Writing college essays is not only difficult, but also extremely stressful for both students and their families. Receiving necessary help is crucial to both the college application process and the mental health of students.
Many students can get stuck trying to think of what to write or trying to edit what they already have. To combat this, Berkeley High School offers many resources in the College and Career Center (CCC) to help students along the way. One of these resources is the essay reading program. Former writers and teachers come in to help students with whatever their essay needs — brainstorming, revising, editing, even just getting the first words on the page.
Essay reading at BHS is especially valuable to students because it is completely free. “This free service is really beneficial for kids whose parents can’t hire readers or hire test coaches and all of those things,” Susan Gill, an essay reader and former community college teacher, said.
The program has been around for over thirty years, and was initially organized by Janet Huseby. Huseby, who is one of the readers, is a former journalist who worked with Time Magazine and the Associated Press. She got involved with the program after her eldest daughter graduated from BHS. Huseby was drawn to essay reading because she loved the format of the essay, and thought she could help. “People have always been coming in to (read essays)... I decided to organize it, so (the essay readers) wouldn’t all show up at once,” Huseby said.
Gaining acceptance to college is becoming increasingly difficult in both the United States and worldwide. According to an article by The College Investor, acceptance rates have dropped dramatically, competition has increased, and overall demand for higher education has had an upward trend for decades. “I think this crop of entering college students really has a much harder go of it than we did years ago,” Gill said.
There is a whiteboard on the outside of the CCC that will indicate if there are readers available. Once you get inside, all you need to do is write your name on a sign up sheet and they will get to you when somebody is available.
Because of the accessibility provided through free and easy service, essay readers aren’t always immediately available. “It’s not like having a college counselor, where their time is dedicated to you. There is a lot of waiting … but regardless it’s still a good resource,” Angel Wu, a BHS senior said, “They’ll revise your essay and give you comments … (the essay reader) was giving me nice feedback about how I should improve wordflow, vocabulary, and research, stuff like that.”
Getting started on college essays can be an arduous and grueling process, but once you have the words down, resources like essay reading in the CCC can assist in pinpointing exactly how the essay can continue to develop.
“You just hop in and do your best,” Huseby said. Students can come in with ideas, their whole essay written, or nothing at all.