This is the time of year when I disappear daily into my office and don’t emerge until late evening. What am I doing? Working on Zoom with high school seniors who are writing their college essays, community college kids applying to their first choice universities for transfer, and college graduates applying to various post-graduate programs in law, dentistry, non-profit leadership, and business school. In addition to personal statements, there are also supplemental essays to write for each school. These are shorter than the personal statements but still important. Deadlines are now quickly approaching, and with those deadlines, tension increases.

I am very lucky to always work with a respectful group of students. They are open to my guidance, write and rewrite as we go deeper, and do not crumble when I say, “We need to look at this paragraph once again.” My goal is for them to leave with more than just a strong essay but also a clear awareness that they can write. They will, after all, be doing a lot of writing in the upcoming years. I also say to them that I want them to write an essay or personal statement that is so authentically them that when they can look back at it when they’re seventy, they’ll smile and say, “Oh, look. I am right there on the page at eighteen or twenty-two.”

Though the hours are long this time of year, the work has many rewards. I get to know these kids quite well when we’re together, mainly since they often write about their challenges. Also, I get to see the intelligence and kindness of this generation, which keeps me hopeful about our world. Finally, I can help them fulfill a significant dream: attending a university they’d hoped to attend or being accepted into a competitive graduate program. They keep me informed as they begin receiving acceptances, and their gratitude is both sweet and heartening. Many write me afterward, saying, “I couldn’t have done this without you.” That is worth these late hours and a few tense moments. That is called true job satisfaction.