6:19 : "Writing Your Way to Happiness"

You have a choice about your life story

Right about now, you may be paralyzed with fear by your own life.

College after college is asking, "Who are you? And why are you applying to study at our college?

Student after student twists into a pretzel and moans, "I don't know! I don't know!"

Some even ask, "What do colleges want me to say?"

Wait a minute. You're expecting some college to tell you who you are?

Let's be clear: There is nothing they "want" to hear. They would like you to tell them who you are and what you really care about. In fact, they'd love to be surprised.

I mean this kindly and sincerely: You have a choice about your life story. You may be handed certain circumstances and events in your life, but the STORY you tell is your own.

Discover who you are through writing

The New York Times published an article by Tara Parker-Pope that suggests the benefits of creating your own life story may go far beyond getting you admitted to your dream college. In "Writing Your Way to Happiness", she details how "researchers are studying whether the power of writing — and then rewriting — your personal story can lead to behavioral changes and improve happiness."

"The concept," she continues, "is based on the idea that we all have a personal narrative that shapes our view of the world and ourselves. But sometimes our inner voice doesn’t get it completely right. Some researchers believe that by writing and then editing our own stories, we can change our perceptions of ourselves."

A psychology professor Parker-Pope interviews explains, "'The idea here is getting people to come to terms with who they are, where they want to go," said Dr. Pennebaker. "I think of expressive writing as a life course correction."

Through writing your application essays, you may well discover who you are--and who you would like to become.

Athena Advises

Don't think your story is boring because everyone you know is writing about exotic experiences and you've never been to Thailand. In fact, the danger in choosing your most unusual experience is that you may wind up telling us all about Thailand and little about yourself.

Choose details close to home. Make your life come alive for us--as you and only you see it.

When I was a child in Brooklyn, I'd never been anyplace more exotic than Fort Ticonderoga. But I can still remember waking up one morning in my twenties in a student house in Freiburg, Germany, where one of the students asked my friends what we were laughing hysterically about until three o'clock in the morning. Sarah said lamely, "Marlena was telling stories about her childhood."

So don't worry about being fair to everybody in your neighborhood, or what your mother will think, or how you are supposed to be grateful. This moment in your life is possibly the last time anyone will ask you outright what you really think about your life. Entire committees of well-meaning readers are listening with interest to hear what you have to say--and they'd love to be surprised by something new! Go ahead--tell us!

Best wishes,Dr. Marlena CorcoranFounder and CEOAuthor of Year by Year to College, on amazon.com, amazon.de and many national amazon sites