaching staff is regarded as the foundation of any educational society. It is their efforts to help kids learn and understand things that instil good habits and values in their students. While some concepts are simple to grasp, others necessitate the use of a skilled teacher to drive the home the idea with each pupil.

In contrast to other schools, my school does not solely focus on academic performance. In other words, it emphasizes on the overall development of their students. Along with our academics, extra-curricular activities are also organized at our school. This is one of the main reasons why I love my school as it does not measure everyone on the same scale. Our hardworking staff gives time to each child to grow at their own pace which instils confidence in them. My school has all the facilities of a library , computer room, playground, basketball court and more, to ensure we have it all at our disposal.

For me, my school is more than simply an educational institution; it is also my second family, which I established during my childhood. A family of wonderful friends, outstanding teachers, and fond school memories. I adore my school because it is where I learn how to be a good citizen and how to reach my goals. School is the only place where we make friends without judging them. We feel comfortable spending time with those close friends no matter what the situation.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

What has My School Taught Me?

If someone asked me what I have learned from my school, I won’t be able to answer it in one sentence. For the lessons are irreplaceable and I can never be thankful enough for them. I learned to share because of my school. The power of sharing and sympathy was taught to me by my school. I learned how to be considerate towards animals and it is also one of the main reasons why I adopted a pet.

School is an excellent place to learn how to be an adult before entering the real world. Those abilities pay dividends whether you choose to be the bigger person in an argument or simply complete your domestic tasks. When you open your mind to new ideas, you gain a lot of influence in society. Picking up unexpected hobbies on your own will teach you more about what you like to do than simply completing things for a grade.

A school is a place where I developed my artistic skills which were further enhanced by my teachers. Subsequently, it led me to participate in inter-school completions through which I earned various awards. Most importantly, my school taught me how to face failures with grace and never give up on my ambitions, no matter what happens.

Schools also offer a variety of extracurricular activities such as Scouts and Guides, sports, N.C.C., skating, school band, acting, dancing, singing, and so on. Our principal also used to give us a short lecture every day for about 10 minutes about etiquette, character development, moral education, respecting others, and gaining excellent values. As a result, I can claim that what I am today is solely due to my school, which is the best institution in my opinion.

Teamwork is an important ability that schools teach. Schools are frequently the first places where youngsters have the opportunity to collaborate with children who are different from them. Collaboration is essential for the team and individual success. Students are taught that the success of a team depends on each individual component functioning together.

To sum it up, studying in one of the respected schools has helped me a lot personally. I will always be indebted to my school for shaping my personality and teaching me invaluable lessons. It has given me friends for life and teachers that I will always look up to. I aspire to carry on the values imbibed by my school to do well in life and make it proud.

Here is the list of Top Schools in India! Does Your School Tops the List?

FAQs on School

Q.1 Why must every child go to school?

A.1 It is essential for every child to go to school as the school teaches us lessons that cannot be acquired anywhere else. The experience is one a kind and along with education, we learn many other things like socializing, extra-curricular activities and more.

Q.2 What does school teach us?

A.2 School teaches us some of the great things like first of all, it gives us basic education. It teaches us to develop our skills like art, dance, public speaking and more. Most importantly, it teaches us discipline.

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Adolescence

3 common reasons why your teen struggles in school, how to effectively help your teen maintain academic success..

Posted August 13, 2019

For teens who struggle with symptoms related to attention deficit disorder , a recurring pattern emerges during the school year. In the beginning, they start out fantastic, with their syllabus, notes, and daily assignments organized by each class in their binders. Then slowly they start to get unorganized.

Either they start with forgetting to turn in assignments, or they neglect to do their assignments. By the time the school contacts you as the parent or guardian, things have taken a turn for the worse. Your son or daughter is several assignments behind and in some cases has given up on taking school seriously. This is usually revealed during the last quarter of the second semester.

In this post, we'll discuss three common reasons your teen struggles in school and how to effectively intervene.

They Are Easily Overwhelmed

The first reason your teen struggles in school may be because he or she gets easily overwhelmed. This is a common symptom with people who struggle with ADHD: They tend to think too fast and feel easily overloaded when they are faced with multiple obligations. A good example would be if your teen has homework in three classes due the following morning at school. However, he has his daily chores at home, and he is insistent on that he is going to get some quality time on his video game.

In cases like this, by the time he is done playing his game, he does not have enough time to attend to his chores and his assignments. Chances are, he or she will do the chores, as fast as possible to get you off his or her case and skip the assignments. Most parents in this situation are choosing not to get into a confrontation with their teen about assignments and will limit confrontation to chores, which are easy to observe. That is, until the parent is contacted by the school.

The solution is for parents to engage in strategic micromanaging. Typically, micromanaging of teenagers is a recipe for prolonged feelings of resentment from the teen. Therefore, strategic micromanaging is recommended. With strategic micromanaging, parents can set up a time with their teen, once a week, where the teen is supposed to come with all their assignments given for the week and for the following week. The parent will then take an inventory of what has been completed and what is due.

With this strategy, parents can keep a pulse of where their teen is in regularly meeting his or her academic obligations. It also works in keeping your teen honest.

They Have a Learning Disability

From dyslexia to dyscalculia, sometimes children can get by with self-improvised coping strategies they have developed over the years. That is until the work gets too complex to improvise. Which is usually by their teenage years. When this happens, your teen will have developed some pretty powerful defense mechanisms to keep anyone from discovering their learning deficit, which they are most likely ashamed of.

These defense mechanisms can range from outbursts to seemingly lethargic behavior when you approach the teen to help with his or her work. Some teens can be so committed to hiding their deficits that parents and teachers end up being focused on the defiant behavior, with the belief that the behavior is the real issue.

Now the obvious answer to a learning disability is getting your teen specialized help. Which is often provided through the school. Prior to this, the real challenge will be for parents to work their way through their teen’s defense mechanisms, in order to get to the real issue.

A tried and true strategy for this will be to adopt a calm and non-reactive response to any defiant behaviors your teen displays around schoolwork. This will be coupled with stern consequences of a loss of privileges while inviting your teen to work with you.

For parents who believe their teens will hold their breaths indefinitely on the issue, or that they have run out of privileges to take, there is another strategy. Create a reward, for your teen to sit with you once a week, while you both take an inventory of how he or she is doing in school.

They Have Poor Impulse Control

Poor impulse control isn’t often as extreme as it sounds; instead, it’s often subtle. Often what poor impulse control looks like, is being easily distracted in the classroom from taking notes, excessive daydreaming and simply engaging in other activities instead of schoolwork, at school or at home.

For parents with teens whose issues with impulse control are severe, they are lucky. This is because with severe impulse control, the behaviors are so severe, they demand constant attention from parents. Which inevitably leads to much-needed intervention.

However, for the more subtle types of poor impulse control, parents are not alerted to what’s going on, until the school year is almost over. Even then, these types of poor impulse control issues are so subtle that even if the teen is failing school, parents still don’t understand why, except for the fact that the teen is not doing his or her schoolwork.

The strategy for this is the same as the one given for teens who are easily overwhelmed: strategic micromanaging. Parents should schedule a meeting with their teens at least once a week, to perform an inventory of how they are doing in school. If your teen struggles with the subtle type of poor impulse control, you will recognize something is wrong by the fourth scheduled meeting.

Ugo Uche is a Licensed Professional Counselor who specializes in adolescents and young adults.

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The New York Times

The learning network | do schools provide students with enough opportunities to be creative.

Do Schools Provide Students With Enough Opportunities to Be Creative?

Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older.

• See all Student Opinion »

With the increasing pressure on schools to prepare students for high-stakes tests, and a growing dependence on Google and gadgetry for quick answers, is creativity endangered?

Do schools provide young people with enough opportunities to be creative?

Room for Debate recently asked a panel to respond to a similar question, “Is Creativity Endangered?” Cecilia Conrad, the vice president for the MacArthur Fellows program at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, offered this response :

Reports of the death of American creativity are an exaggeration. The hyperloop, Google Glass, nano-pharmaceuticals and mind-controlled robotic legs are all examples of its continued vitality. That said, people with innovative and cutting-edge ideas have likely spent much of their lives swimming against the tide. Creativity flourishes at the intersections of traditional disciplines, but traditional means of assessment often marginalize individuals working to define new and unique fields of endeavor. From the high-stakes tests in K-12, to the academic tenure clock, to the economy’s focus on short-term return on investments, American society’s reward structures tend to discourage unconventional thinking and limit risk-taking….

Students: Tell us …

• How often does your school encourage you to do something creative? To design, invent and imagine new ideas? Tell us about a creative activity or project you have worked on.
• Do you think schools provide young people with enough opportunities to be creative? Why?
• Are you a creative person? In what ways?
• How important do you think creativity is for success? Why?
• The Room for Debate piece begins with the statement: “Critics have lamented the ‘creativity crisis’ in recent years …” Do you agree with those critics? Do you think America is facing a “creativity crisis?” Explain.

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your first name . For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

I believe that it depends on the child if they are creative. They can be creative in their own way without the help of schools. Creativeness comes from within. it depends on just how much the child wants to get in touch with their inner child.

Some schools give their students plenty of opportunities to be creative. However, not all provide this luxury. In my 8th grade middle school, the only creative outlets we were given were music and art, but we didn’t have any freedom in what we did. Everything in art was an assignment with a tight criteria. In music we only learned how to read music and play specific notes. That’s all we did all year long. In my middle school before this one, the students had the freedom to choose what art they wanted to take part in whether it be dance, vocal, band, or computers and we also performed.

I think that creativity is an important part in sucess it help you to do great things out of the box. Which helps you to stand out and other people want you under there companies or other such things in the future.In sucess it also help you to have new ideas and bring in more money.

I see they use red crayon i feel like its not right thing using for test with red crayon so, the student use pencil for test that good reason why, because that only can see circle round on paper test can see clear what you put so, make sure its look neat circle not mess circle on test.

I’m not to sure about other schools but in my school is a performing arts school so we have A LOT of oppurtunities to be creative! I do know schools have the tendancy to be boring and do exactly what there “lesson plans” says but it doesn’t get students to REALLY think. Because we are all smarter then we think we are, but teachers have to find different and interesting ways to bring that out because its important.

Creativity is very important for success. Success starts with you and your personal likings and personality. Creativity allows you to be you and be confident in whatever it is that you plan to do to make your life or career very successful.

In my opinion schools do not give students enough opportunities to be creative. All of my years in school (and I have been to many) I have noticed the same instructions and the same routines in all classes the only difference is the teachers. Get in, learn, quiz, test, homework. Makes me wonder why I haven’t dropped out.

Well, in my opinion, at the rate of returning music classes and art, I feel schools are presenting enough creativity. When I was in elementary school, I didn’t have ANY art classes what so ever.

I can’t speak for other schools, but I know my school gives lots of opportunities to get creative. I think because my school is an arts school, that is why I say that. We have many programs where you can express and do the things you love in a creative way.

school provides alot of oppertunity for kids to acel in there talents amd extra cerricular activitys such as sports arts or musical talents. if the school you are at does not offer these for you there is a school for you to perform your talent ther is a school that is mainly focused on these

I don’t feel like a lot of other school don’t have the materials to let students be as creative as possible. At my school there are a lot of oppertunities to be creative but it just end with your talent. Being creative in the way we express ourselves isn’t valued nor is it respected. Also you have to meet a criteria to be in certain schools instead of having it in our communities. It’s not accessable.

I do think that schools provide oppurtunities to be creative. In Detroit the school system has tried to put art programs into all schools and I think that is an amazing idea.

Well I go to an arts school so they are always encouraging us to be creative. I do understand because at my school we have a dress code which I believe drains creativity from us students. I do understand but i think they don’t give us enough space for us to be.

My high school mainly focuses in the arts. We have more than enough opportunies in to express our craft. We have a maximum of four classes that focus on the major we choose such as art, vocal, or dance.

I think some schools provide enough opportunities for schools to be creative. Another schools should have more opportunities so the kids can be prepared.

No i dont think schools provide enough oppurtunity for kids to be creative. some schools think that just academics are the key but some students can be very successful with music dance or technology. schools dont focus on things like that. a few do but most dont.

I believe that not all schools provide kids with a chance to be creative. Because they have so many restrictions. Scchools should be more open to some of the suggestions. bitch

My school encourage me to do something creative all the time with my music and also academically.

i attend a performing arts school, so creativity is always promoted. i am very creative and they adknowledge that. It makes me feel good.

I don’t think that my school gives us enough creative opportunities. Besides music the only other creative thing is art I have to chose music or art

I personally do not believe that schools encourage students to express creativity. Many schools are so focused on state or city wide tests and assessments that they don’t allow much creativity in the classroom. I am a very creative person, yet there are very few chances in the entire school year to express this creativity. I think that creativity is important to success people need to be able to express them selves in some sort of way. If there are school assignments that let them do this, they might understand the topic better and/or do better in their final grade.

I don’t think schools give students enough time to be creative. Often they focus so much on academics and what a person can do behind a computer they forget to actually explore the person. What good is it if you can build a great presentation but you can’t present it?

My school doesn’t give us enough creative opportunities. In my school the only creative activities we have is music, chorus, and art. I only get to go to music four times a week. My school needs to give us more creative opportunities.

My opinion could be bias because I go to a school of the arts and my experience in other schools are limited. But I have heard of instances where schools have cut extra curricular activities from the schools in the inner city because they don’t have the funds to support the activity. But in the suburban area, those schools raise their funds by various activities to raise their money.

My school doesn’t allow me to be creatives its just assignment after assignment.last time my school allowed me to be creative is when music tech was still a major but they got rid of it because our school wasnt bein funded properly.school barely allows creativity its just mostly following orders.my creative talent is creating music and songs within lyrics.america is going through a creative crisis because most people rely on scientist to be creative instead of taking matter into there own hands.we are also just influenced by whatever’s popular and forget to think outside the box.

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The Mental Health Crisis In Our Schools

Mental health in schools: a hidden crisis affecting millions of students.

Meg Anderson

Kavitha Cardoza

Part One in an NPR Ed series on mental health in schools.

You might call it a silent epidemic.

Up to one in five kids living in the U.S. shows signs or symptoms of a mental health disorder in a given year.

So in a school classroom of 25 students, five of them may be struggling with the same issues many adults deal with: depression, anxiety, substance abuse.

And yet most children — nearly 80 percent — who need mental health services won't get them.

Whether treated or not, the children do go to school. And the problems they face can tie into major problems found in schools: chronic absence, low achievement, disruptive behavior and dropping out.

Experts say schools could play a role in identifying students with problems and helping them succeed. Yet it's a role many schools are not prepared for.

Educators face the simple fact that, often because of a lack of resources, there just aren't enough people to tackle the job. And the ones who are working on it are often drowning in huge caseloads. Kids in need can fall through the cracks.

Grief In The Classroom: 'Saying Nothing Says A Lot'

"No one ever asked me"

Katie is one of those kids.

She's 18 now. Back when she was 8, she had to transfer to a different school in Prince George's County, Md., in the middle of the year.

"At recess, I didn't have friends to play with," she recalls. "I would make an excuse to stay inside with the teachers and finish extra work or do extra credit."

We're not using Katie's last name to protect her privacy. She's been diagnosed with bulimia and depression.

She says that in the span of a few months, she went from honor roll to failing. She put on weight; other kids called her "fat." She began cutting herself with a razor every day. And she missed a ton of school.

"I felt like every single day was a bad day," she says. "I felt like nobody wanted to help me."

Katie says teachers acted like she didn't care about her schoolwork. "I was so invisible to them."

Every year of high school, she says, was "horrible." She told her therapist she wanted to die and was admitted into the hospital.

During all this time, she says, not a single principal or teacher or counselor ever asked her one simple question: "What's wrong?"

3 Things People Can Do In The Classroom That Robots Can't

If someone had asked, she says, she would have told them.

Who should have asked?

We talked to educators, advocates, teachers and parents across the country. Here's what they say a comprehensive approach to mental health and education would look like.

The role: The first place to spot trouble is in the home, whether that trouble is substance abuse, slipping grades or a child who sleeps too much. Adults at home — parents, siblings, other relatives — are often the first to notice something going on.

The reality: Many families do not know what to look for. Sometimes a serious problem can be overlooked as "just a phase." But it's those sudden changes — angry outbursts, declining grades, changes in sleeping or eating — that can signal problems. When something unusual crops up, families can keep in close touch with the school.

Why Emotional Learning May Be As Important As The ABCs

The teacher

The role: During the week, many students see their teachers even more than their own families. Teachers are in a prime spot to notice changes in behavior. They read essays, see how students relate with other kids and notice when they aren't paying attention.

The reality: Teachers already have a ton on their plates. They're pressured to get test scores up, on top of preparing lessons and grading assignments. Plus, many teachers receive minimal training in mental health issues. But when they do see something concerning, they can raise a flag.

The social worker

The role: Social workers act like a bridge. If teachers come to them with a concern — maybe a child is acting withdrawn — one of the first things they'll do is call home. They see each child through the lens of their family, school and community. They might learn that a family is going through a divorce or homelessness.

The reality: There aren't enough of them. According to one model, every school should have one social worker for every 250 students . The reality is that in some schools, social workers are responsible for many more .

The counselor

The role: In some schools, counselors focus solely on academics: helping students pick classes and apply to college. But in others, they also act a lot like social workers, serving as a link to families and working with students who need support.

The reality: Like school social workers, there just aren't enough counselors. On average nationwide, each counselor is responsible for nearly 500 students. The American School Counselor Association recommends a caseload nearly half that size.

The special education teacher

The Role: Special education teachers may start working with students when a mental health problem affects the ability to do school work. They are primarily responsible for working on academic skills.

The reality: Again, there aren't enough of them. Nearly every state has reported a shortage of special education teachers. Half of all school districts say they have trouble recruiting highly qualified candidates.

The school psychologist

The Role: Here's one job that, on paper, is truly dedicated to student mental health. School psychologists are key players when it comes to crisis intervention and can refer students to outside help, such as a psychiatrist.

The reality: If you sense a pattern here, you're right. In the U.S., there is just one school psychologist for every 1,400 students, according to the most recent data available from the National Association of School Psychologists.

The school nurse

The role: Most any school nurse will tell you, physical and mental health are tough to separate. That puts nurses in a prime spot to catch problems early. For example: A kid who comes into the nurse's office a lot, complaining of headaches or stomach problems? That could be a sign of anxiety, a strategy to avoid a bully, or a sign of troubles at home.

The reality: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least one nurse for every 750 students, but the actual ratio across the country can be much higher.

The principal

The role: As the top dogs in schools, principals make the big decisions about priorities. They can bring in social-emotional, anti-bullying and suicide-prevention programs.

The reality: Principals also have a lot on their plates: the day-to-day management of student behavior, school culture and teacher support.

Getting help, and "excited for life"

Katie says things started to turn around for her when she met a nurse at the Children's National Health System in Washington, D.C., who finally showed interest in what was wrong.

Now, she's begun college and wants to be a pediatric nurse.

"I'm doing a lot better now" she says. " Obviously, I mean, I'm a lot happier. I'm excited for school. I'm excited to graduate. I'm excited for life."

School Is Not Enough

When I read biographies, early lives leap out the most. Leonardo da Vinci was a studio apprentice to Verrocchio at 14 years old. Walt Disney took on a number of jobs, chiefly delivering papers, by 11. When Vladimir Nabokov was 16, he published his first poetry collection while still in school. Andrew Carnegie finished schooling at 12 and was 13 when he began his second job as a telegraph office boy, where he convinced his superiors to teach him the telegraph machine itself. By 16, he was the family’s mainstay of income.

Biographers and readers tend to fixate on the celebrity itself, the time when people become famous or remarkable. But before their success, even their early lives contain something revealing. Before you grasp, you have to reach. How did they learn to reach?

In my examples, the individuals were all doing from a young age as opposed to merely attending school. And while they may not have wanted to work, the work was nonetheless something that they, their families, and society felt was useful , purposeful, and appreciated. In a sense, they had useful childhoods.

Do children today have useful childhoods?

An individual’s life can continue with an inertia that will lead them on to the next year or decade. Most young people today know approximately what they are going to be doing for the first twenty-or-more years of their life: school. Post-schooling, the inertia continues. Many a modern story opens with a worker—an office worker, usually—who is so inert that he scarcely notices the passage of time until he becomes blindsided by a sudden yank of reality that forces him out of his inertia.

Agency is the capacity to act. Gaining agency is gaining the capacity to do something different from the rigid path of events that simply happen to you. Remarkable people typically go off-script early, usually in more than one way. Carnegie becoming a telegraph message boy is one opportunity; asking how to operate the telegraph is another. He was handed the first one, but he had to ask for the second. Da Vinci had plenty of small-time commissions, but he quit them all in favor of offering his services to the Duke of Milan.

And of course, no one is asked to write a book, or start a company, or stage a play, or seek invention and excellence in the unknown. These acts are very contrary to the default script. Yet they are the resources that create the world. Imagine if Carnegie and Da Vinci were instead compelled to stay in school for 10 more years. What would have happened?

Conservation of Agency

I find it striking just how early and varied the avenues were that allowed promising adolescents to pivot off-script and do something different than everyone else. For a 13-year-old today, what is the equivalent of being a telegraph office boy where one can learn technology while contributing? What about for a 16-year-old? What is today’s equivalent of becoming Verrocchio’s studio apprentice at 14?

Where are the studios, anyway?

Modern complexity has erased some avenues for agency. After all, no boy can become a telegraph operator today. But the primary problem is not technology, it is how we have oriented the world and our expectations. A 13-year-old Steve Jobs once called Bill Hewlett—whose number was simply listed in the phone book–and received a summer job at Hewlett Packard. This would be unsurprising in Carnegie’s time, was certainly surprising for 1968, and is obviously verboten today.

We have a public imagination that cannot conceive of what exactly to do with children, especially smart children. We fail to properly respect them through adolescence, so we have engineered them to be useless, and so they shuffle through a decade of busywork. Partly, the length of schooling has increased simply because it could—because we no longer need children to work, yet need them to do something while the adults go do theirs. 

The sad result of school’s length and primacy is that it ensures there is nothing in particular for children to do, and since the rigid framework precludes other options, we are sure to destroy their opportunities for making meaningful contributions to the world. The longer we disallow children from having the agency to act on the world, the harder it becomes for them to visualize it in the first place. The result is that we have young adults who have a difficult time adjusting once their life-script changes even a little bit. The path is rigid, yet brittle.

Much of this fault lies with the nature of school, the largest dictator of early life-scripts. Modern schooling began as a track to be left as soon as you had something worthwhile to do with your life. But it has since morphed into an attempt at systematizing as many years of a child’s life as possible, extending well into their adulthood. At the same time, school can never gratify the smartest pupils as much as either party would like, because they are charged with the education of everyone. The result is that many precocious children will spend prime years of their life quite literally waiting for other students to finish.

Mass schooling attempts a systematization of skill and knowledge transfer. The results are predictably mediocre—systems at scale must function with and cater to the lowest common denominator, and the process of standardization loses all sensitivity to context. Since everyone must do the same things, it is difficult for any student to do exceptional things. This is alarming on its own for wasting people’s youth. But even worse, in having so many years of life monopolized, people come to inadvertently believe that skill and knowledge transfer are primarily the domain of school rather than a normal consequence of meaningful work.

The ever-longer march through school creates a bizarre barrier separating the student from reality. As a consequence, childhood consists of the age when one can intuit very well how the world works at the same time one is prevented from acting upon it meaningfully. Instead of making adolescence full of rites of passage where one attempts to master something and accept responsibility, we have made it full of waiting and fake work—for school is work. After a time, all children spot this fakeness, and all honest educators note it, saying that one of the most difficult parts of teaching is having to justify why what the children are learning will be relevant and useful.

It is difficult to blame young adults for thinking that work is fake and meaningless if we prescribe fake and meaningless work for the first two decades of their existence. When meaningful work is an adult-only activity, it is little wonder that adolescence is a period of great depression. It would be surprising if it was not. Unlike the past, where many smart children finished sooner, modern education endlessly ushers them towards an often farther and more abstract future—one so far away and abstract that some children become infected with the opposite of agency. They take on a learned helplessness and downplay that the future is a reality at all.

Higher education often fails to cure these deficiencies, and some people exit academia well into their twenties almost terrified to leave. How could we celebrate a form of learning that creates something so pathetic—the opposite of a readiness for life?

The institutions of higher and lower education have a purpose, but they are not your friend. They have no sensitivity to context. Their incentives are not the same as your incentives, and they have no interest in any individual going off-script. They ask nothing of you but time and eventually money, but these are not trivial things. And they will take as many of your prime years as you are willing to give them. School should be leveraged only so long as meaningful work is unavailable.

This is not the worship of employment, but an observation of fundamentals: it seems that the more you ask of people and the more you have them do, the more they rise up to the task of doing it on their own. While we shouldn’t allow children to be bobbin boys, no one would describe Steve Job’s summer job at 13 as his exploitation.

We should be thinking much harder about ensuring children can make meaningful contributions, and we should be teaching them in ways that are sensitive to the context of the real world. We are not looking for a job but opportunities for mastery : learning and practice beyond the depth one would find along the common path, which demands no such thing.

Growing Agency

It might seem like the path forward is to fundamentally change the nature of schools, de-emphasize college, increase opportunities for apprenticeships, and so on. But waiting for any kind of policy daydream is a mistake. If a system lacks imagination, it is best to supply our own. History ebbs and flows with opportunity, and we find ourselves at a fortunate time.

When television first arrived, it was hailed by some as “a university in every home.” Such an optimistic prediction didn’t quite come to pass, but the internet quietly enabled something better—forms of education broader and deeper than the university. 

User-generated content does not need the benefit of large audiences or the approval of large broadcasting companies. Students do not need permission to attend. In corners of the internet that are easy to miss, the biggest renaissance of informal skills transfer in history is happening right now. Unlike textbooks or professors, the creators of these educational materials are willing to engage with random students throughout the world, provide feedback, and even arrange meetups—often for free.

A close look at social media reveals ample opportunity for self-apprenticeship. We live in an era where a motivated 12-year-old can learn the basics of timber framing, semiconductor design, or how to bake bread that would rival world-class bakeries. They can master nearly any mechanical system or any number of programming or artistic vocations, even if no mentor lives nearby. The limit is no longer some teacher or institution but a child’s own patience and interest, as well as the interested support of the parents.

Often the parents of precocious children do not appreciate this interest. They think a child engrossed in Minecraft is simply playing video games, instead of longing to build. It is the parent’s job to identify this motivation, and then leverage technology and their own resources to encourage something more meaningful. “He’s going to do great things one day.” In his thirties? Why not today?

We can somewhat excuse schools for only covering topics broadly. But if education matters to a parent, then they should think hard about how they can allow their child a deep venture. Parents owe it to children to furnish them with materials, time, and useful pursuits. Schools will not supply them, and the most common failure mode with parenting is probably giving children options along the same feeble lines, and responsibilities too close to what they already have at school. 

Occasionally parents might gesture towards an activity like a lemonade stand on the sidewalk to gratify a child’s interest. This example is the archetypal poor choice: A lemonade stand does not teach the value of money but how to wait and occasionally beg. To understand business or hospitality, children would be better off trying to make something people really wanted. 

For example, a better home craft than lemonade might be a pastry, taken seriously. Not just a sugar cookie, but the kind of thing that is plain for a 13-year-old to understand, harder for him to make, and very difficult to master. If a child committed to a batch a day, documenting progress, perhaps he would quickly have something worth selling.

And perhaps selling these at the end of the street won’t work, but it might work selling them somewhere repeatable and meaningful, like at a local soccer practice. Leveraging existing technology and a supportive parent, there’s no reason a young teenager couldn’t make thousands this way while perfecting the mastery of something deeper than school would ever teach at the same age.

Pastries come to mind as an example because Pierre Hermé, one of the most famous pastry chefs and chocolatiers in the world, began as an apprentice at 14. This is admirable, but it would be a shame for us to wait around for some mentor to appear. The ultimate mentor is always the parent and the resources are broader than ever. What can your child make today? What can he do that’s both rewarding and difficult? What can you do to facilitate such a thing? Or if you’re young enough yourself—what can you master?

The goal is not to invent a job but to create a path to mastery or responsibility. If a child can sell the fruit of his labor, so much the better. But the essential lesson is that every difficult thing attempted acts as a multiplier on his confidence and the rest of his knowledge. Drudgery is sometimes confused with building character, and I think this is a mistake. It is building skill that builds self-possession. After selling thousands of dollars worth of pastries over the summer, a child does not only know that he can make pastries. He knows that he can make anything.

I think that it is worth some special reflection as to why programming is now the typical industry for precocious children. In many ways, it has a low bar to entry and is something that parents still allow their children to do despite the hour-demands of systematized schooling. It is one of the few industries with an immensely permissionless culture. You don’t need an audience or patrons. You don’t have to ask anyone. You don’t have to get a building permit or any professional resources. You can just create. The advantages of this, especially for some children who are not allowed to do much else with their time, are immense. We should ask ourselves, slowly, carefully, and often: what else can be like that?

The World Is a Malleable Place

It would be most desirable if there were a formula for instilling mastery, a guide of recipes and options for every child or young adult. But so long as society is committed to treating children unseriously, the obvious apprenticeships will be few. There may be more varied options than ever for any given child, but none of them will come to him on their own. They will lie just off the path, and the child will need to go looking. One reason that schools will always do poorly at finding such opportunities for children is that the very best opportunities will always be a response to local needs—a sensitivity to context is precisely the thing that systems of scale fail at producing. But both parent and child should never confuse this with a lack of options. Our era is resource-rich, including educational resources, but onramp poor. The legwork is up to you.

Many fairy tales and stories are about finding one’s place. The hero begins as a child full of wonder and ends up achieving mastery over the world. Visions of the future need to allow people—not just the cleverest among us, but all people—to imagine accepting a place in the world. If we fail to do this during the years of education, then we are not really educating. If we fail to allow children continuous contact with the world, we risk them coming to see their own lives as mere abstractions.

The purpose of education is to develop agency within a child. Purposeful work and achieving mastery are tools to getting there. They aren’t the results of learning and imagination, it’s the other way around—learning is simply the consequence of doing. To understand this is to understand the ecology that fosters genius and talent.

Simon Sarris is a computer programmer and photographer based in New Hampshire.

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Doing Well in School Is Sometimes Not Enough

One of my favorite students this year found out she was denied by one of her top choices yesterday. She has a flawless high school transcript, perfect SAT and Subject Test scores. So why didn't she get admitted?

Believe it or not, elite colleges could fill their freshman class with students like this. Having a flawless high school record and test scores is the norm, not the exception. And just because a student is "involved" doesn't mean that will seal the deal. This is a harsh reality for students who have sacrificed so much to do well in and out of school. But younger students can learn from this.

Just as a student's curriculum tends to become more rigorous with each year of high school and their test scores usually improve with time, a student's self-awareness and impact as an individual should develop at the same pace. Why? Because this will help them write more powerful essays, stand out from an extracurricular perspective, and shine brighter in letters of recommendation.

"Personal development is just as important to #elite #colleges as your grades" TWEET THIS

I often hear from students that they haven't had something dramatic or traumatic happen in their lives to write a powerful college essay. I get it. I thought the same thing when I was their age. I saw myself as a typical, American teenager, with two loving parents and a nice roof over my head at all times. There was much more to who I was back then, but I didn't know how to tap into it. Every student is much more than this too. The secret is to appreciate that the small, daily moments of our lives tend to be some of the best representations of who we are. Seeing the lessons, challenges, and highlights of our day-to-day lives brings out our stories. These stories reveal who we are at the most fundamental level. These are the underpinnings of powerful college essays.

Don't get me wrong, some of the most powerful essays I have read both as an admissions dean and college counselor have been about discreet events. However, equally as powerful, are the essays about a student's home life, routines, or quirks they have. Less powerful essays? They tend to be about achievements or things that are already obvious on the application. Remember to find meaning in the little moments of your life as they make for moving college essays and a more self-aware individual writing that essay.

Extracurriculars

If a student is looking at highly selective colleges, being involved in extracurricular activities is not enough. The student has to carve out a niche with something they are doing, either to attain a "head" leadership title or make a noteworthy contribution. The latter option is actually easier to do especially if the student does something non-traditional. With few students pursuing a non-traditional activity (thus reducing the number they are competing against), the student can have greater impact on the activity, hobby, or role they assume.

Waiting until junior year to develop a niche is possible. But if the student starts doing this earlier in high school, they tend to have even greater impact. Freshmen and sophomores should explore their activities and consider pursuing one of them in a focused and deliberate way (using summer vacation to further develop this niche).

"Carve out a niche in your chosen #student activity or role for greater impact" TWEET THIS

Letters of Recommendation

Almost every letter of recommendation that I read is positive, but that's usually not enough for the student to stand out in a highly competitive applicant pool. When the student ends up being a "once-in-a-career" student for a teacher, the letter becomes transformational to the student's chances of admission if everything else in the application matches up. Younger students in 9th and 10th grade who want to get into elite colleges should think about embodying that "once-in-a-career" identity in their academic courses. When a teacher sees a student who is so innately curious about a subject matter and uses this as a vehicle to develop as a student and person, the teacher ends up writing a "once-in-a-career" letter for that "once-in-a-career" student.

Test scores matter. Grades and courses matter even more. But for students applying to elite colleges, their applications need to stand out in other ways. Essays, significant impact in extracurricular activities, and letters of recommendation end up becoming influential if the student is competitive in an elite applicant pool. Being a powerful writer, transformational community member, and a once-in-a-career student take time. Younger students, take note. This is the difference maker between getting into selective colleges and getting into highly selective colleges. Start plotting your course...now.

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About Sara Harberson

Sara Harberson is the founder of Application Nation™, which provides personalized advice to college applicants and their families. In her book, SOUNDBITE: The Admissions Secret that Gets You Into College and Beyond, Sara reveals the secrets of her signature college admissions tool, the "Soundbite," and shares tried-and-tested exercises that have helped thousands of students gain admission to their school of choice. She is the former associate dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania and the former dean of admissions and financial aid at Franklin & Marshall College. Sara’s philosophy is that every kid applying to college deserves the best advice.

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Schools Are Not Doing Enough to Stop Bullying

Favorite Quote: Who said you're not important? - The Doctor (BBC: Doctor Who)

Schools today are not doing enough to stop or prevent bullying in our school and schools around us. I know I’m just one student, but I feel I should speak out to those who are scared to tell or who those people who want to speak out. I am writing about this issue because stopping bullying in school is very important to me. I want to convince to everyone bullying is serious and the schools don’t give too much attention to it. I want schools to have more bullying prevention programs coming to schools and to have in the school itself. Schools want to seem like they know the issue about it and they want to keep children safe in the school, but I beg to differ. Sure some schools at least have one bullying program come to their school in a year, but I feel like that isn’t enough. Some kids that are in school don’t always listen to adults and they think they can get away with doing bad things to another person. Kids don’t really take stuff seriously. I’m sorry it seems like teachers or any other adults in school don’t care about bullying either. I would sometimes see a person sad because a couple of other students talked about them for no reason. In this article called “Are Schools Doing Enough to Prevent Bullying?” Detective Tim Toth commented, “It’s great to tell the parents we have a bullying program in place, but until they take it serious and until the kids know there’s consequences with what they do, the program is no good.” If they can at least have a program come to the school and tell about all the consequences that bullying has to offer, schools would have lower bullying rates. There is bullying everywhere. It’s at schools, it’s at home, and it’s on the internet. It’s weird how this all came to be, right? To many bullies, bullying releases stress; because they might be bullied, they are having family trouble, or just because they want to be cool in school. They don’t think they would get in trouble for it and the kid will be fine: the teachers also see the same thing and think ‘kids are being kids’. But to that bullying victim, they feel very awful about themselves because of the kids talking to them badly. The kid starts to have low self-esteem and doesn’t want to go to school because of it, which will make them do badly academically and will start to get bad grades. Since he is making bad grades and has low self-esteem, so they start self-harm. They feel worthless; they start to have suicidal thoughts. Is it a joke now? Are kids just being kids? That’s a weird way to put it…

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Essay on Failure In School

Students are often asked to write an essay on Failure In School in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Failure In School

Understanding failure.

Failure in school is when you do not reach the set goals in your studies. It can be getting a low grade on a test or not understanding a subject. This is often seen as a bad thing. But, it’s not always like that.

The Reasons for Failure

There are many reasons why you might fail in school. It could be because you did not study enough. Or maybe the subject is too hard for you. Sometimes, problems at home or with friends can also make it hard for you to focus on school.

The Impact of Failure

Failure can make you feel bad. You might think that you are not smart enough. This can make you lose interest in school. But remember, everyone fails at some point. It is a part of learning.

Learning from Failure

The good thing about failure is that it can help you learn. When you fail, you can find out what you did wrong. Then, you can try to do better next time. So, failure can actually help you grow.

Overcoming Failure

To overcome failure, you need to keep trying. Ask for help if you need it. Make a study plan and stick to it. Believe in yourself. You can learn from your mistakes and do better next time.

250 Words Essay on Failure In School

What is failure in school.

Failure in school is when a student does not meet the expected standards or goals in their studies. This can happen in tests, assignments, or overall grades. It can make a student feel bad or lose confidence.

Reasons for Failure

There are many reasons why students fail in school. Some students find it hard to understand what is being taught. Others may not have enough time to study because they are busy with other things. Sometimes, a student may not have the right tools, like books or a quiet place to study.

Failure can make a student feel sad or upset. It can also make them feel like they are not good enough. This can lead to less interest in learning and lower grades in the future.

Turning Failure into Success

Even though failure can feel bad, it can also be a chance to learn and grow. When a student fails, it shows them where they need to improve. They can then work on these areas to get better. It is important to remember that everyone makes mistakes and it is okay to fail sometimes.

Support from Others

Teachers, parents, and friends can help a student who is struggling. They can give advice, help with studying, or just be there to listen. With the right support, a student can turn their failure into success.

In conclusion, failure in school is not the end of the world. It is a chance to learn and grow. With hard work and the right help, any student can overcome failure and succeed.

500 Words Essay on Failure In School

Understanding failure in school.

Failure in school is a topic that we often avoid talking about. Yet, it is something that most of us have faced at one point or another. It could be a low grade on a test, not making the team, or not getting the role in the school play. It’s important to remember that it’s okay to fail and that we can learn a lot from these experiences.

The Meaning of Failure

When we talk about failure in school, we usually think about getting bad grades. But failure can mean different things to different people. For some, it might be not doing as well as they wanted in a sports event. For others, it might be not being able to understand a tough subject. It’s not just about grades, but about not meeting our own or others’ expectations.

Why Do We Fail?

There are many reasons why we might fail in school. Sometimes, it’s because we didn’t prepare enough for a test. Other times, it’s because we find a subject really hard and can’t grasp it no matter how much we try. We might also fail because we’re afraid to ask for help when we need it. It’s important to remember that everyone fails at something, and it’s not a sign that you’re not smart or capable.

The good thing about failure is that it can teach us a lot. When we fail, it’s a sign that we need to change our approach or try harder. It can show us where we need to improve and what we need to focus on. It can also teach us to be resilient and keep trying, even when things are tough. Failure is not the end of the world, but a chance to learn and grow.

Dealing with Failure

Dealing with failure can be hard. It can make us feel sad, upset, or even angry. But it’s important to remember that it’s okay to feel these things. What’s not okay is to let these feelings stop us from trying again. We need to pick ourselves up, learn from our mistakes, and keep going. We should also remember to ask for help when we need it. Teachers, parents, and friends can provide support and advice.

The Bright Side of Failure

While failure can be tough, it also has a bright side. It can make us stronger, more resilient, and more determined. It can teach us to be more patient and to keep trying, even when things are hard. And most importantly, it can show us that it’s okay to make mistakes, as long as we learn from them.

In conclusion, failure in school is not something to be scared of. It’s a part of life and a chance to learn and grow. So the next time you fail, don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember, it’s not the end of the world, but a beginning of a new learning experience.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Failure In Life
• Essay on Failing A Test
• Essay on Factors To Consider When Choosing A Career

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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I ran away from a troubled teen program and escaped for good. This is my story

Lately, I’ve been having nightmares that I’m back in boarding school.

Each dream begins innocuously enough. I find myself walking down a hallway past classmates standing in line in the dining hall. Sometimes, one of them is suddenly tackled to the ground. They struggle under the weight of fellow student who tries to restrain them. Other times, I’m sitting in a corner with my eyes fixed on a blank wall as days stretch into weeks and months.

The faces are all a blur in the dreams, but the swirl of fear and distress, the pounding in my chest and the rage that I feel are sharp. 

The dreams are more like memories, as tangible as they were to me in the days after my parents dropped me off at The DeSisto School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and I began to realize that although I was surrounded by people, I was desperately alone.

I started watching the true crime documentary “ The Program,” directed by troubled teen program alum Katherine Kubler, at my sister-in-law’s recommendation. “You guys have to see this,” she said soon after it debuted, certain that my wife and I would have seen nothing like it.

As she laid out the documentary's details — a group of teens sent off to a behavior modification facility — I realized that she was describing a story that was not unlike the one I experienced as a teenager.

Like Kubler, I was a high school student when my parents determined that I was beyond their control. I’d been diagnosed with ADHD and was expelled from two schools, the second one being a military academy.

While Kubler experienced the shock of being taken away by strangers and dropped off at a school without any parental contact or explanation of where she was going, I actually picked out DeSisto.

After collecting me from the military school, my mother sat me down in her office, handed me a few brochures, and, to my surprise, told me to find the next school that I would go to.

Eventually, I came across one for DeSisto, which sold a story about a therapeutic environment for artistic kids who were misunderstood. The school featured images of a picturesque estate that drew me in.

I never suspected that within 48 hours of my arrival, I would be sobbing, pleading to be sent back home.

Erich Bartlebaugh

Not long after selecting DeSisto, I was driving up to an idyllic Massachusetts town nestled in the mountains. My mother, step-father and I spent my last night before I headed to DeSisto at a bed and breakfast. It was October, and I still remember the autumn leaves and their colors. I took a long bath in a clawfoot tub and savored a king-sized Snickers bar. I had a feeling it was going to be my last for a long time.

Immediately after entering the gated property, I realized I had landed in a new society, governed by new rules. The entire campus was in the middle of a two-week-long sit-in meeting, prompted by someone graffitiing the boys’ bathroom. Pressure was put on every student until someone confessed or was outed by a peer.  

“Sit in” was the start of new vocabulary I became fluent in, reflective of DeSisto’s authoritarian streak. 

Immediately after entering the gated property, I realized I had landed in a new society, governed by new rules.

Rather than friends, new kids were assigned “buddies.” Two students were paired together and responsible, by proxy, for whatever their buddy did or said. We could never be more than a hand’s reach away from a buddy or from another student, for that matter. We were required to travel in groups of three, the reason being that a pair could come up with a notion to run off, but adding an additional student into the mix undermined cohesion.

Every morning was anxiety ridden because of all the potential punishments. 

If you broke the dress code or stained your outfit, you were "suited" and had to wear a formal suit, including tie and dress socks, until you were given reprieve. If the issue continued, you would be "sheeted," which meant you weren’t allowed to wear clothes — just a sheet tied like a toga.

“Ghosted” meant everyone had to ignore your presence. “Silenced” meant you weren’t allowed to make a sound. “No PC” meant you couldn’t have physical contact with anyone. “Hand held” meant you  had  to hold hands, sometimes for hours, no matter what tasks needed to be done.

During "limit structures," students were held to the ground by other students and verbally assaulted with personal jabs. The goal was to break a person down.

“Cornering” was DeSisto’s version of a time-out. We had to sit in a metal chair facing a corner. Once, I was cornered for 60 days. I was only able to get up to use the bathroom and eat. I was allowed limited access to showers. No phone calls with parents or interactions with other students. Nothing. I was so furious and despondent that, at some point, I began to rattle off the F-word over and over again. That was the only curse word we weren’t allowed to say. Each time I said it warranted a $1 penalty.

Then, there was the Farm, the prison of DeSisto. There, students lived separated from the rest of campus, deprived of all possessions including personal clothing. We couldn’t contact home. We had to do everything as a group — including bathroom time. Entire dorms were farmed at once. For example, if the nightly dorm meeting went past midnight because we couldn’t reach a group consensus, we all would be farmed. Happened all the time.

Once, I was withheld from seeing my parents because I was accused of violence for smacking my hand on a sofa during a dorm meeting. This was devastating, and a defining moment when I realized I had no freedom.

My days at DeSisto were tedious and toiling. I was there for just under three years, it still feels like a decade. Every day dragged, and every week and month was so painfully slow that I just lived day to day. I saw how the desperate circumstances took a toll on all of us. 

Some of my fellow students went along with situations most would see as inappropriate in exchange for rewards and freedom. Students didn’t have access to television, but some of the administrators had them in their rooms. Once, a male staffer of the school invited two other boys and me to watch a movie in his quarters. He’d been sitting with his arms around them on the sofa when he asked me to come sit by him. I got a funny feeling and said no. I was never invited back. Later, as I tried to make sense of the things that happened there and connected with former students, I heard stories that confirmed my instincts weren’t wrong.

I became defiant, running away when I found my chances. I ran away from DeSisto three times. The first two times, I was dragged back in a van. My final time, I was determined.

I escaped out of the Farm’s bathroom window. It was the only window that opened in the building. I had convinced the sole staff member to let me close the bathroom door for privacy. As I crawled into the window, he opened the door and yelled. I looked back at him and jumped. I knew at that point I had to just keep running. 

After three years at DeSisto, I ran off into the swampy woods beyond the school, my feet sinking into the mud as I chased after my freedom with little foresight about my next move. Nobody came far enough into the wetlands to find me. Since I was 18 when I ran, once I was off campus, they could not legally bring me back. 

I hiked the main road into town, putting together a plan to ask for some quarters to make a call. I was able to contact an old employee named Luis, whom some of the students trusted. He agreed to pick me up at the Piggly Wiggly in town.

There’s a reason I didn’t call my parents. By the time I left, if there was one lesson I’d learned from my time at DeSisto, it was that I could not rely on them to understand. In “The Program,” Kubler explains her parents were conditioned into believing that anything negative she said about the program was a lie or manipulation. DeSisto’s parents were instructed on this, too. They were advised that if they took in their children after they ran away, their children would be expelled, and years of education — and tuition — would become null and void. 

By the time I got to the parking lot, it was dark. I walked over to a trash can and found it had just been emptied and lined with a new bag, which I took and used as a sleeping bag. I spent my first night outside of DeSisto in almost three years, lying on a bench outside, hungry, thirsty and shivering. 

So much had happened and changed since I was 15 years old and soaking in the clawfoot tub with a Snickers bar.

Founder Michael DeSisto died in 2003 and DeSisto itself shut down in 2004 after controversies, including  fights with the state of Massachusetts over licensing  and allegations of child abuse. The Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services wrote, in a complaint, the school “denies students basic human rights” through practices like strip searches and farming students. 

In 2004, DeSisto was under state investigation for incidents including a staffer waiting more than 90 minutes to take a student to the hospital after she self-harmed and swallowed two razor blades, the  Boston Globe  reported at the time. 

“We admit our response was less than adequate and we’ve dealt with it,” Frank McNear, the school’s director at the time, said at the time. “You’ve got a lot of kids with a lot of pathologies here. I won’t tell you we’re a perfect school, but we’re totally committed to addressing problems as they surface.”

I’ve lived so many different lives since leaving. I’ve spent most of my life trying to push the negative parts of my past aside and focus on moving forward. 

But every once in a while, something pulls me back — terminology, a headline, and more recently, “The Program.” I’ve been told before that I display post-traumatic stress symptoms, but it wasn’t until recently that I connected my feelings, my anger, to my school experience.

I’ve started opening up about my feelings more in the years since I escaped, especially as other lawsuits against the school validate that I wasn’t just a teenager, dramatizing my experience to make my parents feel guilty. My concerns were valid. I've felt less alone.

Survivors, if you can call us that, tend to discuss it amongst themselves, but I never really shared the full extent with anyone outside of them, not even my wife.

Our community of former DeSisto students is more than plagued by the memories of what happened there. Too often, we are confronted by the concerning reality that DeSisto’s body of alumni is vulnerable to death by suicide. The death announcements of a familiar name or face continue to haunt us. 

During COVID, I learned that my friend Sarah died by suicide. I still tear up when I think of her. She was a talented performer and an amazing illustrator. A group of us used to hang out after “meal jobs” were done, when we cleaned the dining room, washed the dishes and prepared for the next meal. She was full of life and laughter but struggled with self-esteem and low self worth. She was a really special and kind person. 

In the decades after we left DeSisto, it’s my understanding that her struggle went on for years. She deserved better. 

I can’t entirely say that my experience at DeSisto was all bad. The truth is, I really began my journey to adulthood there. I learned self-awareness, self-worth and work ethic. I learned responsibility for my actions as well as my emotions. But I also learned distrust, abandonment and the level at which my own vulnerability could be exploited. 

But I can say that much of my life in the years since has felt like climbing out of a massive hole. 

After a failed attempt at community college and many odd jobs, I found direction and put all my energy into graduating from art school. My relationship with my mom and stepdad was OK at this point, but everything was still unresolved. My biological dad and I spoke once every five years at this point. 

I continued to struggle, but eventually, in my 20s, I got my bachelor’s. I learned to understand my parents more. I married and had two beautiful twin boys. I got divorced, I got sober and eventually, I found myself escaped from the black and away from the threat of tipping over the edge. In 2014, I learned what it was to have a real relationship with trust, love and respect. Seven years later, we welcomed our beautiful boy. 

I look at my sons and see how different they are from one another — and see the similarities they have with the old me.

I worry about whether they will struggle the same ways I did, and what will I do — what  can  I do — if they do? Truth is, I could never imagine sending my kids away and frankly, I never would. But I also don’t have a clue what I could do as an alternative. If DeSisto was the wrong choice, what would the right one have been? Was I in that situation as a teen due to nurture or nature?

I appreciate my sons’ personalities and struggles. I so desperately want to make sure that they never feel alone. They are the faces I force my brain to sharpen in on of when the memories of DeSisto begin to creep in, threatening to blur my current reality. They are the ones that bring me back to my life.

Erich Bartlebaugh is the art director of creative for NBC NEWS and MSNBC. He lives in New York.

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What If I Don’t Have Anything Interesting To Write About In My College Essay?

What’s covered:, what makes for a good college essay, how to write a dazzling college essay, will your essay make or break your college application.

College applicants are constantly told that in order to be attractive to admissions committees they need to stand out—but how can you stand out when you live a pretty ordinary life? Lots of students worry that the events of their everyday life are too boring or clichéd to be the topic of a really good essay.

That being said, there’s no need to worry! Your college essay doesn’t need to be about an extraordinary experience you’ve had. Rather, it should depict you as extraordinary. “Uninteresting” topics actually make great college essays because the topic itself doesn’t carry the essay—the student’s individuality does.

Read on for tips on how to write a college essay about an “uninteresting” topic that still shows off your personality, values, interests, and writing skills.

The purpose of your college essay is to humanize yourself to admissions officers so that they can see the ‘real you’ behind the grades and test scores you’ve submitted.

Our article about awesome essay topics gives five structures for a good college essay (though there are many more!):

• A unique extracurricular activity or passion
• An activity or interest that contrasts heavily with your profile
• A seemingly insignificant moment that speaks to larger themes within your life
• Using an everyday experience or object as a metaphor to explore your life and personality
• An in-the-moment narrative that tells the story of an important moment in your life

As you might notice, only one of these essay topics references anything exciting, extraordinary, or unique. Set aside the idea that you need to write about something dramatic and unusual. Unusual experiences are not what is most important to admissions officers—rather, it’s important to position yourself as someone that an admissions officer would like to see at their university.

Some things that make for a bad college essay include:

• Not answering the prompt
• Stretching a prompt so that your answer doesn’t make sense
• Writing about a controversial issue, particularly in an irreverent way
• Showing prejudice
• Writing about a clichéd topic
• Writing about anything that advocates disrespect for authority—this can be anything from insulting a teacher to doing an illegal activity
• Assuming the opinions of your reader

Beyond these boundaries, you can pick any topic you want. It’s how you write about the topic that matters!

Read on for our advice on writing a compelling essay that offers a window into your personality and life experiences.

Our guidance for writing a dazzling essay about an “uninteresting” topic involves:

• Picking a value or fundamental truth about yourself that will humanize you to admissions officers and tell them something important about yourself
• Identifying an experience that exemplifies that value or fundamental truth
• Writing a thoughtful essay that uses your “uninteresting” experience to say something interesting about yourself

1. Get the Ball Rolling

There are many different practices you might find useful as you start brainstorming your college essay. These include freewriting, listing, outlines, and more. That said, don’t feel restricted by brainstorming exercises. Remember that they’re meant to start the process and get the juices flowing. Write down anything and everything that springs to mind—who knows what it could turn into?

Sometimes simple questions can open students up and reveal what is important to them. Here are some questions that might help you brainstorm:

• What’s the last news story you read and found interesting? This question can help you identify an issue that you are passionate about or a cause that matters a lot to you.
• What is your proudest accomplishment so far? What about it makes you feel proud? This question can reveal what you consider most important about yourself, which is likely something you find important in life.
• When have you been the most nervous, and why were you nervous? What was the outcome of the situation? This could be anything from an important performance to standing up for an issue you care about. People’s fears can be an indicator of what they value.
• What’s the most recent topic you researched on your own just for fun or self-improvement? Have you found yourself going down a rabbit hole of Wikipedia articles recently? Your interests are important to you and say a lot about you.
• What have you learned from the community you grew up in? What do you value about that community? Your individual history and family history are very important factors in who you are as a person.
• When have you most recently changed your mind about something important? If growth is important to you, admissions officers want to hear about it.

2. Pick Your Value

If you aren’t going to have a flashy topic, you need to make sure that you use your “uninteresting” topic to say something interesting about yourself. When the admissions officer finishes reading your essay, they should feel like they know you better than when they started reading. So what are you going to tell them about yourself?

Your value or fundamental truth about yourself doesn’t necessarily need to be positive, but neutral/negative values will probably need to be accompanied by self-aware reflection throughout your essay.

Values and fundamental truths can be things like:

• I have a growth mindset
• Family loyalty is very important to me
• Giving gifts that people will treasure is important to me
• I don’t like to be like everyone else
• Embarrassment is a major fear of mine
• I don’t like seeing others in pain
• I am super curious
• I always like to be busy
• I don’t like making mistakes
• Having fun is important to me
• I’m a people pleaser
• Self-care is important to me

3. Pick Your Experience

You will want to pick an anecdote, experience, or example that can serve as a channel through which you can communicate your value. Finding significance in a small incident can be incredibly compelling for your readers. On the other hand, you could explore the meaning of something that you do every day or every week. You can even simply muse on one relationship in your life that speaks to your value. Once you have chosen an experience, you have your topic!

Some “uninteresting” essay topics with interesting implications could be:

• Making dinner with my mom on Fridays allows me to see how matriarchal strength has been passed down in my family
• Volunteering at my local community center is how I take care of the natural caretaker in me
• Going to the mall with my best friend is important to me because choosing which stores to go into is structured spontaneity, and I need structured spontaneity
• Making cards for my friends’ birthdays started as a way to save money, but I really enjoy how it fuses technical and artistic abilities in a unique way
• Singing Disney show tunes in the car is when I feel most relaxed because people around me put a lot of pressure on me to grow up fast and sometimes I miss being a kid
• Going to the hospital to visit my uncle after his surgery was uncomfortable for me because I love others so strongly that it truly hurts me to see them in pain
• Sleeping with my same stuffed animal every night makes me feel safe, which is important to me because my sister’s health issues cause me anxiety and it’s nice to have something stable to rely on

Some final notes on choosing your essay topic:

• The topic you initially like the most may not be the one that allows you to write the best possible essay. Be open to trying something different.
• You don’t need to commit to a topic right away. If it becomes clear after you start outlining or writing that your initial plan isn’t going to work as well as you would like, there’s nothing wrong with altering your topic or starting over with a new topic.

If you still feel stuck, we recommend you take a look at the school-specific supplemental essay questions presented by the colleges to which you’re not applying. One of these prompts might spark an idea in your mind that would also be appropriate for the colleges to which you are applying. Check out the Essay Breakdown posts on the CollegeVine blog for a convenient way to look at this year’s essay questions from many different competitive schools.

4. Make Your Experience Shine

Once you’ve selected a topic, you’ll need to figure out how to develop an essay from it that is technically skillful, compelling to the reader, and true to the vision of yourself that you’re working to portray in your application. Remember, the value of your essay is much more in how you write about your experiences than it is in what experiences you write about.

To write a truly effective college essay, you’ll need to focus not just on depicting your chosen experience, but also on expressing your personal experience in an interesting manner. The experience is simply your scaffolding. The focus of your essay should be what that experience says about you—or what you make it say about you.

When writing about an “uninteresting” experience, you will want to be reflective, be self-aware, and show maturity in your view of your experience. Focus on communicating your thoughts and emotions in a way that evokes emotion in your reader and makes them feel connected to you.

Details are also important to pay attention to while writing your essay, as they’ll bring life and context to your story. Vivid and evocative details can turn your “uninteresting” experience into a relatable and interesting scene in your reader’s imagination.

With skillful writing, powerful word choice, and a good sense of how to develop a fragment of an idea into a longer piece of writing, you can make any topic—no matter how “uninteresting” it may seem—into a mature exploration of your values and a showcase of your skills as a communicator.

It depends . A brilliant essay can’t make up for severe deficiencies in your academic qualifications , but it will still have a significant impact, particularly at smaller and more competitive schools.

If you’re “on the bubble” for admissions, an essay that makes an admissions officer feel like they know you could give them a reason to accept your application. On the other hand, an essay that’s carelessly written, inappropriate, or full of technical errors will hurt your chances of admission, even if you have great qualifications.

If you finish your first draft of your essay and are still worried that your “uninteresting” topic will break your college application, we recommend that you get feedback. Sometimes it can really help to have someone else determine whether or not your voice is shining through in your work. Feedback is ultimately any writer’s best source of improvement!

To get your college essay edited for free and improve your chances of acceptance at your dream schools, use our Peer Review Essay Tool . With this tool, other students will tell you if your essay effectively humanizes you.

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Essay: My teachers had low expectations for me. Home-schooling changed everything.

M y academic journey began with a head start. In preschool, I received a lot of individual attention in small classes. When I started kindergarten, everything was a review with no challenges.

But I did face challenges early in my education that, without enough support, threatened my success. As I got older, I experienced discrimination and a persistent lack of resources, as well as a lack of support — conditions that often lead Black male students like me to drop out, and conditions that drive Black families to seek better options for learning.

Until I left public school for home-school, I had few options or autonomy on my educational path.

In pre-K, my parents and teachers saw early signs of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but I was too young to diagnose. When I was ultimately diagnosed with ADHD at age 6, I had some trouble with reading. My psychologist wasn’t sure whether I had dyslexia or if my difficulty focusing hurt my reading ability. When I was in sixth grade, it was confirmed that I was not dyslexic, but I had trouble focusing on reading when I was disinterested. More about that later.

As a kindergartener, I also kept getting in trouble for my behavior at school, and I was repeatedly sent to the principal’s office. My school counselor noticed I would misbehave after I finished my work, while I waited for the other students to finish their assignments. By second grade, she noticed a pattern in my behavior and recommended to my parents that I be tested for giftedness . A test confirmed my advanced ability, and when I was in third grade, I started working with a gifted specialist for an hour once a week. They gave me busy work that was supposed to be challenging, but it wasn’t.

I was in sixth grade when I was diagnosed with dysgraphia, a neurological disorder that affects handwriting.

Having ADHD, dysgraphia, and being identified as gifted meant that means I am “twice exceptional” (2e). The Davidson Institute explains it this way: Twice-exceptional children “may be more emotionally and intellectually sensitive than children of average intelligence,” but because of their learning disabilities, they also struggle with what other kids do easily.” They also “need a special combination of education programs and counseling support,” according to the institute.

The thing about being 2e is that it is often hard to find the proper accommodations for a student. For example, my elementary school had the resources and behavior accommodations for ADHD but it didn’t have a writing specialist who could offer support for dysgraphia. As a Black gifted student, it becomes extremely hard to succeed in an environment where you’re expected to fit into a system that does not see or support you. I have numerous examples of teachers assuming that because I was identified as gifted I must know everything or always be correct. In reality, I had no idea what I was doing many times because I needed accommodations such as written and verbal instructions and repetitive reinforcement — support my parents had to constantly advocate for and ensure my teachers provided.

Some teachers would openly question my academic ability and had low expectations for me. I often felt I could not win, so why try? This led to teachers treating me unfairly, and openly criticizing me during class for asking questions. Some teachers tried to embarrass me by making me try to solve advanced math or science problems in front of the whole class instead of helping me understand the material in the way that my Individual Educational Program stated. My parents were at the school so often that all the administrators, teachers, and support staff knew them by name. These issues would occur on a daily basis.

It was hard enough trying to learn in an environment where I was almost always one of the few Black students in the room. Eventually, I resorted to not asking questions in class, not engaging or participating, and not turning in work. My grades dropped. The mistreatment by my teachers continued into high school. I left to be home-schooled.

When my parents proposed home-school to me, I was skeptical. I had only attended public schools, and the things I heard about home-school were not positive. But I was tired of teachers not understanding me as a Black student who was also 2e. I opted for home-schooling.

At first, home-schooling was weird. I kept trying to operate as I had in public school. I soon realized I no longer had to wake up at 6:30 every morning to go to school. Instead, it was OK to sleep in until 8 a.m. I could get a full night of sleep without being stressed about due dates and project timelines. I no longer had to worry about teachers criticizing me in front of the class or class distractions, when I would be able to use the bathroom, or where I would go if a fight broke out in the hallway.

The biggest change with home-school is sensing that all of my teachers at the cooperative and my tutors are passionate about the subjects they teach and are not burned out. They are able to spend more time on certain subjects or units because they are not teaching to a standardized test. They focus on ensuring that I understand the lessons.

I realize that I finally have the freedom to learn as a Black male student. I take classes that interest me such as photography, business management, and government. I read any book I want without worrying about whether the school district has banned it. I have in-depth conversations about the books we are reading without fear of expressing my opinions. I take day trips to museums and historical sites where I get comprehensive and accurate information instead of filtered views.

Another major advantage of being home-schooled, for me, is my flexible schedule. I can do internships year-round and go to enlightening speeches. These opportunities help strengthen my college applications and resume. Before I left public school, I did not know there were hundreds of other home-schooled kids with stories similar to mine, so seeing other kids at the home-school co-op who look like me is an added bonus.

My educational journey has been tough. But if I had known then what I know now, I would have chosen the freedom of home-school much earlier. Freedom means that I can learn at my own pace and in my own learning style, ask questions freely and openly, learn subjects that interest me, and get more learning opportunities outside the classroom — all while doing so in a safe environment.

All students deserve freedom in their education. They deserve the resources to meet their needs, even if they learn differently than the majority.

Ethan P. Greene is an 11th grade student at the Cultural Roots Homeschool Cooperative. He aspires to have a career in business and law. His hobbies include Tae Kwon Do and photography. You can follow his photography at @epgphoto_graphy on Instagram.

Our Students Can’t Write Very Well—It’s No Mystery Why

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My organization decided a few weeks back that we needed to hire a new professional staff person. We had close to 500 applicants. Inasmuch as the task was to help us communicate information related to the work we do, we gave each of the candidates one of the reports we published last year and asked them to produce a one-page summary. All were college graduates. Only one could produce a satisfactory summary. That person got the job.

We were lucky this time. We are more often than not disappointed at the subpar writing ability of the applicants for openings at our organization. Many applicants are from very good colleges. Many have graduate degrees. Many are very poor writers.

Their lack of writing ability does not augur well. When we look at what they have written, the logic of the narrative is often very hard to find. It would appear that their lack of writing ability stands as mute testimony to their lack of thinking ability.

How, we ask, could this have happened? The answers are not hard to find. My friend Will Fitzhugh points out that high school students are rarely required to read entire works of fiction and are almost never asked to read entire works of non-fiction. I know of no good writers who are not also good readers.

More directly to the point, high school students are hardly ever asked to write anything of significant length. Why not? Because in this age of accountability, they are not tested on their writing ability. By which I mean that they are not asked to submit to the testing authorities 10- or 15- or 20-page papers in which they are expected to present a thesis and defend it, analyze something complicated from multiple points of view and draw a reasoned conclusion, or put together a short story in which characters are developed in some depth and insights are revealed.

This point is critically important. There is only one way that we can find out whether a student can write a substantial research paper—by asking them to write a substantial research paper and looking carefully at the result. If we do not ask them to produce this product—over and over again, as they get better and better at it—then they will not be able to do it well. If they have not done the work, then neither their teacher nor the engines of the accountability system can assess it. If this sort of serious writing is not done and—in our accountability-oriented environment—is not assessed, then it will not be learned. End of argument.

Oh, sure, we have tests of writing ability for college-bound students, but they do not ask the student to produce anything like what we asked our candidates to produce. They ask a student to choose one word or phrase from a list to fill in the blank in a passage. That is not writing. It is something else. PARCC and Smarter Balanced assessments have made progress in more effectively evaluating the writing skills of our students, but many states are actively taking steps away from these types of assessment tasks. And it is of course true that asking a student to write a one-page summary of a longer piece is no test of their ability to write a well-argued, fact-based, 10- or 20-page research paper.

We are fond of producing long lists of things we want 21 st century students to be able to do. But the ability to write well and think critically always tops the list, both because so much work requires these skills and because they are so fundamental to so many other kinds of cognitive activity we value. What could be more central to a good education?

So it is simply unbelievable that we do not build our curriculum around the assumption that we will be asking students to read demanding books—not just parts of books, but whole books—and then asking them to write, at length and in detail, about what they have read, explicating, analyzing, synthesizing and summarizing it, with insight and narrative skill that demonstrates their ability to think clearly. Isn’t that the heart of the matter?

Writing is a craft. Like any other craft, it is learned only by doing it, over and over and over, at increasing levels of challenge, under the watchful eye of an expert. How on earth are our students to learn to write if we do not ask them to write, and write a lot, and write well? The reason, of course, that they are not asked to write much is because their ability to write a substantial paper is not tested. And why, in this age of accountability, when we judge teachers by how well their students do on the test, would we expect their students to write well when we do not test their ability to write a good paper, 10 to 20 pages in length?

Our own research tells us that a large fraction of community college professors do not assign writing to their students because their students cannot write and the professors do not consider themselves to be writing teachers. It is no wonder that employers like us find it so hard to find candidates with serviceable writing skills.

What do you suppose would happen if a state announced one day that it was redesigning its accountability system and half of a teachers’ rating would henceforth depend on their students’ grades on long research papers in the subject taught by that teacher—papers, say, at least 15 pages long at the high school level? They might be told that that grade would depend on the way evidence was presented and marshaled, the range of the evidence presented, the depth of the analytical ability displayed in the essay, the logic and persuasiveness of the argument made, and so on.

I am not arguing that we should do this, but simply making the point that if we really cared about the ability of our students to think and write well, we would assign substantial papers frequently, critique those papers effectively, and expect students to write well long before they left high school. It is hard to reach any conclusion on this point other than that we simply don’t care whether or not our students can write effectively, if we judge by what is assigned to students, what is expected of students, the instruction we offer students, the way we evaluate their work, the design of our accountability systems or our criteria for graduating students from high school.

But assume for the moment that all these issues were addressed. Can we then assume that our students would be graduating high schools able to think clearly and write well? I don’t think so.

I said in passing above that writing is a craft and crafts are best learned by apprenticing oneself to an expert, in this case an expert writer. This suggests that if our students are to become good writers, they will have to get their work critiqued in detail by teachers who are themselves good writers.

But I also said at the beginning of this blog that we and many other employers are having a very hard time hiring anyone who is a good writer, even graduates of leading universities and graduate schools. We know that most of our teachers come not from our leading universities but from institutions that get their students from the lower half of the distribution of high school graduates going to college. If there is no reason to assume that the graduates of the leading institutions are themselves good writers, what would make us assume that the graduates of less demanding institutions are better writers?

It is true that many universities require applicants to submit a short essay as part of their application. But I am willing to bet that few, if any, require their applicants to do something as straightforward as our request to our job applicants to summarize a complex research paper in one page, on demand, in a short time, capturing all the key points and creating a narrative that makes sense of it all for the reader.

If we do not demand that those who want to become teachers are themselves very good writers, why would we expect our teachers to be good teachers of writing? We should, in fact, be requiring our candidates for teaching positions to write 20-page papers of their own which analyze and summarize a topic from the literature in their field. We should be asking them to produce, on demand, a one-page summary of something they are given to read that is complicated and difficult.

But we don’t do any of these things. So, once again, I conclude that we are not serious. We are not serious about teaching students to reason and write well and we are not serious about hiring teachers who have the skills needed to teach our students how to reason and write well. We are no doubt lucky to have many teachers who know how to read and write critically and care enough to pass those skills on to their students. But if these core skills were really important to us, we would be making very large changes in curriculum, demanding much more reading of complete novels and non-fiction, asking our students to write much longer papers much more frequently, providing expert and copious commentary on what they had written, changing our accountability systems to reflect these priorities and, not least, we would be making sure that our teachers are themselves very good writers.

I very much doubt that our high school graduates write less well than high school graduates used to write. But jobs for truck drivers, hamburger flippers and grocery store check out clerks are disappearing fast. This is just one more—but crucially important—arena in which our education system is failing to adapt to a fast-changing environment.

The opinions expressed in Top Performers are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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My School Essay in English (100, 200, 300, 500 words)

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My School Essay 100 Words

My school is a place where I get educated; learn new subjects under the guidance of trained and skilled teachers. I study at a school that is near my home. It is one of the best schools in my entire town. The management of my school believes that it isn’t only academic excellence that we should be after, but also the overall personality development and evolving into a good and useful human being.

The school has two playgrounds – one is a tennis court and the other one is a cricket ground. We also have a nice swimming pool and a canteen. It also has a beautiful garden where students relax and play during recess. Even in games, sports and tournaments, it has made much progress. My school has won many trophies, shields, and medals in many extra-curricular activities. In debates also, the students of my school secure good positions. It is considered to be one of the best schools in my locality.

My School Essay 200 Words

The school is called the educational institution which is designed to provide learning spaces and create an environment for the children where the teaching of the students is under the direction and guidance of the teachers.

My School is one of the best educational institutions where I get an education and make progress towards the goals of my life and make me capable of achieving them. Besides education, there are several significant roles that my school plays in my life. My school is performing well in all fields. It develops my physical and mental stamina, instills confidence, and

gives me tremendous opportunities to prove my skills and talents in different fields. In the academic field, it has made a mark. Its students secure top positions in the board examinations.

I go to school with my other friends. We study in our school in a great friendly environment. We reach school at a fixed time. As soon as we reach we line up to attend the assembly. Attending the school assembly is a wonderful experience. I enjoy for being first in a row in a school assembly. As soon as the assembly ends we rush to our respective classrooms. We take part in all school activities. One of my school fellows is the best singer and dancer. She has recently won the best singer award at the annual arts festival. Our school organizes all-important national events like Independence Day, teachers’ day, father’s day, etc. My school also gives every student abundant opportunities to take part in extracurricular activities like sports and music.

All of us are proud of being a part of it. I am fortunate enough to be a student at this school. I love and am proud of my school.

My School Essay 300 Words

An institution where higher education is taught is commonly called a school, University College, or University. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsory. In these systems, Students progress through a series of schools. The names for these schools vary by country but generally include primary school for young children and secondary school for teenagers who have completed primary education.

My school is a place where I not only get educated but also get trained in other necessary competitive skills like sports, music, and dance. I am proud of my school because it provides us with all the basic facilities like a big playground, a central library, a big auditorium hall, a science lab, and a good computer lab. That is why my school is rated as one of the best schools in my entire area. My school has produced many great people in my country. It has a big and beautiful building that looks shiny from far away. I reach my target at a fixed time. I came to school with other friends of mine. We happily enter the schools with great confidence. We take part in a school assembly and then we move into our classrooms.

This all is done by a very efficient and well-trained teaching staff of my school. The best schools are those that make the students the best and the best school is made by the best teachers. We study under the guidance of the best teachers. My school has a dedicated teacher for all the subjects as well as extracurricular activities like music and sports. I consider my school as the best school because it supports and encourages every student to do their best and make progress. Fortunately, my school provides the best environment, the best teachers, and the best facilities.

Our Class teacher greets us daily and asks about us. He is quite a cool and kind man. He entertains us along with teaching his subject. We learn a lot of things like discipline, self-help, confidence, and cooperation here. As I enter my classroom I feel quite happy and relaxed.

My School Essay 500 Words

The place where children as the leaders of tomorrow study and where the future of the nation is shaped are called schools. Education is an essential weapon for tomorrow, so the good schools of today are important for the best future of a nation. Schools are the center of learning where we attend classes on various subjects, interact with the teachers, get our queries

answered, and appeared in exams. In my school, learning is more like a fun activity, because of the extra-talented teaching staff.

My school is a government primary school located on the outskirts of the city. Usually, when people think about a government school, they perceive it to be at an isolated location and have poor basic amenities and teaching facilities. But, despite being a government school, my school defies all such speculations. Teachers of my school are not only knowledgeable about the subjects they teach but also are skilled enough to teach through fun activities. For example, our physics teacher explains every concept by stating real-life examples that we could relate to. This way we not only understand the subject better. Moreover, not a moment I remember, when any teacher had ever replied rudely to any of the students. They always patiently listen and provide answers to all the queries posed to them. Learning at my school is fun and it is made possible only because of the teachers.

My school is very important in my life, in a way even more than my family. My family gives me love, care, and affection, and provides for all my other essential needs. But, all of this isn’t enough to make me a good human being and succeed in life.  Favorably, I am lucky enough to be enrolled in a prestigious school, and gaining a wonderful education, looking forward to realizing my dreams one day. The most necessary for success in life is education, and only my school provides it to me. Without my school and the education that it gives, I would be like a confused and wandering soul, almost aimless in life.

My school helps with my educational and overall personality development. It imparts education through classes, tests, and exams to teach me how to conduct myself confidently. It just feels so great to be in my school and be a part of everyday activities, be it lectures, sports, or Something else. While in school, I always feel happy, confident, enthusiastic, and loved. I make friends at school, those whom I will never forget and will always love them. My family supports my materialistic needs, but school is the place where my actual physical, social, and mental development takes place.  I know that every question that crosses my mind will be answered by my teachers. I also know that my school friends will always be at my side whenever I need them to be. As much as the studies, my school also stresses much on These activities as the management thinks that extracurricular activities are very essential for our overall personality development. My school provides dedicated teachers and staff for each extracurricular activity. We have a big sports ground with kits for all the major sports; a covered auditorium for dance and music and a separate basketball court.

The role my school plays in my personality development is fantastic. It not only imparts education in me but also teaches me how to conduct myself and how to behave decently and properly. I get trained in all the other necessary skills of life, like how to keep calm in challenging situations and help others as well. My school teaches me to be a good and evolved human being, to stay composed and progressive always. It also teaches me to be kind and generous to others and not differentiate them based on their caste, religion, ethnicity, or other divisions. These are some of the most essential personality traits that my school imparts to me, something that I will always be thankful for. Every time I think of my school, I think of it as a temple of education. A temple, where my soul meets education, making my life more meaningful and useful to society and the nation as well. It is a place where my aspirations get a wing and I get the strength and confidence to realize them. No other place in the entire world could replace my school and the role that it plays in my life. I will always be thankful to my friends, teachers, and the staff of my school, for making it such a comfortable and Educational place of learning.

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Essay on My School Life

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Essay on My School Life: School life is the best phase of a student’s life. It is a time when a student learns new things and explores his/her own potential. It is a time when a student discovers his/her own identity and develops a sense of self-confidence. School life is also a time when a student develops friendships and bonds with classmates. These friendships and bonds often last a lifetime.

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We have always heard that school life is the best life, enjoy yourself till you are in school make as many mistakes as you can till you are in school, and many such phrases which make the kids who are still in school wonder that why are the elder people hyping this thing up. But as soon as the school life is over and people enter the real world they realize that how right the elders were.

Children should live their school life to the fullest. They will be missing these days later in life and would never be able to enjoy such carefree life again. School life lived well gives memories to cherish and friend to keep for a lifetime. Here are essays on My School Life of varying lengths to help you with the topic in your exam. You can select any My School Life Essay as per your interest and need:

Long and Short Essay on My School Life in English

Essay on my school life 200 words.

School is said to be a temple of knowledge, the very first place that introduced you to the world and more so your own self. My school life is all about the memories I deeply cherish. The memories of not only the fun, friendship and all the sport and extracurricular but also the way it helped me find my interests. I owe it all to my school life. It has made me who I am today.

My school life has been full of different experiences over the years. It gave various opportunities to develop not only my scholastic abilities but also the art and sport side. It supported me in my sports as well as exposed me to numerous types of people. All of this accounted to make me understand how to behave socially and in building a personality which I have today.

There are numerous things that make school life the best phase in one’s life. All of this eventually is because we are young to do mistakes again and again till we realize, dumb enough to not think about people and do what we feel like doing, curious to know everything we can and most importantly still not exposed and contaminated with the evil feelings of this world. And all of this makes us build a personality of our own.

Essay on My School Life Experience 300 words

In my school life, I’ve always been that ideal studious student so I typically don’t have that super amazing bunch of memories like the notorious back benchers except for ones that I remember when I was in my eighth grade.

My School Life Experience

It was a usual day at school until this incident took place. It was about the time of recess when I used to play football with my classmates. One day while I was out in the field suddenly a boy called Stephen Francis who was also the captain of our school football team kicked my brand new Liverpool FC soccer ball out of the school premises, to the narrow lane that passed just behind our school ground.

The walls of our school were a bit high and fenced and like every other school, going out of the premises was strictly prohibited. We partially climbed the wall so that we could have a look on the ball and waited for some genuine person to pass by so that we could ask him to return our ball.

We had to wait for quite long until a guy of almost same age as ours walked by. He was quite far however he saw the ball and went towards it. We saw that he tried to run away taking the ball. So, without thinking twice I and my friend jumped the school wall but till the time we could make it past the wall he was already running with our soccer ball.

We started running behind him and my friend bumped into a bike and was hurt badly. I probably had to let go off my soccer ball and see how she was hurt. She got three stitches from that injury. We were scolded by teachers and principal for this, as a punishment our parents were called to school the next day to discuss the seriousness of the trouble.

Since then me and this friend of mine have been partners in numerous mischief that have made my school life memorable.

Essay on School Life is the Best Life 400 words

Every phase in a person’s life holds special importance as it helps him grow and develop his personality. But one can never learn as much as he does from his school life because that is the time when we are doing everything for the first time. This is the time we can make mistakes and get away with them. We don’t care much about the people around and are curious to try everything out. We build our unique personality from our mistakes and experiences.

How School Life is the Best Life?

Here are some reasons that prove that school life is the best life:

• Uniform : One hates school uniform while in school but when we grow up we realize how difficult it is to figure out what to wear each day.
• Holidays : This is the major perk of school life which we crave the most after it ends. We got numerous holidays while in school and spent them in a carefree manner without any stress. We visited our cousins and extended family and also invited them over to our place. As we join jobs, we don’t get as many holidays to relax and enjoy.
• Friends : The longest known friendships are made during the school days. This is mainly because during this time we can trust people easily. We are also enthusiastic and curious to meet new people, try new things and build new friendships.
• Teachers : We realize how important it is to always have a guide who still thinks that we are immature for everything and makes us understand accordingly. We cannot get such a mentor/ guide after we have completed our schooling.
• Homework : A thing which we hate during our school life and tried hundreds of creative excuses to avoid was actually fun. School life would have been so incomplete without it.
• Punishments and rewards : Punishments used to come in the variety of standing whole period or getting out of the class or going to the principal’s office and the best reward was when someone was made the class monitor.
• First Experiences : It was the time when we are allowed to make mistakes as too many things were our firsts, whether it was our first crush, first heartbreak without even being in relationship, first fight or first kiss.

All of these experiences hold a special importance in our hearts even as we grow up. They have taught me a lot and have helped me become the person I am today.

Essay on My School Life Memories 500 words

A school is a building dedicated to provide learning space and environment to provide education. It is a building wherein your majority of childhood has passed, a building that everyone misses after they’ve finally left it, same is the scenario in my case. I’ve studied in Don Bosco High School Vadodara, an all-boys Christian missionary School. Hard for other people to admit but being in an all-boys school has got some perks that only those who study here can understand.

My Memories of Primary and Secondary Classes

I’ve been a part of Don Bosco institution since kindergarten until my tenth grade. After tenth in higher secondary I went to Rosary high school, which was more or less like an unofficial dummy school for the students in science stream so I barely have any school memories from higher secondary school. So, the story of my enchanting school memories revolves around my school from junior years.

Like a stereotypical school going kid I used to go to the school in a school van. I would wake up at quarter to six in the morning, get fresh, wear school uniform, arrange my school bag according to the time table for the day and have a quick breakfast by 6:40 am as at sharp quarter to seven my school van would be right in front of my house honking. Then, further half an hour until we reached school was a time for chit-chat and discussion about the homework assigned to us the earlier day.

The Daily Activities at School

We would reach the school at around 7:30 am, approximately fifteen minutes prior to the school bell. We had to be in our respective classes before the bell rang. Then it was time for national song and school prayer that went on until eight which was a time for regular school periods to begin. This continued for four periods continuously until the recess bell rang at 10:30 am. Recess felt more of a games period then a lunch break. Everyone would be seen doing different activities during this time. The kind of activities one indulged in depended on the class he was in.

When we were in the primary classes we played different games in the school garden. Basketball, football, running and hide and seek were some of our favourite games. As we reached the secondary classes, we began to sit in the canteen to chit chat about the various things and enjoy delicious food. After the recess, we had to attend four more periods. Not every period was that boring though, art and craft, PT, value education and mathematics periods were interesting for me.

Apart from this formal schedule at school, those gossips with friends, hanging around at canteen, going to washroom to partially bunk the lecture, that fear of punishment when we’d forgotten to complete the homework, that note which the teacher wrote in the handbook when we’d done some mischief in the class, the ride in nervousness from home to school on the result day, from immature fights to the innocent laughs – everything from the school feels so dear now, maybe because the things were simple back then.

Essay on My High School Experience 600 words

It is said that entering the high school is the first step in the real world in any student’s life. It is the place where one gets experiences for life. So, one is obviously nervous while entering this phase, but over and above that, extremely excited as now they’ll be adults and will be able to take their decisions on their own. And it is well said that with great authority, comes greater responsibility, and with these responsibilities, comes social pressure. All of which we were unaware of from our childhood time because that is when we were allowed to do mistakes thinking that we are kids, but this doesn’t happen in high school as we are considered adults now.

My High School Experience

One cannot live a carefree life in the high school. There is a lot of study pressure. We need to balance between our academics and extra-curricular activities and also prepare for competitive examinations that lie ahead. Even as we have so much to do we don’t want to miss out on the fun we can have with our friends as this is also the time for blooming friendships and a lot of mischief.

The Day I Bunked My School

I had many bittersweet high school experiences. One of these was when I bunked a lecture, with two of my friends, for the first time. Not only did we bunk the lecture, but also we jumped through our school walls to get out of the school premises and watch a newly released movie. We had a class of 70 students, out of which, around 55 students were present that day.

Now coincidentally, 10 more students from my class also bunked the lecture which made the decreased class strength visible. Moreover, the bags of all of the 13 students, including us, were still there in the class, as we were not allowed to leave the class with bags during school hours. So, our teacher did the checking and found out about the students who bunked and so eventually we were suspended from our laboratory sessions for a week.

However, we didn’t stop bunking lectures post this. We became really smart in finding ways to bunk. We tried to strike a balance between being a good student and enjoying high school. During all those bunks, I realized how important it is to have friends to make your life worth living.

The Ups and Downs in My High School

Then, there came our first high school exam and I managed to be on the list of top 10 students of my class. I had always been a good student academically. So this time, even after all the shenanigans that I indulged in, I managed to score good marks. But this was the last time that I got good marks. My grades started degrading after that and this led to a lot of stress and anxiety. I lost interest in studies and indulged in gaming, watching movies or reading novels.

Thankfully, I didn’t do anything bad, but this normal stuff made the situation worse as I could not concentrate on my studies. So, I went through counselling which I never thought I’ll ever require. It was a difficult period for me but eventually I was able to get decent score in my finals. My parents stood as my pillar of strength during this time. They encouraged me to study and motivated me to lead the right path. I cannot thank them enough for their guidance and support.

All of such experiences from my high school gave me lessons to remember for a lifetime. They made me realize how everything wrong could turn right if only you believe so and have support from your loved ones.

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Essay on My School Life FAQs

How do i write an essay about my school.

To write an essay about your school, start with an introduction, describe the campus, mention teachers and friends, highlight activities, and conclude with your thoughts.

How to write 10 lines about our school?

Write about the school's name, location, facilities, teachers, subjects, friends, favorite spots, activities, why it's special, and how you feel about it.

What makes my school special essay?

Your school is special because of its caring teachers, fun activities, great friends, and a positive learning environment that makes you happy to go there.

What is the paragraph of my school?

My school is a wonderful place where I learn, play, and make friends. Teachers are kind, and I love my school because it feels like a second home.

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College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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Stormy Daniels Takes the Stand

The porn star testified for eight hours at donald trump’s hush-money trial. this is how it went..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

It’s 6:41 AM. I’m feeling a little stressed because I’m running late. It’s the fourth week of Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial. It’s a white collar trial. Most of the witnesses we’ve heard from have been, I think, typical white collar witnesses in terms of their professions.

We’ve got a former publisher, a lawyer, accountants. The witness today, a little less typical, Stormy Daniels, porn star in a New York criminal courtroom in front of a jury more accustomed to the types of witnesses they’ve already seen. There’s a lot that could go wrong.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

Today, what happened when Stormy Daniels took the stand for eight hours in the first criminal trial of Donald J. Trump. As before, my colleague Jonah Bromwich was inside the courtroom.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It’s Friday, May 10th.

So it’s now day 14 of this trial. And I think it’s worth having you briefly, and in broad strokes, catch listeners up on the biggest developments that have occurred since you were last on, which was the day that opening arguments were made by both the defense and the prosecution. So just give us that brief recap.

Sure. It’s all been the prosecution’s case so far. And prosecutors have a saying, which is that the evidence is coming in great. And I think for this prosecution, which is trying to show that Trump falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal, to ease his way into the White House in 2016, the evidence has been coming in pretty well. It’s come in well through David Pecker, former publisher of The National Enquirer, who testified that he entered into a secret plot with Trump and Michael Cohen, his fixer at the time, to suppress negative stories about Trump, the candidate.

It came in pretty well through Keith Davidson, who was a lawyer to Stormy Daniels in 2016 and negotiated the hush money payment. And we’ve seen all these little bits and pieces of evidence that tell the story that prosecutors want to tell. And the case makes sense so far. We can’t tell what the jury is thinking, as we always say.

But we can tell that there’s a narrative that’s coherent and that matches up with the prosecution’s opening statement. Then we come to Tuesday. And that day really marks the first time that the prosecution’s strategy seems a little bit risky because that’s the day that Stormy Daniels gets called to the witness stand.

OK, well, just explain why the prosecution putting Stormy Daniels on the stand would be so risky. And I guess it makes sense to answer that in the context of why the prosecution is calling her as a witness at all.

Well, you can see why it makes sense to have her. The hush money payment was to her. The cover-up of the hush money payment, in some ways, concerns her. And so she’s this character who’s very much at the center of this story. But according to prosecutors, she’s not at the center of the crime. The prosecution is telling a story, and they hope a compelling one. And arguably, that story starts with Stormy Daniels. It starts in 2006, when Stormy Daniels says that she and Trump had sex, which is something that Trump has always denied.

So if prosecutors were to not call Stormy Daniels to the stand, you would have this big hole in the case. It would be like, effect, effect, effect. But where is the cause? Where is the person who set off this chain reaction? But Stormy Daniels is a porn star. She’s there to testify about sex. Sex and pornography are things that the jurors were not asked about during jury selection. And those are subjects that bring up all kinds of different complex reactions in people.

And so, when the prosecutors bring Stormy Daniels to the courtroom, it’s very difficult to know how the jurors will take it, particularly given that she’s about to describe a sexual episode that she says she had with the former president. Will the jurors think that makes sense, as they sit here and try to decide a falsifying business records case, or will they ask themselves, why are we hearing this?

So the reason why this is the first time that the prosecution’s strategy is, for journalists like you, a little bit confusing, is because it’s the first time that the prosecution seems to be taking a genuine risk in what they’re putting before these jurors. Everything else has been kind of cut and dry and a little bit more mechanical. This is just a wild card.

This is like live ammunition, to some extent. Everything else is settled and controlled. And they know what’s going to happen. With Stormy Daniels, that’s not the case.

OK, so walk us through the testimony. When the prosecution brings her to the stand, what actually happens?

It starts, as every witness does, with what’s called direct examination, which is a fancy word for saying prosecutors question Stormy Daniels. And they have her tell her story. First, they have her tell the jury about her education and where she grew up and her professional experience. And because of Stormy Daniels’s biography, that quickly goes into stripping, and then goes into making adult films.

And I thought the prosecutor who questioned her, Susan Hoffinger, had this nice touch in talking about that, because not only did she ask Daniels about acting in adult films. But she asked her about writing and directing them, too, emphasizing the more professional aspects of that work and giving a little more credit to the witness, as if to say, well, you may think this or you may think that. But this is a person with dignity who took what she did seriously. Got it.

What’s your first impression of Daniels as a witness?

It’s very clear that she’s nervous. She’s speaking fast. She’s laughing to herself and making small jokes. But the tension in the room is so serious from the beginning, from the moment she enters, that those jokes aren’t landing. So it just feels, like, really heavy and still and almost oppressive in there. So Daniels talking quickly, seeming nervous, giving more answers than are being asked of her by the prosecution, even before we get to the sexual encounter that she’s about to describe, all of that presents a really discomfiting impression, I would say.

And how does this move towards the encounter that Daniels ultimately has?

It starts at a golf tournament in 2006, in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Daniels meets Trump there. There are other celebrities there, too. They chatted very briefly. And then she received a dinner invitation from him. She thought it over, she says. And she goes to have dinner with Trump, not at a restaurant, by the way. But she’s invited to join him in the hotel suite.

So she gets to the hotel suite. And his bodyguard is there. And the hotel door is cracked open. And the bodyguard greets her and says she looks nice, this and that. And she goes in. And there’s Donald Trump, just as expected. But what’s not expected, she says, is that he’s not wearing what you would wear to a dinner with a stranger, but instead, she says, silk or satin pajamas. She asked him to change, she says. And he obliges.

He goes, and he puts on a dress shirt and dress pants. And they sit down at the hotel suite’s dining room table. And they have a kind of bizarre dinner. Trump is asking her very personal questions about pornography and safe sex. And she testifies that she teased him about vain and pompous he is. And then at some point, she goes to the bathroom. And she sees that he has got his toiletries in there, his Old Spice, his gold tweezers.

Very specific details.

Yeah, we’re getting a ton of detail in this scene. And the reason we’re getting those is because prosecutors are trying to elicit those details to establish that this is a credible person, that this thing did happen, despite what Donald Trump and his lawyers say. And the reason you can know it happened, prosecutors seem to be saying, is because, look at all these details she can still summon up.

She comes out of the bathroom. And she says that Donald Trump is on the hotel bed. And what stands out to me there is what she describes as a very intense physical reaction. She says that she blacked out. And she quickly clarifies, she doesn’t mean from drugs or alcohol. She means that, she says, that the intensity of this experience was such that, suddenly, she can’t remember every detail. The prosecution asks a question that cuts directly to the sex. Essentially, did you start having sex with him? And Daniels says that she did. And she continues to provide more details than even, I think, the prosecution wanted.

And I think we don’t want to go chapter and verse through this claimed sexual encounter. But I wonder what details stand out and which details feel important, given the prosecution’s strategy here.

All the details stand out because it’s a story about having had sex with a former president. And the more salacious and more private the details feel, the more you’re going to remember them. So we’ll remember that Stormy Daniels said what position they had sex in. We’ll remember that she said he didn’t use a condom. Whether that’s important to the prosecution’s case, now, that’s a much harder question to answer, as we’ve been saying.

But what I can tell you is, as she’s describing having had sex with Donald Trump, and Donald Trump is sitting right there, and Eric Trump, his son, is sitting behind him, seeming to turn a different color as he hears this embarrassment of his father being described to a courtroom full of reporters at this trial, it’s hard to even describe the energy in that room. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. And it was just Daniels’s testimony and, seemingly, the former President’s emotions. And you almost felt like you were trapped in there with both of them as this description was happening.

Well, I think it’s important to try to understand why the prosecution is getting these details, these salacious, carnal, pick your word, graphic details about sex with Donald Trump. What is the value, if other details are clearly making the point that she’s recollecting something?

Well, I think, at this point, we can only speculate. But one thing we can say is, this was uncomfortable. This felt bad. And remember, prosecutor’s story is not about the sex. It’s about trying to hide the sex. So if you’re trying to show a jury why it might be worthwhile to hide a story, it might be worth —

Providing lots of salacious details that a person would want to hide.

— exposing them to how bad that story feels and reminding them that if they had been voters and they had heard that story, and, in fact, they asked Daniels this very question, if you hadn’t accepted hush money, if you hadn’t signed that NDA, is this the story you would have told? And she said, yes. And so where I think they’re going with this, but we can’t really be sure yet, is that they’re going to tell the jurors, hey, that story, you can see why he wanted to cover that up, can’t you?

You mentioned the hush money payments. What testimony does Daniels offer about that? And how does it advance the prosecution’s case of business fraud related to the hush money payments?

So little evidence that it’s almost laughable. She says that she received the hush money. But we actually already heard another witness, her lawyer at the time, Keith Davidson, testify that he had received the hush money payment on her behalf. And she testified about feeling as if she had to sell this story because the election was fast approaching, almost as if her leverage was slipping away because she knew this would be bad for Trump.

That feels important. But just help me understand why it’s important.

Well, what the prosecution has been arguing is that Trump covered up this hush money payment in order to conceal a different crime. And that crime, they say, was to promote his election to the presidency by illegal means.

Right, we’ve talked about this in the past.

So when Daniels ties her side of the payment into the election, it just reminds the jurors maybe, oh, right, this is what they’re arguing.

So how does the prosecution end this very dramatic, and from everything you’re saying, very tense questioning of Stormy Daniels about this encounter?

Well, before they can even end, the defense lawyers go and they consult among themselves. And then, with the jury out of the room, one of them stands up. And he says that the defense is moving for a mistrial.

On what terms?

He says that the testimony offered by Daniels that morning is so prejudicial, so damning to Trump in the eyes of the jury, that the trial can no longer be fair. Like, how could these jurors have heard these details and still be fair when they render their verdict? And he says a memorable expression. He says, you can’t un-ring that bell, meaning they heard it. They can’t un-hear it. It’s over. Throw out this trial. It should be done.

Wow. And what is the response from the judge?

So the judge, Juan Merchan, he hears them out. And he really hears them out. But at the end of their arguments, he says, I do think she went a little too far. He says that. He said, there were things that were better left unsaid.

By Stormy Daniels?

By Stormy Daniels. And he acknowledges that she is a difficult witness. But, he says, the remedy for that is not a mistrial, is not stopping the whole thing right now. The remedy for that is cross-examination. If the defense feels that there are issues with her story, issues with her credibility, they can ask her whatever they want. They can try to win the jury back over. If they think this jury has been poisoned by this witness, well, this is their time to provide the antidote. The antidote is cross-examination. And soon enough, cross-examination starts. And it is exactly as intense and combative as we expected.

We’ll be right back.

So, Jonah, how would you characterize the defense’s overall strategy in this intense cross-examination of Stormy Daniels?

People know the word impeach from presidential impeachments. But it has a meaning in law, too. You impeach a witness, and, specifically, their credibility. And that’s what the defense is going for here. They are going to try to make Stormy Daniels look like a liar, a fraud, an extortionist, a money-grubbing opportunist who wanted to take advantage of Trump and sought to do so by any means necessary.

And what did that impeachment strategy look like in the courtroom?

The defense lawyer who questions Stormy Daniels is a woman named Susan Necheles. She’s defended Trump before. And she’s a bit of a cross-examination specialist. We even saw her during jury selection bring up these past details to confront jurors who had said nasty things about Trump on social media with. And she wants to do the same thing with Daniels. She wants to bring up old interviews and old tweets and things that Daniels has said in the past that don’t match what Daniels is saying from the stand.

What’s a specific example? And do they land?

Some of them land. And some of them don’t. One specific example is that Necheles confronts Daniels with this old tweet, where Daniels says that she’s going to dance down the street if Trump goes to jail. And what she’s trying to show there is that Daniels is out for revenge, that she hates Trump, and that she wants to see him go to jail. And that’s why she’s testifying against him.

And Daniels is very interesting during the cross-examination. It’s almost as if she’s a different person. She kind of squares her shoulders. And she sits up a little straighter. And she leans forward. Daniels is ready to fight. But it doesn’t quite land. The tweet actually says, I’ll dance down the street when he’s selected to go to jail.

And Daniels goes off on this digression about how she knows that people don’t get selected to go to jail. That’s not how it works. But she can’t really unseat this argument, that she’s a political enemy of Donald Trump. So that one kind of sticks, I would say. But there are other moves that Necheles tries to pull that don’t stick.

So unlike the prosecution, which typically used words like adult, adult film, Necheles seems to be taking every chance she can get to say porn, or pornography, or porn star, to make it sound base or dirty. And so when she starts to ask Daniels about actually being in pornography, writing, acting, and directing sex films, she tries to land a punch line, Necheles does. She says, so you have a lot of experience making phony stories about sex appear to be real, right?

As if to say, perhaps this story you have told about entering Trump’s suite in Lake Tahoe and having sex with him was made up.

Just another one of your fictional stories about sex. But Daniels comes back and says, the sex in the films, it’s very much real, just like what happened to me in that room. And so, when you have this kind of combat of a lawyer cross-examining very aggressively and the witness fighting back, you can feel the energy in the room shift as one lands a blow or the other does. But here, Daniels lands one back. And the other issue that I think Susan Necheles runs into is, she tries to draw out disparities from interviews that Daniels gave, particularly to N-TOUCH, very early on once the story was out.

It’s kind of like a tabloid magazine?

But some of the disparities don’t seem to be landing quite like Necheles would want. So she tries to do this complicated thing about where the bodyguard was in the room when Daniels walked into the room, as described in an interview in a magazine. But in that magazine interview, as it turns out, Daniels mentioned that Trump was wearing pajamas. And so, if I’m a juror, I don’t care where the bodyguard is. I’m thinking about, oh, yeah, I remember that Stormy Daniels said now in 2024 that Trump was wearing pajamas.

I’m curious if, as somebody in the room, you felt that the defense was effective in undermining Stormy Daniels’s credibility? Because what I took from the earlier part of our conversation was that Stormy Daniels is in this courtroom on behalf of the prosecution to tell a story that’s uncomfortable and has the kind of details that Donald Trump would be motivated to try to hide. And therefore, this defense strategy is to say, those details about what Trump might want to hide, you can’t trust them. So does this back and forth effectively hurt Stormy Daniels’s credibility, in your estimation?

I don’t think that Stormy Daniels came off as perfectly credible about everything she testified about. There are incidents that were unclear or confusing. There were things she talked about that I found hard to believe, when she, for instance, denied that she had attacked Trump in a tweet or talked about her motivations. But about what prosecutors need, that central story, the story of having had sex with him, we can’t know whether it happened.

But there weren’t that many disparities in these accounts over the years. In terms of things that would make me doubt the story that Daniels was telling, details that don’t add up, those weren’t present. And you don’t have to take my word for that, nor should you. But the judge is in the room. And he says something very, very similar.

What does he say? And why does he say it?

Well, he does it when the defense, again, at the end of the day on Thursday, calls for a mistrial.

With a similar argument as before?

Not only with a similar argument as before, but, like, almost the exact same argument. And I would say that I was astonished to see them do this. But I wasn’t because I’ve covered other trials where Trump is the client. And in those trials, the lawyers, again and again, called for a mistrial.

And what does Judge Marchan say in response to this second effort to seek a mistrial?

Let me say, to this one, he seems a little less patient. He says that after the first mistrial ruling, two days before, he went into his chambers. And he read every decision he had made about the case. He took this moment to reflect on the first decision. And he found that he had, in his own estimation, which is all he has, been fair and not allowed evidence that was prejudicial to Trump into this trial. It could continue. And so he said that again. And then he really almost turned on the defense. And he said that the things that the defense was objecting to were things that the defense had made happen.

He says that in their opening statement, the defense could have taken issue with many elements of the case, about whether there were falsified business records, about any of the other things that prosecutors are saying happened. But instead, he says, they focused their energy on denying that Trump ever had sex with Daniels.

And so that was essentially an invitation to the prosecution to call Stormy Daniels as a witness and have her say from the stand, yes, I had this sexual encounter. The upshot of it is that the judge not only takes the defense to task. But he also just says that he finds Stormy Daniels’s narrative credible. He doesn’t see it as having changed so much from year to year.

Interesting. So in thinking back to our original question here, Jonah, about the idea that putting Stormy Daniels on the stand was risky, I wonder if, by the end of this entire journey, you’re reevaluating that idea because it doesn’t sound like it ended up being super risky. It sounded like it ended up working reasonably well for the prosecution.

Well, let me just assert that it doesn’t really matter what I think. The jury is going to decide this. There’s 12 people. And we can’t know what they’re thinking. But my impression was that, while she was being questioned by the prosecution for the prosecution’s case, Stormy Daniels was a real liability. She was a difficult witness for them.

And the judge said as much. But when the defense cross-examined her, Stormy Daniels became a better witness, in part because their struggles to discredit her may have actually ended up making her story look more credible and stronger. And the reason that matters is because, remember, we said that prosecutors are trying to fill this hole in their case. Well, now, they have. The jury has met Stormy Daniels. They’ve heard her account. They’ve made of it what they will. And now, the sequence of events that prosecutors are trying to line up as they seek prison time for the former President really makes a lot of sense.

It starts with what Stormy Daniels says with sex in a hotel suite in 2006. It picks up years later, as Donald Trump is trying to win an election and, prosecutors say, suppressing negative stories, including Stormy Daniels’s very negative story. And the story that prosecutors are telling ends with Donald Trump orchestrating the falsification of business records to keep that story concealed.

Well, Jonah, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Of course, thanks for having me.

The prosecution’s next major witness will be Michael Cohen, the former Trump fixer who arranged for the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Cohen is expected to take the stand on Monday.

Here’s what else you need to know today. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a defiant response to warnings from the United States that it would stop supplying weapons to Israel if Israel invades the Southern Gaza City of Rafah. So far, Israel has carried out a limited incursion into the city where a million civilians are sheltering, but has threatened a full invasion. In a statement, Netanyahu said, quote, “if we need to stand alone, we will stand alone.”

Meanwhile, high level ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas have been put on hold in part because of anger over Israel’s incursion into Rafah.

A reminder, tomorrow, we’ll be sharing the latest episode of our colleague’s new show, “The Interview” This week on “The Interview,” Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with radio host Charlamagne Tha God about his frustrations with how Americans talk about politics.

If me as a Black man, if I criticize Democrats, then I’m supporting MAGA. But if I criticize, you know, Donald Trump and Republicans, then I’m a Democratic shill. Why can’t I just be a person who deals in nuance?

Today’s episode was produced by Olivia Natt and Michael Simon Johnson. It was edited by Lexie Diao, with help from Paige Cowett, contains original music by Will Reid and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you on Monday.

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Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Jonah E. Bromwich

Produced by Olivia Natt and Michael Simon Johnson

Edited by Lexie Diao

With Paige Cowett

Original music by Will Reid and Marion Lozano

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

This episode contains descriptions of an alleged sexual liaison.

What happened when Stormy Daniels took the stand for eight hours in the first criminal trial of former President Donald J. Trump?

Jonah Bromwich, one of the lead reporters covering the trial for The Times, was in the room.

On today’s episode

Jonah E. Bromwich , who covers criminal justice in New York for The New York Times.

Background reading

In a second day of cross-examination, Stormy Daniels resisted the implication she had tried to shake down Donald J. Trump by selling her story of a sexual liaison.

Here are six takeaways from Ms. Daniels’s earlier testimony.

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The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

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