Indigo for Essay Writing 1
The Goal: Where do you even begin with a college essay? What details do you pull from your life to convey what makes you unique? These are the questions students face, and this exercise is designed to tackle them directly. This exercise will help students use the Indigo Report to come up with topics and start writing about them for their college essays.
College & Career
Materials
- Indigo Reports
Note: This exercise can also be used to help students write their job application essays and cover letters! Feel free to follow the same format, just talk about it as if it was for a job.
Step 1: Have students pick 2 essay topics that interest them from the list below. Consider printing the list of topics and hand them out to the students.
Step 2: After students have selected the 2 essay topics that interest them the most, have them write their ideas and start brainstorming on how they want to answer those topics. If students are set on an idea for one of the topics, have them start writing their essay outline or essay proposal to be submitted and approved.
If you would like to give more direction for the brainstorming, you may ask students to write 1-2 paragraphs or write bullets covering ½-1 page per topic as part of the brainstorming.
Step 3: After students are done brainstorming and have a few ideas for their two topics, have students get into pairs or groups of 3. Ask students to share their ideas and give each other feedback. After students are done brainstorming, see if any students would like to volunteer to share their ideas with the rest of the class. Have the class give constructive feedback.
Step 4: Have students narrow down the 2 topics to the 1 that they want to write about the most. Have them come back to class with an essay outline for the topic they chose.
If you would like, you could also have students complete Part 4 in the following class period. At the end of the day, the main goal of this exercise is getting students to think about different topics for their essays and also getting them to leverage their Indigo Reports in order to come up with powerful essay ideas.
Possible Indigo College Essay Topics
Note: All of these prompts are just starting points. Students are encouraged to combine essay topics, tweak them, and even come up with their own ideas to add on to the topics.
Strengths: Look at the Strengths, Value to a Team, and Top 5 Skills sections on your Indigo Summary Page and highlight the things that really stand out to you. Talk about an impactful or meaningful experience where you used those skills and strengths. You can also talk about a time or place where you always use your top skills (i.e. as a leader on a sports team or empathy when volunteering)
Strengths 2: Look at the Strengths, Value to a Team, and Top 5 Skills sections on your Indigo Summary Page and highlight the things that really stand out. Answer any or all of the following questions: How do your strengths and skills come up in your life? How will your strengths and skills help you excel and stand out as an individual? How do your strengths and skills help define who you are and your story?”
Passions: Look at the top 1-2 Motivators on your Indigo Summary Page. You may also read the Motivators sections to understand what the two top Motivators suggest about you in more detail. Talk about how your top one or two Motivators will be fulfilled by your chosen field of study or the culture of the school you are applying to. If you are writing for a job application or cover letter, talk about how your top one or two Motivators will be fulfilled in that given job.
Passions 2: Look at the top 1-2 Motivators on your Indigo Summary Page. You may also read the Motivators sections to understand what the two top Motivators suggest about you in more detail. Answer any or all of the following questions: How do your Motivators/passions come up in your life? How will your Motivators/passions help you excel and stand out as an individual? How do your Motivators/passions help define who you are and your story?
Perfect Fit: Look at the Your Ideal Work Environment section and use the points in that section to talk about why you think the particular environment in the school or job you are applying to is a good fit. The point of this essay is all about highlighting why you would be a perfect fit for wherever you are applying.
Your Value: Look at the Value to a Team section on the Indigo Summary Page and at the What Others May Value In You section later on in the report and talk about how you would be able to bring that value to the school that you are applying to or the major you are pursuing. The point of this essay is to highlight the value you would bring to the table at the place where you are applying.
Overcoming Adversity: Look at the Some Potential Challenges section and come up with an example of where you faced and overcame one of the challenges in that section. The goal is to highlight your ability to overcome adversity.