Learning to Find your Voice through Writing

I attended a conference in Ghana this Summer, and one workshop that resonated most with me was about how writing can help young people find their voice.

A selfie at the hotel where the conference was held.

My university sponsored three faculty to attend an international education conference: The Ghana Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. The Ghana ASCD is an affiliate of the US-based ASCD. This was the first time that an international conference was put on by the organization and Ghana was chosen as the inaugural sight.

The conference occurred from July 6 to 8, and overlapped with the first Study Abroad trip to Ghana that my institution has sponsored, so my colleagues and I were able to stay in the same hotel as the students and faculty. The Study Abroad group was in Ghana since June 8 and left on July 6. This was my first time going to the continent and I really loved it. The 15 hours on the plane was not fun, but once I was there, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience.  

During the conference, I attended many workshops and lectures. The one that stood out to me was scheduled on the last day of the conference. It was one of the “Bright Ideas” sessions and was titled “Youth Empowerment Through Writing and Publishing”. It was presented by Corey Yarbrough of the 826 Boston Organization.

Corey is the new executive director of the organization that provides writing support services to schools in the form of after school programs. The topic of his session was about how writing can help young people find their voice, develop agency, and improve their academic achievement. This can all be done through writing.

Why did I decide to showcase this workshop over the others that I attended? Because Corey began his presentation with a writing prompt, “Where I’m From…” by George Ella Lyon. Coincidentally, this was the exact same writing prompt I asked my dissertation project participants to answer. I then included their poems, as well as the one I wrote for the project, into my dissertation. The poem gave us a way to tell different aspects of the same story of how we are Afro-Boricuas. I was so surprised that he chose the exact same quote as I had for my dissertation.

One of the slides from the workshop.

This is how life can reach right into you and remind you of your purpose. I believe in the power of writing as a way to express your ideas to the world. It helps you organize your thinking and contributes to improved oral communication. Only you can tell your story, but first you need to know what that story is.

We all know that A.I. is trying to encroach on the one thing only we humans can do best – write our story. Using the flaws and imperfections that reflect our humanity as our guide, writing gives our voice a path to others. A.I. erases us out of the story… our story. We must fight to continue to tell our very human story the only we know how.

The essay is important part of the college application process. Schools are not looking for perfection. They are trying to see and hear you! They want to know you by reading your story. That was the message at the workshop and I wanted to capture that again.

That is why I decided to create a new series of workshops to help applicants draft their personal statement – also known as the college essay. You can find more information here. If you are applying to college this fall, you should check out my new workshop at the link below:

Write Your Personal Statement

Let me help you write the best story of your life.