Friendship First Essay (2 pages)
I watched as for a week, all she did was plan out her non-profit, including detailing the programs it would provide so she would have a good understanding of what she was representing. She based it on the peer mentoring program she's in and mixed it with wanting to help kids with disabilities (her oldest brother has autism). But she took it from just being a middle school program to being a full school journey experience. Pages and pages of details, programs and ideas. It was inspiring! Then she decided to write a business letter to address that essay. Specifically, a business letter requesting a donation for her non-profit. Here's the non-profit essay. PS - I deleted the street addresses, etc for privacy.
MJ
Ferguson
xxx
Street
City,
State Zip
xxx-xxx-xxxx
December
12, 2014
Paul
Williams
XXX
High School
xxx
Street
City,
State Zip
xxx-xxx-xxxx
RE:
Friendship First
Dear
Mr. Williams,
Thank you for your interest in the Friendship
First Program. Our program helps children with disabilities feel like they fit
in. Many students with disabilities are left out or bullied. We want them to be
welcomed by their peers and enjoy positive social experiences.
In elementary school, we have developed
a curriculum for teachers and school counselors to use. In the curriculum,
there are short videos that model different disabilities and positive peer
friendships. Teachers follow up with a series of questions to spark classroom
discussion. The Friendship First website allows students to interact with animated
characters that model friendships. The animated characters go through different
situations and the students can make choices for the characters to do and see
what happens. Along the way, students receive positive guidance.
The program changes as the students move
from elementary to middle school. There is a Peer Mentor Program for incoming 6th
to 8th graders who can apply to join. These mentors are matched up
with special needs kids in their grade level. The mentors help with making
friends, social situations, and stay buddied through middle school. The mentors
train over the summer and through the school year. Ideally these friendships
will follow into high school and even after that.
In high school, the Peer Mentor Program
is continued but with an added social media aspect. On a Friendship First
Forum, there are links for groups to chat with other students, with special
needs or not. The goal of the social media addition is to teach teens to
interact appropriately on social media. We also have events organized to get
the mentors and students with disabilities together to create positive social
experiences.
We hope that with this program, students
with disabilities will be accepted in the student body, be bullied less, as
well as teach the general student body to have more respect and understanding
for working with people with disabilities throughout their whole lives.
This program came to be because I grew
up with an older brother who had autism and to understand him, you either had
to take the time and make an effort to get to know him or grow up with him. I
know people probably look at him weirdly when he does certain things, but that
is who he is. This program also came to be because when people act differently,
the easiest choice is to either ignore them or even bully them to look “cool”.
It takes a courageous person to stand up for them and be their friend.
I appreciate your interest in the
Friendship First program. If you have any questions, you can contact me at xxx-xxx-xxxx.
Sincerely,
MJ Ferguson
Director of Friendship First program
Why the Distinguished Scholars Program (1 page)
This was the most difficult essay for MJ to write. She had a hard time adjusting from the attitude of focusing on others and not yourself to needing to brag about her talents, service she's given and her interests. Because really, that's what the essay is for. It's the judges/professors first glimpse at who you are. If they aren't excited or impressed with what they see, then they'll move on to the next person. MJ spent a few days organizing lists of the awards she's received, competitions she's participated in, her talents, service projects, and what specifically makes her interested in the program she's applying for.
*As a side note - this is a great document to create on your computer and continue adding to it every semester. This way you don't forget important activities or awards from earlier in your education career.
For this essay, MJ played with writing it as a serious essay, but it just wasn't working well. She brainstormed some more and decided to use her creative writing talents to make it into her own little fairy tale. I really liked how it hit all the requirements of the essay, but was done in a way that is so totally my daughter.
Once upon a time, in the kingdom of
Olathe, there lived a girl named MJ with caramel-brown frizzy hair. On hot and
humid days, her hair looked liked Taylor Swift with an Albert Einstein twist. At
least until she discovered the wonders of anti-frizz hair products!
One day in eighth grade, her teacher
asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. MJ thought and thought and
thought. But there were so many choices.
She loved going to the Kansas City
Astronomy Club to view the stars through their humongous telescopes. But wait!
She also loved hiking and adding fossils to her rock collection. But wait
again! She enjoyed learning about the world and other countries’ histories. She
was even in the Geography Bee twice and really liked it! Maybe she should study
science and teach about the stars, the earth, or even the world.
Mixed in with all that geeky stuff was a
very creative side, too. Oh so much creativeness. Acting and crafting and music
– oh my! The frizzy-haired girl participated in three middle school plays (in
one role, she even barked like a dog). Craving cinnamon rolls? She learned how
to make the most delicious, moist rolls using potatoes. And music. Oh the joy!
Singing, playing the flute, and bringing music to life on the piano brought her
happiness every day. Not to mention books. MJ was a readaholic. Friends and
teachers almost never saw her without a book in hand. She not only loved to
read, but to also create her own stories. Attending writers conferences helped
her learn about plot, conflict and how to make her characters interesting.
Maybe she should be a baker, a music teacher, or a novelist?
Poor MJ’s head hurt from all the career
paths she could take. How could she possibly choose? Then she heard about the
Distinguished Scholars program and just knew it could help her explore her
geeky side and creative side – and hopefully discover a way to mesh them
together for her own happily ever after.
In Closing
A few things to take from this article are:
- Be organized and take the time to really prep before you start writing.
- Don't be afraid to think outside the box. Sometimes that's what makes you stand out above everyone else.
- Be creative in a way that is totally you.
- Start tracking all your awards, accomplishments, camps, clubs, etc now so you don't have to rethink all those years every time you write an essay.
