The Personal Statement Assignment

This assignment has two parts:

Write a "personal statement" that would be appropriate as part of an application to graduate school, the College of Education, etc. The specific approach you take with this personal statement will vary slightly depending on your audience and purpose, but it should in general comply with the guidelines outlined in our readings. This statement should be no longer than 500 words.

Write a memo that describes the specific audience and purpose of your personal statement. This is a document written directly to me where you explain your goals and challenges with the assignment. This memo should be about a page long. If appropriate, you can attach a copy of the instructions for the personal statement you are writing.

Here are some things to think about:

Defining your audience and purpose for writing this particular personal statement is critical. We'll talk about some of the different options for this, but think in terms of a personal statement for graduate school, for application for a scholarship, for application to the EMU College of Education, etc.
Be sure to keep in mind the strategies for writing an effective personal statement as described in our assigned reading.
In your memo, keep in mind that I am the primary audience and your goal is to write reflectively about the process of writing your personal statement.
Of course, both the personal statement and the memo about the statement must be free of unacceptable errors.
The final draft of your personal statment is due on February 1.