When I began meeting with Paige, I had spent much of my extracurricular time in the performing and visual arts, but at school my interests were increasingly focused on biology and mathematics, which are ultimately what I wanted to study at college. I felt like I couldn’t really capture my whole self and range of interests in a single essay, and I was worried about how to frame my varied experiences in my application. Over the course of several meetings, Paige helped me to self-reflect on my interests and academic goals and helped me discover the common force that motivated all of my interests, which was invaluable to my essay-writing. Rather than having me join specific classes, clubs, or extracurriculars for the purpose of appearing to colleges as having a focused interest, Paige gave me the tools necessary to write an essay that encompassed the full range of my passions, highlighting the common thread between them while remaining true to myself.
Paige was very helpful in encouraging and supporting me to pursue internship opportunities. By helping me to identify existing connections, I reached out to my contacts detailing my goals and skills, and I was able to secure several intellectually stimulating internships that were key to understanding my academic goals. Although we focused primarily on essay-writing in many of our meetings, Paige assisted me in writing emails, cover letters, and resumes on several occasions that enabled me to participate in competitive extracurricular opportunities.