A multigenerational migration story. A first car. Music. Surviving war. An eating disorder. Crochet. Urban farming and reciprocity. Metro Surge. Quitting ballet. Not being the best. K-pop. Managing anxiety through dance and shyness through soccer. ADHD and overcoming. Running and resilience. The COVID-19 pandemic. Being Somali in a white school. Parental addiction. Gender and culture. The value of listening. Gardening. Qimem, a spice and a nickname. Stranger Things and government surveillance. Letter writing in a family.
These are the wide-ranging topics the 24 students participating in ThreeSixty Journalism’s 2026 College Essay Workshop explored during the August 10-13 camp at the University of Saint Thomas.
Led by ThreeSixty’s program director Pechulano Ngwe Ali and local author and poet Sun Yung Shin, students learned the mechanics of personal essay writing and what college admissions offices are looking for from college essays.
“The camp provides a wonderful, engaging, focused, and highly productive experience for high school students,” said Shin, who was back for a second year as guest instructor for the program.
According to Ngwe Ali, the College Essay Workshop is about “more than helping students write an application essay.”
“It gives students space to practice self-discovery through storytelling, recognize that their experiences and perspectives have value, and to begin seeing themselves as people who belong in higher ed,” Ngwe Ali said.
Through the experience, students learned about themselves and formed new relationships with writing itself.
“Writing doesn’t always have to be educational. It can be for fun too,” said Ah’jenae Williams an incoming senior at Central High School.
Many students shared that a highlight of the experience was working with volunteer coaches and receiving one to one writing and editing support.
“It was helpful talking to someone who doesn’t know me and can read my story objectively and can figure out if there’s really a story there,” said Sydney Baxter also an incoming senior at Central.
More than 15 volunteers stepped into the classroom and supported students during their processes: Tyger Callahan, Rose-Marie Athiley, Sarah Gedrose, Bill Wareham, Gino Terrell, Lynda McDonnell, Terry Wolkerstorfer, Danielle Wong, Muna Isse, Samantha Stroozas, Jim Seitz, Deb Sakry Lande, Wendy Wyatt, Chris Havens, Valerie O’Keefe, and Kendall Shostak.
ThreeSixty’s annual College Essay Workshop is made possible by generous donors to the program. Please consider joining them.
Essays will be posted on our website and linked here in the month to come.
