What is a Story of Self?

A Story of Self is a work of creative nonfiction that expresses selfhood.

Creative nonfiction means that the writer uses literary craft that we associate with fiction -- like imagery, metaphor, suspense, hyperbole, and more -- to tell a true story.

Selfhood refers to what makes a person the individual they are:

• qualities,
• values,
• identities,
• personal experiences,
• shared histories,
• passions, and
• relationships.

“Story” is defined very broadly here -- it’s not necessarily a “once upon a time,” beginning-middle-end kind of story. A story of self can be:

• A narrative essay.
• A poem.
• A song.
• A painting.
• A sculpture.
• A photograph.
• A performance.
• A comic strip.

A Story of Self can Focus on many different aspects of selfhood:

It can focus on cultural identity (for example, Elizabeth Acevedo’s spoken-word poem
“Afro-Latina”).

It can focus on personality (for example, Bomba Estéreo’s song “Soy Yo”).

It can focus on environment (for example, “Where I’m From”  by Willie Perdomo).

It can focus on an epiphany moment (for example, “Perfect Together” by Mira Jacob).

It can focus on a defining event (for example, “American Revolution” by Mira Jacob).

It can focus on relationships (for example, “daddy this time” by Jacqueline Woodson).

It can focus on names (for example, “Rebel Without a Clause” by Sherman Alexie).

It can focus on native language(s) (for example, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldúa).

It can focus on struggle based on difference (for example, “Go Carolina” by David Sedaris).

It can focus on the gifts of being different (for example, Eli Clare’s Brilliant Imperfection, or “La facultad” by Gloria Anzaldúa).

It can focus on what it’s like to be different (for example, Naoki Higashida’s The Reason I Jump).

A Story of Self can have any tone:

It can be hyperbolic and funny (for example, Calle 13’s song “Muerte en Hawaii”).

It can be humble (for example, Shirley Geok-lin Lim’s poem “Self-Portrait”).

It can be joyful (for example, Lizzo’s song “Soulmate”).

It can be proud (for example, Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman”).

It can be defiant (for example, Gloria Trevi’s song “Pelo Suelto”).

A STORY OF SELF can be many, many different things, as long as it expresses who you are, where you’re from, what’s important to you, how you came to be the person you are.

Can you think of anything you've read, heard or seen that qualifies as a story of self?

How is the college essay a Story of Self?

The college essay is just one more format that people use to tell a story of self. It belongs to the narrative essay genre.

How it’s different than other genres (like a song or graphic memoir or poem):

• It’s written as an essay -- ideas are organized into paragraphs and there’s a logical progression through those ideas.
• It usually contains a conclusion in which the writer explains the lessons learned or growth accomplished through a particular experience or process of reflection (songs, poems, paintings, and even a lot of narrative essays you might read don’t have an explicit conclusion).
• It has some specific parameters: 500-750 words, in response to a broad prompt.
• It has a specific audience and purpose: it is read by admissions officers who are looking to it to get a sense of the person behind all of the test scores, GPA, and resume items, for the purpose of assessing how this person might fit into a campus community.

How it’s the same as others:

• It concentrates on a specific aspect of selfhood, rather than telling the complete story of a person’s life.
• It focuses on specific moments or events from the person’s life related to that aspect of their selfhood.
• It’s rich with details and imagery that create clear pictures in the reader’s mind.
• It showcases the creator’s authentic voice.
• It’s infused with the creator’s unique perspective and personality.
• It’s an affirmation of selfhood -- not an expression of shame or self-loathing.

→ Why not just read college essays??? ←

There are a lot of resources that provide sample college essays written by other high school students. And a lot of college essay workshops and curriculums start with looking at sample essays, for logical reasons.

Of course it is helpful to see examples of writing in the exact same genre, for the same audience, for the same purpose. Throughout each part of this curriculum, there are examples of real student writing -- not just sample essays (though they are here, too!), but also sample write-alikes, sample outlines, sample first drafts, sample revision plans, sample second drafts….

But I don’t recommend starting with other students’ sample college essays, for this main reason:

It sticks in your mind as a “formula". Read a bunch of college essays, and you’ll notice that a lot of them sound a lot alike: different theme, but same structure, same tone, same writing style, same canned reflection about “It was then that I realized….” and becoming stronger by persevering. And a lot of them sound that way because some well-intentioned teacher, tutor, or counselor coached that student to sound like that, based on sample essays! A vicious cycle.

Consciously or unconsciously, once you have other people’s formulaic writing in your mind, you then bring this formula to your own writing. Your creativity is limited from the very beginning, as it becomes hard to imagine writing a college essay any other way. Without meaning to, you relinquish some ownership over your own story and your own voice.

It’s better to take inspiration from the best of what is out there: stories of self in a variety of genres, created by a diverse group of writers and artists. Exploring stories of self that aren’t college essays exposes you to a much broader range of what is possible.

You probably won’t create a poem or a comic strip as your college essay, and you may or may not have more in common with the creators of these stories of self than you do with other students writing college essays, but that’s not the point. The point is learning something from the techniques and forms that really talented, really highly skilled writers use to express themselves. If you’re learning to play tennis, you study and imitate Serena Williams -- the same principle applies to writing.