School-wide Personal Statement workshop

Last week, DTS, in conjunction with Hamilton High School’s parent booster club, hosted a college application personal statement workshop open to Hamilton’s entire senior class.  DTS staff and volunteers, along with 20 parent volunteers, worked one-on-one with students to help with brainstorming, fine tuning, and everything in between.  Over four hours, we helped more than 125 students feel more confident in their writing and in finding their voices.  It was an honor to be asked to provide this service for the greater population and a reminder that the need for college access assistance reaches far beyond the boundaries of the DTS program.

Emmanuel Mendez, our Math, Science & Testing Specialist, considered the day to be a great success.  “I worked with a basketball player with a love for the environment who had no idea how to even begin any of the UC essays.  By the time he left, we’d outlined three and he felt much more comfortable tackling the last one on his own.  Another student had written all four UC essays but needed help with his word count.  After almost two hours, he left happier and relieved. The last student I worked with wanted to take one of her UC essays and expand it into her common app essay.  She had so much she wanted to add but wasn’t sure how to combine the old and new material.  When she left, she knew where in her essay she wanted to add her new material and how to link it all together.  The students we saw were in all different stages of their essay-writing process, but they all left having taken a few more steps forward.“