702: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 2: Much Ado About Nothing) with Dr. Greg Ungar
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Release Date: 02/17/2026
709: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 8: Molding Clay) with Calvin Pickett
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Hi, friends, and 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. In this episode, we break down an essay that is one of my new favorites. It’s conceptually rich because even though it’s on molding clay, it could be considered any of these montage types: I love/I know, Essence Objects, Skills/Superpower, Identity, Home, or Uncommon extracurricular activity. That’s not a goal I’m...
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708: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 7: Robes) with Andrew Callery
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Hi, friends, and 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. In this episode, we share an essay that begins: “Robes are the textile version of comfort food; they’re my chicken noodle soup.” And it is indeed about the different robes the student wears and how each one reveals a different aspect of who the author is. I'm joined today by Andrew Callery, a college counselor...
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707: Inside the Personal Statement Process (Part 5): Making the Decision with Alisha, Class of 2026
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Hey friends, and welcome back to the College Essay Guy podcast. Today’s episode is a special follow-up with Alisha, who you might remember from our series last season where we walked through her personal statement process step-by-step. Now that she has officially received her results, Alisha is back to share the final chapter of her journey and reflect on the experience of reaching the finish line. In this session, Alisha and I explore: The emotional ups and downs of receiving college acceptances and rejections Alisha’s advice for students currently navigating the application process What...
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706: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 6: Raspberry Sky) with Wendy Zheutlin
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, “On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling” where 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. In this episode, I had the honor of sitting down with Wendy Zheutlin, who is not only one of my essay coaches but has been a volunteer for the past four years with our Program. This is the program where we pair high-achieving, low-income students with amazing counselors for 10 hours of free one-on-one support. And if that sounds...
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705: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 5: The Stains on My Baseball Pants) with Kaila Barber
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Show Notes: Hi, friends, and 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. In this episode, we break down an essay on… wait for it… baseball. Wait, what? But Ethan, I thought writing about a common topic was a fast track to blending in. And yes—in many cases, it can be. But this essay offers a great example of how a familiar topic can become something more layered, specific, and...
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704: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 4: Tiny Windows into My Being) with Ali McKeon
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Hi, friends, and 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. In this episode, we explore an essence objects essay, which is to say an essay that was written about objects in the author's room, each one of which reveals a different aspect of their life. I'm joined by Ali McKeon, an essay coach and program advisor here at College Essay Guy. Ali worked with the student who wrote this...
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703: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 3: The Pilgrim and The CEO) with Jane Longley
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Welcome back to the College Essay Guy podcast and our series On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling. I’m one of your cohosts, Tom Campbell, former Pomona and Holy Cross admissions officer, turned essay coach and college counselor. In this series, we look at real personal statements from real students: what choices were made, what was revised, and why it works. For this episode, we sit down with Jane Longley, one of our amazing essay coaches here at CEG, to unpack an essay that one of her student wrote titled “The Pilgrim and The CEO.” It tells the story of two...
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702: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 2: Much Ado About Nothing) with Dr. Greg Ungar
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
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...
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701: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 1: My Desk & Magic) with Amanda McRaven
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Welcome to a brand new series here on the podcast I’m calling “On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling.” In this series, we’ll dig deep into college essays from past students, talking about why we love them and how they came to be. For me, this title “On Becoming” speaks not just to the craft of writing (how a story came to be), but to what I believe the personal statement is at its best: a record of becoming… the beautiful, sometimes messy process of witnessing someone learn to better understand themselves, articulate their values, and claim their voice in...
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623: Standing Out in STEM: Practical Advice for Future Scientists, Engineers and Techies
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Welcome back to the College Essay Guy Podcast. Today’s episode is hosted by Tom Campbell, Community Manager & Senior Essay Specialist at College Essay Guy and a former admission officer at Pomona College and Holy Cross. We’ve polled the thousands of students who participate in our live webinars and courses and ask what they’re favorite subject is, and consistently, STEM reigns supreme. By a lot. In this episode, Tom sits down with Jay Zhang, college counselor at College Essay Guy, to dig into the biggest questions students and families have about preparing for and applying to STEM...
info_outlineWelcome 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