On Oct. 21, the Writing Center held its last Personal Statement Workshop for the semester in Roberts Hall. The workshop was directed towards students who are applying to programs that require a personal statement as part of their admissions, including graduate school, law school, and medical school.

The workshop aimed to teach students what admissions committees look for when they read personal statements, the steps needed to prepare a personal statement, and what University resources are available to assist with the personal statement writing process.

“We’ve been holding the personal statement workshop every fall for as long as I’ve been here,” Writing and Teaching Consultant Loren Gustafson said.

When asked about his experiences with the Writing Center, Mack Jones ’17 had nothing but praise for the programs.

“The Writing Center has helped me both condense my ideas after brainstorming and furthermore, narrow my focus in papers by highlighting areas where I seem to stray from my main point,” Jones said.

First-years have also taken advantage of the Writing Center’s helpful resources.

“It helped not only the overall paper, but also the process to get there,” Brandon Ponzo ’19 said.

“It’s not even necessary to have a draft,” Writing and Teaching Consultant Sabrina Kirby said. “Students are always welcome to make an appointment to bring a draft of a personal statement, or any other piece of writing to the Writing Center for feedback … folks can come in to talk about the task/assignment, organize their ideas, etc.”

Even though the workshops for the semester are over, the Writing Center still opens its doors to anyone in need of writing assistance.