The rise of the "trauma essay" in college applications | Tina Yong

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2023

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As if college applications aren't stressful enough, disadvantaged youth are often encouraged to write about their darkest traumas in their admissions essays, creating a marketable story of resilience that turns "pain into progress," says politics student Tina Yong. She brings this harrowing norm to light, exploring its harms and offering a more equitable process for colleges everywhere.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective
0:11.0	It's Ted Talks Daily, I'm your host, Elise Hugh.
0:14.1	There is a familiar narrative in college admission essays.
0:17.4	The trauma to triumph story.
0:20.3	You know what I'm talking about.
0:22.1	In her 2022 talk from TedXUBC Studio, student reporter Tina Young makes us think about
0:28.1	the consequences of all of us expecting stories like this and what universities could do about
0:34.0	it after short break.
0:38.8	Support for Ted Talks Daily comes from Airbnb.
0:41.4	Maybe you've stayed in an Airbnb before and thought to yourself, maybe my place could
0:45.2	be an Airbnb.
0:46.2	Perhaps your housemates are going to move out and you're thinking about what to do with
0:49.8	that space.
0:51.2	That extra room could be an Airbnb.
0:54.2	Whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills or for something a little
0:57.8	more fun, your extra room or extra space might be worth more than you think.
1:03.0	Find out how much at Airbnb.co.uk slash host.
1:07.4	Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant.
1:12.4	Welcome to Rethinking, my podcast on the Science of What Makes Us Tick.
1:17.2	I'm an organizational psychologist and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating
1:21.6	people to explore how they think and what we should all rethink.
1:26.8	This season we're examining how to know when you've succeeded.
	...

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