By: Stella Orange
Hello, friend
Lately, my house has been in the task of writing Personal Statements.
The Teacher, my Japanese cousin by marriage, is applying to grad schools here in Buffalo, New York, the City of Good Neighbors, where we live, love, and practice lazy gardening.
A certified and credentialed Elementary School teacher and librarian in Japan, the Teacher has been an educator for twelve years now, both in Japan and in the Japanese International School system for expatriated Japanese kids in Taiwan, Taipei.
We invited her and the Philosopher’s cousin to come live with us two years ago. The Agreement between our two couples was that they would help us raise our kids and renovate the third floor of our 120-year-old house, and we would help them chart a new course in their professional lives and get a foothold in the U.S.
Anyway, the Teacher asked me to look at her Personal Statement, part of her grad school application.
As someone who reads other people’s writing as part of my livelihood, one of the elements I read for is Voice.
When I read, I am also listening for a person’s Voice in the words.
Beyond simply making sense, I want to know Who this Person Is and What They Care About.
Does that come through in their writing?
Side bar: Even after doing this work for many years, the best way I know how to teach people how to hook their words and writing up to this place inside themselves is through practice, conversation, repetition, and experimentation.
It begins when we practice noticing when we feel connected to the words we are using – for me, it is a visceral feeling in my body, when I feel nearly hollow inside myself, like a pipe or a straw, and the words are flowing through me, from the beyond into being.
Anyway, the Teacher is still learning English, so she has been using Chat GPT to help her write.
Side bar: One of the things that fascinates me about AI and large language models is that you can get them to say things that are logical and make sense, but to me they never quite get Voice.
I can’t quite put my finger on why this is so.
But the thing I also note is that many humans have the same problem.
We can say the words.
We can get them into a logical order that make sense.
But the Voice thing eludes many of us, too.
Anyway!
As I read the Teacher’s Personal Statement, I was left with the impression that it said the things you are supposed to say – but the overall impression was one of Absence, not Presence.
Which is not at all what it’s like to be with the Teacher when you’re in a room with her!
As I thought about what was going on a bit more, it dawned on me that there was something else that was missing.
Her Dream.
When the Teacher moved in with us and we were getting to know each other, she told me that her dream was to train and certify as a Montessori teacher.
But she didn’t say that in her Personal Statement!
So I wrote that part into my feedback to her.
Declare your dream!
Interestingly, after I worked on the Teacher’s Personal Statement, I then moved on to crafting my own. Rebecca and I have just started a year-long personal and team leadership training, and part of our first batch of assignments is to declare who we are.
So there I was, fresh from helping someone else, with two “nuggets” in my satchel:
(1) Am I using my Voice? Am I revealing enough about Who I Am and What I Care About?
(2) Declare my dream! Am I using that voice to speak into existence the vision I’m holding for myself, other people, and the whole world?
We’re never done with this stuff. And it is never done with us. I’m still practicing, experimenting, iterating, editing, and talking about what feels good and what feels “off”.
Which is all to say, you’re not alone in your intention and endeavor to let what is inside you shine out into your writing and speaking.
It takes work.
It takes practice.
And it takes other people to help us bring it into focus, steer by our dreams, and remind us that we have dreams in the first place.
Big love,
Stella
P.S. If you’re feeling called to seek accompaniment as you move, and grow, and change, please do reach out. Rebecca and I would be honored to support you on your journey.
Stephanie Saline (a.k.a Stella Orange) is a Business Advisor with 15 years of experience activating and supporting business owners and teams from a wide range of industries as they live into their bigger future. She was originally trained as a teacher in the traditional classroom model who “left the walls behind” to become an experiential educator and outdoor adventure guide. She’s at her best in conversations that have this same sense of freedom, aliveness, curiosity, and adventure – even and especially when they’re about business.
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