Personal Statement Guidance For Students

Are you entering the nerve-wracking time of supporting your child in writing their personal statement to apply for university courses? Are you feeling lost and confused about this huge new chapter? So many options, so many big life choices, so much competition; perhaps you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and unclear about how to best guide your young adult to make the best decision about their higher education and future career choices.

This can be a tricky new path to navigate for all of you, as you weigh up the variables of affordability, geography, choosing the right course, personal wants and needs, and the longer-term life and career goal.

As a life coach and an ex-university academic, I am often asked for help with writing personal statements. Typically, school have imposed a deadline (without always offering much guidance) and students can feel at a loss to know where to begin. I have had students coming to me feeling mixed up about what course to apply for, some who are on a path set by their parents, but doesn’t speak to their true wants and needs, and others who are paralysed by the feeling of competition and fight for the top grades and places. The pressure is immense.

I believe passionately in young adults having the opportunity to gain ownership over their future. This happens by tapping deeply into their core values and helping them to articulate what makes them happy and fulfilled, what are their unique qualities and attributes, what they want, and ultimately, what they hope to be and do in their future life.

For years I have seen students and families come unstuck by following a plan of what they think they should do, what a careers advisor has suggested or what societal or family expectations impose.

Emma Gersch: Teacher and Mentor

Student one was struggling to keep up with their peers and the very noisy social expectations at their high achieving school and choose a course at a red-brick university. They were becoming depressed and confused. Through the gentle process of coaching, they realised that they were not ready to leave home, and wanted passionately to pursue a career in youthwork, building on their existing work placement. University was not the right option for this person, and once they realised and articulated this, a decent paid work opportunity came along, with the prospect to gain qualifications on the job. It was a perfect fit.

Student two came to me with a fourth draft of a personal statement for application to medical school. It lacked any personal drive or authenticity. Through the process of coaching, it became clear that they were living out their parents’ plan for them, and not their own. I helped them prepare for the courageous conversation about their true wish to be a sports psychologist rather than a medic. They graduated with flying colours and moved quickly into a work placement, happy, fulfilled and in alignment with their core values.

Student three, at a performing arts college came to me needing help for her application to study drama at university. This was the expectation for graduates at her school, but she felt joyless and low thinking about continuing pursuing this subject. Yes, she was good at it, but didn’t really want to make a career of it. Through coaching, we identified her need for stability of income and job security, meaning a life as a freelance creative was not in alignment with her core values. She had secretly been fascinated by forensic psychology, and we found her the perfect course that allowed her to bring her excellent insight and communication skills from her arts-based training into a whole new direction.

Students are often deprived of the real opportunity to be heard. Sometimes they don’t know how to express what they want, and need an expert coach to help unpick, unveil and unlock their deep hopes, wishes and ideas. My approach is based on the simple premise that deep down, we all have a very strong core construct of values. These are easily masked and obscured by other people’s opinions, plans and expectations. We need to be brave enough to ask the bigger questions: ‘Why are you on the planet?’, ‘What drives and motivates you?’, ‘What difference do you want to make in the world?’, ‘What makes you truly happy and fulfilled’. These are not typically questions asked by careers advisors at school but are critical for a young adult to understand in order to plan for a future that is in alignment with their soul. The best personal statement reveals a true, authentic and purposeful drive. I don’t write it for them, but I help to elicit their true voice, empower them to tell their unique story, and validate their wishes as important.

Based on an average 3-year UK University, the cost can be in the region of £60K. Choosing the wrong pathway could be a very expensive mistake. Worse still, your young adult could end up unhappy and lost. Being honest with yourself requires bravery. As a parent, we need to ensure we are not projecting our own vicarious plans and dreams. We need to encourage and enable our young people to be open to asking the bigger questions and listen to and trust their inner voice.

The feedback from parents speaks for itself: "Emma has made a significant impact on my daughter and as a person, encouraging her to thimk more deeply about things and leaving a lasting impression on her. I would highly recommend Emma, she is both extremely reliable and personable and I couldn't have hoped for a better coach for my daughter."

Emma Gersch is a life coach, mediator, theatre maker and director of the Global Training Group. She specialises in coaching individuals to make careful and balanced decisions that align with core values, using the Philosophical Life Compass https://thelifecompass.co.uk

Emma and her team of coaches are available for 1-1 coaching sessions for personal statement and career planning. Contact hello@wearegtg.co.uk for more information and to book a coaching session.

We need to be brave enough to ask the really big questions to make the right decisions.