Drafting Techniques

There are no requirements for the formal structure of an Academic Statement, so the ways to approach the drafting of your Academic Statement are also limitless. However, sometimes having no confines can make it hard to know where to start. Here we have two possible options—the narrative draft and the self-interview approach—that may provide you somewhere to begin drafting. There are benefits and drawbacks to each process. Do whatever works best for you!

Narrative: Annual Academic Statement OR Final Academic Statement A narrative draft is text that is all related to tell a story or illustrate a point. It probably has a beginning, middle, and an end or a major takeaway, truth, or lesson.

Pros: When you go through the process of writing a narrative draft every year, you develop a form and voice that evolves with you as you grow and reflect. The process of writing out a full narrative annual draft of your Academic Statement each year allows you to gain skills in reflective writing through a low-stakes document before you have to write a high-stakes final draft for your transcript. Developing reflective writing skills in narrative form also makes an easier transition from annual to final draft and provides you a foundation for what your Final Academic Statement will look like.

Cons: Practicing and refining this form of narrative reflective writing can be rewarding, but many students find the narrative draft an intimidating challenge. If you’re in the early stages of writing or your education feels nebulous, it can be difficult to synthesize reflections into a cohesive form. Not only that, but you may be leaving out important details that won’t fit neatly into one cohesive narrative but should be explored. If the narrative draft does not feel like a functional approach for you, you may want to try our self-interview approach.

Self-Interview: Annual Academic Statement or FIrst Draft of Final Academic Statement There’s no real reason that an Annual Academic Statement can’t be based on a series of prompting questions. You can simply respond to a series of open-ended questions to generate an Academic Statement draft.

Pros: The value of completing the Annual Academic Statement is in the reflective process, not in the looks or end product. By thoughtfully answering open ended questions about your education and goals, you practice reflective writing in smaller, accessible chunks. Additionally, it may be easier to compare your growth and challenges if you’re answering these same questions every year in your Annual Academic Statement. These can later serve as notes when you begin to draft your Final. Also, if you do a self-interview draft, you can always rewrite your answers into a narrative form.

Cons: It’s hard to know where to begin and end with the questions. In order to really capture the nuance and complexity of your experience, you might be asking and answering a lot of them. Also, it may not feel like a smooth transition into writing your Final Academic Statement in narrative form if you have gotten used to writing a selfinterview in your Annual.

Example Self-Interview Questions

• How would you describe your current area of emphasis? Why does your emphasis matter to you? • Is this emphasis the one you had in mind when you came to Evergreen? When and how did you arrive at it? How has your emphasis changed over time? • Were there major turning points in your educational direction? What were they?

What happened? Why did it matter? • What has inspired you to study what you’re studying now? • Where have you struggled during your time at or before Evergreen? Have you overcome this? How? • What unexpected connecting themes have come up for you between programs?

What about intentional common themes?

Why do they matter? • What are your educational goals for the next year, and who can support you in reaching and clarifying them? What about long-term goals? • What are your goals after Evergreen?

Are there any requirements you must meet at Evergreen to achieve these goals?

How do you plan to set yourself up to meet your goals and gain these requirements?

You can also do a self-interview using questions related to the Six Expectations of an Evergreen Graduate. The questions are pre-generated and broken down by whether you’re a first-year/ new transfer student or continuing student. These additional questions are online at evergreen.edu/academicstatement/ resources. Prompts for seniors are online at evergreen.edu/ academicstatement/prompts-for-seniors.

When you finish, think about what new ideas or revelations have come up for you in this process. Did you write anything that you would like to explore further? Was the process helpful? If nothing new or surprising came up, try coming up with a couple questions of your own. What are you curious about in your education? When you’re done, copy and paste the questions and your answers into your my.evergreen account and turn it in as your annual statement—no fuss!