702: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 2: Much Ado About Nothing) with Dr. Greg Ungar

Welcome back to our series, "On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling." In this series, we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be. On Becoming speaks not just to the craft of writing, but to what I believe the personal statement is at its best: a record of becoming, the often messy, hopefully meaningful process of finding yourself… through the process of storytelling.

In this episode, we slow things down and focus on a single essay, which the author calls "Much Ado About Nothing." Together, we take this essay apart, looking at the storytelling choices on the page, the deeper ideas underneath them, and how the essay captures a moment in the student's becoming.

Dr. Greg Ungar is a professor at the University of Denver. Greg grew up in California and spent six years working on the assembly line at General Motors before finding his way to college, where reading (and thinking) changed the direction of his life. Greg went on to study philosophy and theatre arts at UC Berkeley, and later earned advanced degrees across a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, criminal justice, acting, and theatre and drama. He's someone who has spent a lifetime thinking deeply about identity, work, class, performance, and what it means to make meaning out of lived experience.

We hope you enjoy.

Play-by-Play:

• 3:23 – Why do Ethan and Greg love reading stories and poetry together?
• 5:34 – Do college essays need a title?
• 6:47 – Greg reads the essay, "Much Ado About Nothing"
• 12:03 – What does Ethan love about this essay?
• 13:25 – What did Greg notice while reading?
• 19:23 – How does the author use structure to keep the reader engaged?
• 25:02 – How can humor be used in college essays?
• 30:58 – How does the author show different roles and identities throughout?
• 40:24 – Closing thoughts

Resources:

• "Much Ado About Nothing" Essay
• College Essay Essentials
• College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources
• College Essay Guy's College Application Hub