I’m a teenager; I don’t want to talk about myself, Catherine Artist

I’m a teenager; I don’t want to talk about myself

Catherine Artist on helping students to gain confidence and celebrate their achievements

Teenagers are often described by the media as narcissistic and self-obsessed. They post their likes and dislikes umpteen times a day, moan about how adults just don’t understand them, and think that life is just so unfair to them. If this perception is accurate, why is it such a challenge to get these teenagers to write their personal statements or college essays for university applications? After all, the subject of the writing is … well … themselves!

As is so often the case with stereotypes, this generalised view about teenagers does not reflect the reality. Some of my students refuse to rave about their achievements – culturally for them, it is considered conceited to heap praises upon oneself. Others humbly confess that they cannot think of anything worthy to write about. It seems that even if our students constantly enthuse over their new hairdo, or share their teenage angst on Facebook or Twitter, that does not mean that writing about their amazing work ethic, lifelong fascination with a specific field or tenacity in overcoming obstacles comes easily. In fact, for my International Baccalaureate Diploma English B class, this has proved to be almost impossible.

Legally Blonde

The idea struck me while I was watching a re-run of Legally Blonde and shaking my head in disbelief over Reese Witherspoon’s videotaped application essay to Harvard Law School. Some may argue that the movie is inappropriate as a classroom resource, but I thought it was perfect – for both good and bad. When I showed the segment of the video résumé to my class, the responses were more than I could have hoped for. Some were livid with the way in which women were objectified, while others roared with laughter at the tongue-in-cheek application. The video prompted an intellectual discussion of gender stereotypes and media misrepresentation. Not a single student remained unaffected.

Next I asked the class, if they were the deans of Harvard,

how would they view Elle, the character played by Witherspoon? Almost everyone declared they would not accept her application: “Miss, she comes across as being very shallow, and her bikini … ugh! Harvard wants intellectuals and not fashion models”. Bingo! Lesson #1: know your audience. The students were then asked to listen to the segment, without the accompanying visual. When asked if Elle’s video résumé highlighted qualities that would make a good law student, students conceded that there were “one or two good arguments with supporting details”, but “not always the most appropriate examples or evidence!” Here’s Lesson #2 : Select the best ideas and support them with the most appropriate and convincing supporting details.

The discussion carried on in similar manner, with students identifying the do’s and don’ts of making a video résumé, going beyond the 58-second videotaped application of Elle Woods. Students debated the language used, setting, persuasive devices and so on. At the end of the segment, they had a useful list they could refer to.

Creating a video résumé

Students were then asked to create their own video résumé. The target audience? Their desired top university. Students were asked to write their script, considering their target audience, tone, style, register, setting and structure. They were asked to make themselves into the ‘perfect’ candidate

with imaginary work experiences, academic credentials and extra-curricular activities that were relevant to their application. Then their script was edited by their peers before they recorded the résumé on their mobile phones.

In addition to being a practical task, creating a video résumé allows students to be creative with ways to make themselves stand out in their applications. One student for instance, an amateur figure skater, did a double axel. Even though this is a personal interest, it demonstrated that her pursuit for excellence was a given. Another waxed lyrical about a Mercedes C-Class, which had coincidentally been seen parked in the school compound. This young man has dreamt of studying automotive design and being employed by Mercedes.

Working on this task at the start of Grade 11 has given my students a foretaste of what they need to include in an application for university, and adequate time to rectify what they lacked: “Seriously, Miss, I’ve got to get some proper work experience during the summer at a hotel. How do I go about this?” My students were more engaged than ever in a language task that was both creative and relevant.

The language skills and knowledge learned in this unit would certainly be useful when it is time for my students to write their personal statements/college essays. The presentation of that information via a different medium gave them an opportunity to use technology they were familiar with and, for those with more advanced IT skills, a chance to use an alternative method to present their work. Just as important, at the end of the unit my students were able to talk with pride about their good qualities and achievements. And the final lesson of the unit? It’s OK to take pride in your achievements – especially if you have worked very hard to earn them.

Catherine Artist teaches IB Diploma English at ACS Cobham International School, UK Email: artist.catherine@gmail.com