I’ve known so many people who go through elementary and middle school, and even part of high school, dreaming of being a writer. It’s a great dream, and it makes sense that so many would have it. We all read, we all stare at pages of books, inspired and captivated by stories that someone else has written, and some of us think, “I want to write like this. I can write like this.”

This is a mentality that I discovered I had in about fourth grade. I remember reading a series that I was more impressed with than most any other books I’d read up until that point. I had read a lot by then already, and at a fairly high level, but this was one of the series that I enjoyed not because it was challenging but because it was just good. It made me see a new way of writing that told a complete tale with detailed characters with back stories and entire worlds crafted around the characters’ lives. It was an adventure book that ultimately led to my love of writing, and I never stopped loving it. However, I did stop thinking I could just do it.

For so long, I wanted to write a book. There were some other professions thrown into the mix here and there (fashion designer, baker, jewelry maker), but, all the time, I wanted to be writing. It wasn’t until I got to high school and had to start thinking about my future that I realized, or thought I realized, that writing wasn’t a possibility for me. I was told all the time that, even if I was good, it’s hard to be good enough in the real world. That’s true, of course, but no one ever told me how to be good enough. I was told, “You’re great at writing, but being a writer isn’t realistic.”

Well, here I am. Writing. Sure, it’s not a novel. It’s not even short stories. But I’m writing, and about things that matter to me. If your dream is to be a writer, it is going to be difficult. Just calling yourself a writer and writing for a few minutes every day isn’t going to cut it, but it is a start. It helps to have faith in your own abilities and the desire to cultivate them further. You’ll be told the truth in high school; it is extremely difficult – nearly impossible – to leave high school and become a successful writer immediately if you’re writing what you love. It’s simply not a practical career, to begin with, at least. However, there are so many outlets for writing that people don’t consider when they’re thinking about pursuing it as a career.

If you’re truly passionate about writing, you can be successful by finding ways to market your skills, even if you’re using them for something unrelated to book-writing. That said, don’t stop writing that novel or short story you’ve always dreamed about; you can make a living by writing without giving up on your dreams. Below are some tips for starting out on your writing path. You also might want to take a look at a list of advice from Stephen King, who talks about what he thinks all writers need to do to succeed.

1.  Start a personal blog

This will give you something to write as often as you’d like, whether it’s a monthly, weekly, or daily blog, and you’ll have an outlet for your thoughts and ideas. Sometimes just writing something down that’s been in your head for a while can help you figure out what you want to do with that thought or what you can turn it into. Sometimes I start writing a blog post about education, and it sparks a thought about a plotline idea for a story. Everything you write can influence you, and if you do it regularly, you’ll be more likely to uncover an idea worth working with sooner rather than later.

2.  Write blogs professionally

Writing a blog for a company or even writing posts here and there as a freelance blog writer for companies will give you great experience and exposure, and they will be outlets for you to publish ideas and maybe get feedback from readers. It can be difficult to land a job as a blog writer if you don’t have writing experience, so having a personal blog already in the works with some posts that you could share as proof of your proficiency and experience will help immensely with this.

3.  Become a freelance writer

Whether it’s for a blog that asks for freelance work, magazines, newspapers, or a website looking for content, take writing jobs whenever you can. You’ll be able to test your limits and be paid to provide content that will help you get more and better freelancing and full-time writing gigs down the road. Freelancers writing for company publications need to have their own ideas before they can publish, as you’ll be sending letters with your ideas to the editors of the publications. However, you can also be a freelancing who writes content for a blog or website that asks for specific topics to be covered. The problem you might face with freelancing is that people do look for experience to determine whether they want someone to write for them. Again, having that personal blog will help, and, eventually, someone will say yes to you, and you’ll be able to use that to market yourself for your next writing job alongside your personal blog.

4.  Get experience in the real world

Writing isn’t just about the technical aspects of how you tell a story or even the details of your story. Both of these things are meaningless if you don’t have a strong message at the heart of your story. Before you can begin writing anything, you need to know what you want to tell readers and why you feel compelled to tell them. If you don’t know that yet, then figure it out. Travel, do things you’re not used to doing, get a job doing something that lets you see a new side of things or a new way of life. Throw yourself into the world to see what it’s really like for different people and in different areas to get an idea of what kind of world you want to write about and what kind of message you feel you need to send.

5.  Writing might not be your only career

Many writers, especially starting out, have another career or job outside of writing or that revolves around writing things other than books or stories. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing your dream to write, but even writing a blog or freelancing probably won’t earn you enough money to be your only source of income. There’s nothing wrong with having other jobs while you’re writing, and, these days, when you can type up a blog post in a relatively short amount of time, you’ll have time to have a well-paying job and write. Whatever you do, though, don’t stop writing. Never forget that writing is your primary objective, and the other jobs are just allowing you to continue doing what you love while still having a solid income.

6.  Attend writing workshops

There are writing workshops for all kinds of writers based on genre or age or both, and joining a group that meets regularly or sharing your ideas in a workshop that’s only happening once is a great way to give your ideas some exposure and get feedback from people who are going through the same struggles that you are.

If you’re seriously considering pursuing writing as a career but you’re not sure how to do that, talk to someone about it. Talk to a teacher or guidance counselor about what you want to do, but do it in a way that shows you know how difficult it will be. Most people will tell you it’s impractical, so you have to make them see why it is a viable option for you. Once you know what you want, make sure other people know too so that they can help you get there in any way possible. Whatever you do, believe in yourself, and give yourself every opportunity to succeed. If you think you can, the people around you will be liable to think so too.

-Hope Swedeen

How do you plan to pursue a career in writing?

It’s the time of year when classes start wrapping up, and teachers assign review work to help you prepare you for tests. If your teachers are anything like mine were, they’ll be asking you to also create some New Year’s resolutions that may or may not have to do with improving your work ethic or motivation after you come back from break. When you’re assigned these tasks, it’s tempting to think the question doesn’t deserve your time compared to the “real” work you’re doing, but if you’re not happy with your performance in one area or another so far this year, it might be worth taking a serious look at some possible resolutions for the New Year. Even if it’s not school related, it’s worth your time.

Having this “assignment” for almost every class always seemed like a nuisance to me. I would be studying for tests, and teachers would be asking me to write a practical New Year’s resolution. What could be the use of figuring out what I should do next year when this year isn’t over and I still have a biology test to study for? Well, the answer is in the question. Next year is almost here, and what we do now is already impacting our success next year. For all intents and purposes, it is next year, and it will be over again before we know it. If we’re not careful, though, it might also be over before we have a chance to improve.

If you’re like me, writing a New Year’s resolution might seem like a waste of time at first, but think about everything you wish you could change about this first half of the year. Maybe you never left yourself enough time to study before a big test. Maybe you didn’t prioritize your homework and aren’t doing as well as you’d like in one or two of your classes. Maybe your challenge lies outside of the realm of school work. Whoever you are, chances are you have room to grow, as we all do, and a resolution for the New Year can actually help, despite what you might think. It wasn’t until I finished high school that I truly realized what a new game plan every year could do for me, but now I set a resolution every year. More often than not, I set a list of resolutions to talk myself into improvement.

If you’ve written down what you need to change about your habits and why, you’re already a step closer to making changes. Sure, there’s no guarantee that you’ll follow through, but at least you have a better understanding of yourself, what’s holding you back, and what you need to do to combat your personal obstacles. Some people say it’s best to set only one resolution, but it depends on who you are. If you’re trying to figure out your own challenges, make a list.

If you’re really striving to change something specific that you already know needs to change, focus on that. If you’re considering writing one of these resolutions (or a list of them), make sure to make them SMART resolutions so that they’re more likely to meet a successful end. In a previous post, I talked about setting goals for a new school year, and this relates closely to New Year’s resolutions. No matter what type of resolution you’re setting, whether it be school-related, work-related, or otherwise, always make them SMART resolutions. SMART resolutions, just like goals, should:

Include specific tasks to be accomplished.

Have a measurable objective and outcome to verify that you’ve followed through on your resolution.

Be realistically attainable so that you don’t set out to accomplish the impossible.

Be relevant to your needs in specific areas of your life, including your school, work and personal life.

Be time-based so that you give yourself a set date to have your resolution(s) fulfilled.

For a great guide with tips and information on New Year’s resolutions, check out this guide created by a Virginia medical center’s staff. It has tips to creating resolutions, common pitfalls, and examples of SMART goals that all pertain to healthy living. Even though your resolution(s) might not deal with being healthier, it’s a great guide to look through for ideas and advice.

-Hope Swedeen

What are your New Year’s resolutions for 2016? How do you plan to follow through on your goals?

As the calendar year comes to and end and schools prepare for winter break, teachers are throwing around that word that no student likes to hear; “test.” We all dread them, whether we think we’ll pass or not, but during the weeks before winter break, we are not only responsible for preparing for tests, we are also expected to keep up with every-day classwork. If you’re like me and countless other students all over, it can be challenging to balance study and homework time, especially when you try to factor in free time as well (which is important, by the way).

If you’re someone who never seems to have enough hours in a day to finish what needs to be done, consider evaluating how you manage your time. You might not manage your time at all, which isn’t uncommon, and this could mean that you simply need to work on planning ahead more often. If you’re someone who makes lists and tries to think ahead, you still might be struggling to follow through on your plans. Whatever the case, it’s always a good idea to evaluate your time management techniques once in a while to see how you can improve them or what you can do to make them more effective.

1.  Find out where you are wasting time

Everyone wastes time, but it’s important to be aware of when you’re doing it so that you can monitor the amount of time you spend distracted from getting things done. If you can figure out what your main distractions are or make a list of some things that you need to prioritize less when you have a lot of work to do, this will help you focus on what’s most important to accomplish.

2.  Create a daily and weekly schedule

If you have a syllabus for your class or you know when you have tests and assignments due, make up a schedule for each week, breaking down assignments by due dates or dates to be completed. If you have sports or clubs, factor those in too. You want to write down as much of your weekly schedule as possible so that you can get a good estimate of how much time you’ll have leftover for work, studying, free time, and anything else each day.

Calendars come in all shapes and sizes, and they’re made specifically for different types of software. If you’re looking for a free calendar for iOS devices, Sunrise Calendar can be used on an iPhone or iPad, and iStudiez can be used on an iOS device, including a computer. It can also be used on windows computers, but you’ll have to pay $9.99 for it. If you’re looking for something for a windows pc, you’ll probably get the best result by using a calendar in your email. Windows Live, for Microsoft Outlook, and Google mail offer calendars that are easy to use, and, as they’re linked to your email, you’ll be able to access them on your phone as well. If you don’t see yourself using any of the options I’ve listed, shop around online for other calendars. There are tons of platforms to use that aren’t listed here.

3.  Create a to-do list and add it to your schedule

In addition to any assignments you might have or anything happening routinely, keep a general to-do list of non-school-related things so that you don’t forget anything you’re supposed to be doing and so that you can factor everything you plan on doing into your weekly and daily schedules. A great platform for creating organized lists is Trello, which allows you to create lists and add or move around items. It can be used interactively with multiple people, so if you have a group project or a study group, you could easily make task lists, tag people on lists and list items, and communicate with comments on tasks. You can create any type of list you want, so if you have a “To-do” list and a “completed” list, you can move items around as you finish them. You’ll also need to sign up using an email, so if you have your calendar linked to the same email, you can get all of your notifications in the same place.

4.  Say “no” to time commitments that you can’t fit in

Unfortunately, there is seldom a time when we can do everything that we want in a given day. Particularly during tests time, you’ll probably find yourself pressed for time with more commitments and plans than you can keep. To avoid the stress of trying to come through on everything, say “no” to some things in advance. Having a schedule will help you with this, as you’ll be able to look at your to-do list for each day and figure out how much time you’ll actually have for extra things. If you find your day is filled, including the free time you’ve set aside, don’t add on more to your day. Just say “no,” and you won’t have to feel bad for either backing out or ignoring your work to do it later.

5.  Figure out what time of day you’re most productive

You’ll want to schedule homework and studying into your schedule at a time when you feel you can accomplish the most. If you work best at night, schedule a few hours spread out in the evenings. If you’re more of a morning person, set aside your morning hours for work instead.

6.  Know your work/study habits.

Just like understanding when in the day you’re most productive, you should get to know your study/work habits so that you can use them to your advantage rather than trying to work against them. If you’re someone who needs a week to work on a lengthy assignment, give yourself a week. If you work better under pressure, spend your week focusing on smaller assignments closer to their due dates and tackle bigger projects as they come. Think about what sort of atmosphere you work best in, and try to find a space like it. You might prefer somewhere quiet, which could lead you to work in your room, but that also might lead to easy distractions or even falling asleep (guilty).

7.  Set Time limits

If you leave yourself with four hours to do work one evening, don’t just add a block of time to your schedule that says “do work.” Make sure that you specify how much time you’ll be spending on each assignment you plan to work on. You could give yourself 30 minutes for math homework and then another 30 minutes to study for a math test, for example. Make sure that you follow your time limits fairly closely so that you don’t burn out doing one thing for too long or end up not having time to do everything that needs to get done.

8.  Be realistic – some things take longer than others

If you have to write a two-page English paper and do five simple math equations, the paper will most likely take you longer. Don’t leave yourself 30 minutes for each task, as you probably won’t be able to finish them both within the same amount of time, and the paper will probably take you about two hours. Instead, think about how long each assignment should reasonably take you, including how long you need to study for each subject you might have a test in, and plan your schedule accordingly.

9.  Set goals

Even if you’ve made a schedule, it helps to have goals in addition to deadlines. If you want to finish an assignment by a date earlier than when it’s due, that can be a goal to work toward. If you set aside a certain amount of time to complete tasks, aim to fit in one other task if you find you have the time. Anything that will help you feel more accomplished and positive will only help you keep working hard.

10.  Don’t think about your entire to-do list. Just focus on the task at hand.

Even though you might have 15 things to do in a week, don’t think of them as a bundled package. If you think of them as individual assignments rather than as clumps of homework each day, you’ll feel much less intimidated by it all. Focus on one thing at a time, slowly chipping away at the larger to-do list, and make sure you’re always thinking “one down!” rather than “14 to go.”

11.  Complete assignments in order of importance

While you have to finish everything at some point, it helps to give yourself some kind of order to begin with. Decide on an order of importance for assignments based on due dates/times, difficulty, or any other criteria, and complete work in that order. This way, you have a plan to stick to and can transition between assignments quickly without too much distraction. That being said…

12.  Give yourself a break between tasks

Switching from one thing to the next right away can be exhausting and easily make you fed up with doing work. Instead, take small breaks when you finish assignments, but don’t let yourself get so distracted that you realize you’re still on Facebook 30 minutes later. The length of time you spend on each task should impact the length of your break, so the longer something takes you, the longer you can justify taking some time to relax. If you’ve just finished 15 minutes’ worth of math homework, you probably don’t need to take a 30-minute break before moving on. As a rule, I allot 10 minutes of break time for every hour spent on an assignment. Try to avoid social media while you’re taking these breaks, though, as you’ll probably find yourself taking a longer break than you might have initially intended.

13.  Don’t procrastinate – start working immediately

It’s easy to get caught up in setting up your work, getting on a computer, or any other pre-homework rituals you might have. Instead of procrastinating, get started on your work as soon as you decide to begin, and don’t let yourself get distracted before you even accomplish anything.

14.  Always take some work with you

If you’re leaving home for a few hours, take some work with you to do if you find you’re not doing anything else. If you’re on a bus or train, you can easily pull out a book or flashcards.

15.  Make time to sleep

Although you need to finish your work, you should always make time to sleep well each night. If you’re tired at school or when you’re supposed to be doing work, you’ll likely be much less productive than if you’ve had a good night’s rest, so don’t forget to add sleeping to your daily schedule in ample supply.

-Hope Swedeen

Do you keep track of your daily and weekly tasks? What calendars or platforms do you use to stay organized and ensure that you're using your time efficiently?

When you have a break from school – whether it be a three-day weekend or a full week off – you have the opportunity to do anything that you want during those free days. You can catch up on some TV shows you’ve gotten behind on, spend time with friends, get a little extra sleep, and pretty much anything you find you don’t have time for in your average week. Consider, though, what it would benefit you to be doing in your free time. Yes, everyone needs a break, and I am all for making the most of whatever free time I have. This Thanksgiving break, I hope that everyone spent time with their loved ones and had much less stress to deal with (school-related stress, at least) than usual. At some point during Thanksgiving break, though, I hope that everyone made time to keep up with school work.

I know it’s an unpopular concept – doing work over break – but, whether we like it or not, the work will still be due at the end of break whether we get it done or not. Maybe you didn’t have assignments due the first few days after break, but if you did, and you found yourself struggling to make time to get it done during the holidays, consider using a different approach to finishing schoolwork when your next break rolls around. Following a few suggestions, you just might find that completing your work over break isn’t as much of a drag as you thought.

1.  Make a to-do list

I cannot stay organized without lists, and I have one for every type of “to-do.” I have homework lists; shopping lists; wish lists; books, movies, and songs lists; and pretty much every type of list you can think of. It might seem lame, but lists really do help to keep everything going on in your mind organized. I forget that I have to do entire projects all the time, and if I didn’t have them written down, I’d honestly just not finish them. While your memory might not be as bad as mine, it wouldn’t hurt to make a list of assignments that you need to finish over break so that you have an idea of how much time you’ll need to spend doing work.

2.  Create a homework schedule/plan

After you’ve made a list of assignments, think about when you should try to finish them. If you have something due the day you get back to school, work on that first. If you have a project or paper that you know will take you a few hours or days, start that earlier in your break so that you don’t have to work for hours on end the night before it’s due. You also might find that your family has part of your days off already planned for you, so you’ll need to fit your work schedule to fit their plans as well. That said, homework is always a great excuse if you don’t want to participate in any particular family activities, especially if you’ve already planned out your homework schedule and try to stick to it for the rest of break. This will also ensure that you have some time to spend on your own during your days off.

3.  Do a small amount of work each day

It’s tempting to spend your entire break doing whatever you want and ignoring all homework and responsibility, but don’t give into the temptation. If you’re stuck doing all of your work the night before classes start again, you’ll be burnt out before your break is even over. This makes going back to school that much harder because you’ll already be looking ahead to the next break. Instead, plan a feasible work schedule, and stick to it. Set aside two hours or so each day depending on your work load, and make sure that if you skip a day, you make up for it gradually rather than letting it pile on to your last day. I like to schedule my day before school begins again as a completely free day, if I can, so that I don’t have to worry about doing work on my last day of freedom. Even if I do end up having to finish some work, it shouldn’t be more than I can handle, as it’s only “leftover” work that I didn’t end up fitting into one of my other days.

4.  Stick to your sleep schedule

You might be someone who goes to sleep 4 hours later over break than you would on a school night, but consider cutting down on your night owl tendencies. It’s difficult to wake up at a normal hour when you’re sleeping at irregular times, and by waking up later, you’re cutting out part of your days. Even if you try to get your work done at night, you might not be as productive as you could be in the morning. Consider going to bed and waking up at or around your normal times, and try to get some work out of the way in the morning so that you can enjoy the rest of your day.

In past blog posts, we’ve talked about tips for creating a LinkedIn profile, building a résumé, and preparing for an interview, but there’s a critical piece of applying for a job that everyone should be familiar and comfortable with. Writing a cover letter can be tricky, and there are some jobs that will require more inventive ways of introducing yourself to prospective employers, but for most jobs, employers will expect you to be able to write a cover letter that simply highlight who you are and why they should hire you. It’s sort of a preface to your résumé that gives you the chance to be more personal in how you present yourself and your accomplishments compared to your résumé. Below, I’ve listed 8 tips for writing a cover letter, and I’ve included an outline for your reference if you’re looking for a more visual explanation.

When writing a cover letter…

1.  Include the job title and keywords from the job description

When you’re applying for a job and you’re asked to submit a cover letter, it’s crucial that you take a good look at the job posting to see exactly what the employer is looking for. Make sure that you can offer what the job entails, and use keywords from the ad in your cover letter, just like your résumé, to make it stand out. Always be sure to include the position for which you’re applying as well so that the employer can easily see why they’re receiving your letter.

2.  Make it known how you became interested in the company

It doesn’t have to take up too much time or space, but if you can, let the employer know what made you apply for a job at this company. List what about the company appeals to you, how you first found it, and what you think makes the company different from others like it. Don’t confuse this with explaining why you want the job; employers want to know why you like their company, not why you need a job.

3.  Cut the formalities and give it some personality

This is a letter for a job, yes, but that doesn’t mean that you need to be overly formal when addressing whoever will be reading your letter. This is the first time you’ll be introducing yourself to a perspective employer, and you should make it count. Try to convey a bit of your personality, if possible, rather than writing a cookie cutter letter that just lists your qualifications. You want to tell employers who you are while you’re telling them what you can do because they’re not just looking for an employee – they’re looking for someone who believes in their mission and will become an integral part of their team.

4.  Don’t include everything that’s on your résumé

It’s easy to get carried away on a cover letter and say everything you feel an employer needs to know before hiring you. Don’t forget that you haven’t gotten the interview yet – this is a time to display your most valuable and marketable qualities based on the position you’re applying for. Be specific about what you can bring to the job, but don’t focus so much on how you built those skills – that’s what you’ll be focusing on when you get the interview.

5.  If you’re short on experience, focus on skills

It’s great to talk about examples of your accomplishments and your experience working in a field related to the job you’re applying for, and you should list any pertinent experiences in your cover letter if you feel that they are your best shot at getting an employer to give you an interview. However, you might not have a long list of experiences to showcase what you’ve done and what you’re capable of doing. The important thing to remember is that employers aren’t really looking for experiences; they’re looking for skills, and if you can show that you know what they want and you think you’ve got it, make it known. Don’t be shy about stressing your capabilities, especially if they’re in the job description that you’re applying for.

6.  Only stress the skills you do have

It’s easy to start criticizing yourself while writing a cover letter, and you might find that you’re talking about the skills listed on a job description that you don’t have. Instead of focusing on what you can’t offer, focus on what you can. Really try to paint as positive an image of yourself as possible.

7.  Brag, brag, brag. And then keep bragging

As I said in my previous post about writing personal essays, you need to be able to talk about your accomplishments without feeling like you’re bragging too much or you’re going to put someone off by talking about how many great things you’ve done. Just remember that whoever is reading this letter is looking to hire you, and the more honest and overt you are about your abilities, the more likely you are to stand out and be chosen for an interview. They’re pressed for time, and they want your letter to tell them, as quickly as possible, exactly why they should give you their time. That being said, don’t use this as a time to stress what makes you a great person or better than other people – Just talk about your most important qualifications in the most positive way you can.

8.  Edit, revise, and shorten

You might end up with a page and a half of content by the time that you’ve finished writing your letter and including everything that you think is important. If that’s the case, start cutting. Your cover letter should never (or rarely ever) be more than one page, and that’s with room for the entire heading and signature (I’ll explain further below).

Formatting:

There are countless ways to write and format a cover letter, but this is what I would recommend when applying for most jobs unless they’re unconventional and require something more creative.

Example cover letter format:

Date

Employer name
Employer job title
Company name
Address

Dear Employer Name,

List a small amount of background information about yourself, how you came to apply at the company, and why you’re drawn to this position. If you have a lot of skills and/or experiences to list, you might want to summarize them in a general way here as a form of introduction for the body section of your letter. For example, you could say, ‘I have a variety of experiences related to this position that have prepared me for (insert specific aspects of job description).’

In the body section, you’ll want to write all of your experiences and skills in a broad but detailed way. You want to talk about what you’ve achieved, but you don’t want to go into all of the details that you list on your résumé like job titles or dates of employment.

If you have a lot to say, and it won’t all fit into the first two paragraphs, you can write a third paragraph that further demonstrates your capabilities, but be weary of this, as it takes up more space, and you’ll be more likely to include unnecessary details if you give yourself more letter space to fill up.

Your final paragraph should invite the employer to contact you to ask for any materials or information that they might wish to see or know before inviting you for an interview. You might also mention that you’ve attached your résumé and any other pertinent information or documents. End your letter with a cordial “I look forward to hearing from you,” or something similar, to make it clear that you’re the one who will be lucky to hear from them, not the other way around.

Sincerely,

Your Name

For examples of finished cover letters, look at Quint Careers, or find industry-based samples at Resume Genius.

-Hope Swedeen

What can you do to make your cover letter even more effective? What are some dos and don’ts that you follow when writing a cover letter?

If you’re a high school student, there’s a good chance that if you haven’t already had to write a personal essay at least once, you’re going to be asked to write one soon. These essays are typically written for applications for membership in organizations, scholarships or awards, and colleges. Whether you’re applying for any of these now or not, you just might find yourself writing a personal essay one day and wondering just how to begin. What should you include? How do you write an essay that will show who you really are? As someone who has filled out several college, scholarship, and membership applications in the past few years, I can tell you that, like most things, it’s much easier to write a personal essay after you’ve done it once. It’s difficult to say what specifically you’ll need to say in your essay to achieve whatever you’re pursuing, but I can suggest some general tips that should help you no matter your topic.

1.     Follow directions and stay focused – Before you can even begin writing, you need to know the topic and word count for the essay. All personal essays are not the same, and while one might ask a general question about a significant experience, another might ask about how an experience provided a specific type of insight. A popular topic, for example, is how an experience has shown you the importance of diversity.

2.     Use the first person – This essay is all about who you are, what you’ve done, and what makes you “you.” The only way to write about yourself is to use “I,” “me,” and “my,” so disregard what your teachers have said about formal, objective essay-writing. This isn’t a research paper; it’s more of a story than anything.

3.     Open and end strong – Whoever is reading your essay will likely only spend a few seconds on it if they’re not immediately caught, and your conclusion will be what sticks with them once they’ve finished reading.

4.     Use an anecdote – Your essay will likely revolve around an anecdote, and this is generally the best technique. Using an anecdote, especially at the beginning of your essay, captures your reader quickly and has a better chance of showing your personality and history than just talking about your accomplishments.

5.     Don’t be afraid to get personal – It’s a personal essay; by definition, it has to be at least a little personal, and the more anecdotal it becomes, the more personal it will feel. If you’re not comfortable talking about the more private details of an experience, you can still stress its significance and how it has changed you without sharing everything.

6.     Choose an experience that matters to you – If you’re writing about something that is only slightly significant to you, whoever is reading your essay will be able to tell. Get creative, and stop trying to outdo everyone. Just be you. Don’t try to use an experience that affected you briefly and slightly like a week-long volunteer position or a summer job – these are obvious choices that everyone assumes can impress, but it’s what you gain from even the smallest experience that sets you apart, not the experience itself. That said, you don’t have to have saved someone’s life or had a traumatic experience to be a worthy applicant. As long as it’s important to you, the most ordinary experience can be the most significant.

7.     Balance humility with confidence – Whoever is reading your essay wants to know that you’re competent and have the qualities that they’re looking for, but that doesn’t mean that you should use your essay for bragging rights. Highlight your uniqueness and qualifications, but don’t try to assert your superiority over other applicants. In the same way, though, don’t undervalue your experiences and minimize the importance of what you’re saying. If you don’t appear to value your own experiences, why should someone else?

8.     Research your audience – Although your essay prompt might be specific enough to explain what people who read your essay will be looking for in your essay, it doesn’t hurt to do a little research to find out what specific qualities are important to them and their institution or organization. You should know what type of person will be reading your essay to know which aspects of yourself you should choose to highlight. For example, if an organization’s website lists a mission statement that values determination, teamwork, and hard work, then try to highlight those qualities.

9.     Show, don’t tell – Although you want to be clear about what you can offer your reader by explaining your qualifications in your essay, don’t outright tell them “I’m hard working and determined.” Show them examples of times when you possessed these qualities, and they can figure out how these examples apply to them on their own. This applies especially to when you’re working your research into your essay, as previously mentioned. Using anecdotes will help immensely with this, as stories natural “show” rather than “tell.”

10.  Start early – If you leave your essay for the last minute, you’ll find that it’s much more difficult to come up with anecdotes and draw out the most meaning possible from your experiences. Starting early will give you time to think about what you’ve written for a few days, go back and revise, and feel comfortable that you’ve said all that you want to say. You’ll also have ample time to fix any mistakes you might have made, which brings me to my final point.

11.  Check for errors! And then check again. And again – You get the idea. Make sure that your essay is as error-free as possible. Check punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and sentence structure over and over to be sure you catch any mistakes. If you’re not someone who excels at editing, or even just to get a fresh pair of eyes on your essay, ask you parent, teacher, or friend to read it for you. Having them read it out loud is even better, as you’ll be able to hear how someone other than you interprets what you’ve written, and you might change your mind about how you phrase something. At the end of the day, if you still have a few small mistakes in your essay, it’s not the end of the world. Putting in the extra effort just shows that you used your time wisely, and the big mistakes will have been discovered, so hopefully you’ll just have a few commas out of place, which isn’t at all unusual.

-Hope Swedeen

In what instances have you needed to write a personal essay? What are some tips you’d suggest for writing them? 

Across the country, schools have been experimenting with ditching the five-day week and substituting it with a four-day week instead, giving students and teachers an extra day off. While this change is taken place largely in rural school districts, it’s uncertain whether this change could positively affect urban schools. However, clear benefits and drawbacks can be seen in the changes made at various schools as well as in the research that has been conducted related to the four-day week, and it is not unlikely that research will be done in the near future that evaluates the effects on urban school districts.

In a study published in 2013, the effects of four-day weeks on student achievement were evaluated by assessing the math and reading scores of fourth- and fifth-grade students. The study included scores from 2000-2010 at 15 schools using the traditional five-day schedule and 14 schools that had switched to four-day weeks. The schools were chosen based on similarities in size and school characteristics, including socioeconomic characteristics and ethnic demographics of the school areas, and the number of students enrolled in free or reduced lunch programs, according to an article written by a one of the researchers heading up the study, Mary Beth Walker. The study was also completed using only school districts in Colorado to avoid differences in state standards and education requirements, and the state allowed for a large pool of schools from which to choose, as more than one-third of Colorado’s school districts operate using the four-day week schedule.

Overall, the research seems to indicate that a four-day school week improves math scores, and reading scores were not affected. Essentially, the study found that the four-day week does not have discernable negative impacts on student achievement but rather improves one area while the other remains the same or only slightly improved. However, test scores, and this study alone, are not enough to create a need or desire for national changes in education systems.

A school in Chattooga County, Georgia, has adopted this four-day schedule, and, so far, the school district seems to be mostly benefiting from the change, especially financially. The school has saved money on bus transportation, substitute teachers, electricity, and other expenditures, allowing them to save almost $800,000 annually after switching to a four-day school week in 2010. Saving this much money allows the school to keep electives and sports that other schools have found themselves forced to cut. Students’ test scores have also increased in the district, raising it above the state average for test scores. The district has even seen a drastic decrease in the frequency of discipline referrals by 73 percent. All of that said, with the change in the number of school days comes a change in the length of school days. This district begins classes Monday through Thursday at 7:40 a.m. and ends the day at 3:45 p.m. to make sure that it’s meeting the 150 hour-per-year minimum as outlined by the state and also keeping its old vacation schedules without extending the school year further into summer time.

There are several schools with similar stories to that of the Chattooga district, but there is still the potential for this new four-day fad to disappoint. Schools will be looking to this change as a means of cutting costs, as Chattooga did, but it’s not clear how effective this will be in all types of areas. It has mainly been tested in rural areas, and there have been no studies regarding the use of four-day weeks in urban districts at all. However, there are some pros and cons that the 2013 study discovered, which may or may not hold true for urban schools in the future but can certainly provide some perspective on why it might be a good idea for school districts to at least consider the possibility of change.

Pros for Teachers

Longer class periods allow for greater flexibility in how lessons are organized and what material can be covered each day, potentially allowing for more varied teaching methods.

The day off can be devoted to teacher planning or conferences on days that teachers will not have to plan around and let affect schedules or lesson plans.

It can reduce turnover and absenteeism, and higher teacher turnover rates have been proven to negatively impact student achievement.

It may lead to higher productivity if teacher have three days off to recuperate from the week.  

Cons for Teachers

Teachers might face difficulties initially adapting their lesson plans or their teaching styles to the schedule change.

There is the possibility that teachers would respond poorly to the longer days and shortened weeks, adding greater stress and fatigue.

Pros for Students

Better attendance; higher student attendance rates have been associated with better test scores. Students will have a day to schedule medical and other essential appointments on their day off rather than during their school week, allowing them to miss fewer classes.

The study showed that students were less distracted, exhibited an improved morale, and behaved better.

With a three-day weekend, students gain an extra day to do homework and to prepare for classes.

It permits flexibility in the event of school cancellations, particularly weather-related. Schools can reschedule missed days without increasing the length of the school year and can reschedule classes before test days rather than after, making sure students are not cheated out of class time to prepare.

Test scores fall for high school students with minimal time between testing. While students have less time to recover between days during the school week, a longer weekend might enhance student performance on tests, as it’s been shown in various studies that test scores, especially for high school students, fall when students have minimal time to prepare.

Cons for Students

It has been conjectured that it would be difficult for students to retain subject matter when given an extra day off. Although the study suggests that this is not the case, further research needs to be done to assess whether this differs for students in different demographics.

Longer school days require added focus and attention, which could be an especially difficult adjustment for younger students with shorter attention spans.

Parents might need to find a daycare service or after school program for their youth to attend on their days off if there is not a parent home on that day. While this might not be necessary for high school students, it is still debated whether finding alternative arrangements for their days off will negatively affect students.

-Hope Swedeen

What do you think of the four-day week? How could this change positively or negatively affect you?

Homework has been a thorn in my side for years. It’s something that found me in elementary school, and it’s followed me around ever since. To my dismay, homework has gotten harder and more time-consuming the longer it’s been with me, and I’m not the first to have asked, “Is this really necessary?” In fact, in the last 5-10 years, there has been a slew of research conducted regarding the value (and lack thereof) of homework.

Research regarding the value of homework has yielded positive and negative results, some of which contradict each other or create further questions about homework’s worth. There are a variety of types of homework that all have varying effects, and these can be academic or nonacademic. In a study conducted by the Center for Public Education (CPE), several benefits were discovered that are not directly related to academic achievement. Homework was seen to improve communication between students and parents, encourage students to work and socialize with peers, improve task- and time-management skills, establish routines and study habits, and increase determination to follow through on a task.

These benefits are often a product of homework that is designed with a view of enhancing nonacademic achievement rather than being directly related to what students are learning in school. According to the study, homework that enhances what you might call “life skills” rather than academic learning goals is most beneficial for younger students in elementary and middle school. These students’ basic habits and skills are being shaped by their assignments, and their ability to ignore irrelevant information, focus on tasks, and avoid distractions is much lower than that of older students. A Washington Post article addresses studies that show no benefits to assigning course-related homework to elementary students, and even middle school students should have little academic homework.

In the CPE study, the effects of homework that is related to or expands upon what students learn in school were also evaluated. These assignments often include practicing a task learned in class, preparing for upcoming course work, applying class material to new contexts and situations, or combining skills learned in class with other skills. These types of assignments are more beneficial for high school students, but it is unclear to what extent or in what situations. According to the Washington Post article, studies have been done that show a correlation between increased homework and standardized test scores, but the correlation is not very strong, and there is no evidence to say that homework actually causes better test scores. Several studies also concluded that math homework has a better effect than most other types, especially reading and writing.

In terms of class grades, there does not seem to be any evidence to suggest that students who complete homework earn higher grades than those who do not if homework completion is not factored into class grades. Students who prepare less outside of class are actually shown to receive higher grades, according to the CPE study.

Studies conducted point to several negative effects of course-related homework, and in the CPE study, it was shown that homework can negatively affect students’ attitudes toward school, increase boredom, exhaustion and frustration, limit the amount of leisure time students can enjoy outside of their 6.5-7 hour school days, lead to family conflicts, and create a lack of interest in learning. The Washington Post article states: “Six hours a day of academics are enough, and kids should have the chance after school to explore other interests and develop in other ways — or be able simply to relax in the same way that most adults like to relax after work, and… the decision about what kids do during family time should be made by families, not schools.”

While research on the benefits and drawbacks of homework is not conclusive, there are a few overarching viewpoints that have come out of these studies. According to the CPE study, older students benefit more from completing homework on a regular basis, especially when the homework relates to upcoming course work or review of material that has not been covered recently rather than assignments that repeat what was learned earlier in the day. However, the optimum amount of time to spend on homework was found to be between 1.5 and 2.5 hours for high school students and 1 hour or less for middle school students, which is much lower than the amount of time that many students need to work on homework each night to complete all of their assignments. It also appears that homework assignments that require parent or peer participation are more likely to be completed, and an article on theatlantic.com shows that students who have a choice in the type and content of homework given have a greater interest in assignments.

These studies mainly address the subject matter, amount, and nature of homework, but there are also home or community factors related to parent involvement, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status that affect academic success that have not been studied closely enough to determine their impacts on the effects of homework. There are no definitive results, and these studies are by no means the be-all, end-all, but they’re beginning to paint a picture of what the future of homework might be like based on its current and past effectiveness.

-Hope Swedeen

What are your views on the value of homework? What are the pros and cons that you have observed?

Shawn Scott is an executive assistant at Chanel, Inc., and she has worked in this position for eight years. Her pursuit of a career in human resources led her to take on HR positions at three companies in the past, including Morgan Stanley, Core Staffing, and Chanel. When she was offered her current position, she took it hoping to build her understanding of how an organization functions and in turn better inform her work in HR in the future.

1. Can you provide a brief overview of your career – positions, companies, etc.? What motivated you to pursue this career path?

Honestly, I’m working on my career that I didn’t know I wanted up to a few years ago.  I have known from a young age I wanted to work in business; wasn’t sure in what capacity, but in the last decade I have discovered it’s Human Resources. My original career path was music business; I wanted to be an A&R executive (find and develop the artist). I didn’t know much about HR when I took a temp assignment with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.  Like most people, I viewed HR as the department that handles the paperwork and difficult employee issues. While working at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, I learned that HR is A&R on a much larger scope. In HR you assist the entire company in recruiting, training and development, compensation, benefits, employee relations and succession planning to name a few functions.  But I detoured a little, and became one of the executive assistants to the Global CEO, of Chanel.  I worked in Chanel’s HR department prior to this position. I always wanted to understand why and how things worked (first-hand) in the organization from the top down, to better understanding the decision-making by the top executives for the company.  So when I got the call, I took the opportunity to get the inside view. I’ve learned a lot and have an improved perspective for Human Resources in the future.

2. Can you provide a brief overview of your education and how it did, or did not, prepare you for your career?

I am one year from completing my bachelor in Business Management at SUNY Empire State College. With years of work experience under my belt, it has helped with my course working.   From a high school point-of-view, my education did and didn’t prepare me for my career.  I attended Park West High School, in Manhattan. Park West was a vocational school that you could study a trade like automotive, and pretty much start working right out of high school. Times were a little different, back then business management and human resources weren’t high school programs.  However, my basic academics provided the necessary foundation to my success in the direction I went right out of high school, but did not focus on the many different career options out there.

3. Could you describe your experience with 4T’s and how it may have benefited you?

My experience with 4T’s has been on a small-scale.  I was one of a few people who had the honor to hear Mr. Bentley’s dream of changing the minds and showing the youth in our community their potential for a brighter future, from the beginning. Knowing someone values your experience and insight, to ask to be a part of they dream is a benefit.  All people want to be part of something, and having the chance to be part of such a wonderful cause and organization has been a privilege, even on a small-scale.

4. Why should someone consider participating in 4T’s programs or learning more about the organization?

4T’s is an organization that will provide a new platform for kids to connect with people who come from a similar background, help them stay on track with their education, future dreams and experiences through some of their toughest years. Like the proverb says: “It take a whole village to raise a child.”  The organization combines education, creativity and career services under one institution, to help kids know how important it is to have a passion, plan, and how to stick with it to achieve the success for their future.  

5. In your own words, why is receiving an education important?

Education is the first exposure we receive for so many things.  It allows us to dream, explore, question, and prepare us for the many different things and fields of employment that exist. It also give us a way to know the history of the world, what we got right, wrong, and can help us make better choices for the future. Education also allows us to know there is more out there in the world than what we see in our day-to-day. 

6. What advice would you give to yourself in high school?

Don’t let your circumstances hold you back, dream big and execute no matter what!

-Hope Swedeen

Please share your reactions to this professional’s experiences.

These days, coding and computer programming skills can lead to fairly lucrative careers. Computer science experts can be paid roughly $100,000 a year as soon as they’ve earned their degrees, and they're always in high demand. Everyone is looking for someone who can code or program content because of the simple fact that they are difficult and uncommon skills. Even if you don’t plan on attending a four-year school for computer science or a related field, your skills will still be exceptionally marketable if you’ve fostered them in ways that you can give proof of in the future. As long as you can prove that you’ve put the time and effort into your trade, you’ll find that there are many companies and organizations that value proficiency more than an academic degree.

A great way to set yourself up for coding or programming jobs in the future is to begin taking as many online courses as you can. There are lists of free websites that offer a wide variety of content and learning methods. These can include video tutorials, e-book excerpts, step-by-step instruction guides, programs to allow you to practice while you’re learning, and so much more. There are websites that offer courses with stringent curriculums, and if you enroll in these, you are expected to complete all work as if you were attending and being graded in an academic setting. At the end of many of these programs, you may be able to earn a certificate of some sort as proof of your participation and completion. There are others that are more free-formed and depend on you to shape your own experience, but there are still curriculums set up as a sort of road guide for you to follow, skip around, and do or pass on as much as you’d like. With these, course material will be available, but there will be no actual instructor, tests, or deadlines.

Then there are options that have virtually no structure that you can use to learn anything you’d like. If there’s a specific skill that you’d like to expand on it, these websites will allow you to search all content to find specific video tutorials, reading content, step-by-step instructions, and more individualized content. These are often more helpful for coders and programmers with more experience, as you’ll need at least a basic understanding of concepts before you can begin to implement, or even search, for the skills being taught on these websites. It is also very difficult to prove that you have learned from these sources, so it might be best to use them as additives to another learning platform. That way, if you’re ever in a position to talk about your skills, you can say something like, “I’ve spent two years taking coding courses on this curriculum-based learning platform, and I’ve been able to build on those skills by learning how to accomplish more specific tasks on this free-form learning platform.”

The fact that you’ve invested time into your own education and have made the effort to go beyond learning the basics will make you even more marketable because you will have the ability to form a list of skills that others may not have been able or willing to teach themselves. Below are a list of online resources that can be useful at varying levels of your coding and programming education, and they are all structured differently. With so many options available, you can get a coding or programming education in virtually any way you’d like without paying a cent. You’ll be able to build your own list of skills and determine how much you learn in any time frame, but you can also follow curriculums laid out for you. To figure out which resource will work best for you, think about your learning style: are you someone who finds video tutorials useful? Do you comprehend better when you read about a concept? Or are you more hands-on? Whatever your preference, there are options for you, and you should explore them all to find a good fit.

 1.  Code Academy
 2.  Code Avengers
 3.  Code School
 4.  Coursera
 5.  Free Code Camp
 6.  GitHub
 7.  HTML5Rocks
 8.  Khan Academy
 9.  LearnCode.academy - YouTube channel
10. LevelUpTuts - YouTube channel
11. MIT courses
12. Skill Crush
13. Slide Nerd - YouTube channel
14. The Code Player
15. The New Boston - YouTube channel
16. The Odin Project
17. Treehouse - YouTube channel
18. Udacity
19. Udemy.com
20. WebDevMentors - YouTube channel

-Hope Swedeen

How are you working to better your coding skills? How can you make them more marketable?