Boston Office Volunteers Work with Local High School Students to Craft Unique College Essays

Ropes & Gray benefits principal Harvey Cotton (center) and 826 Boston associate development director Jenna Leschuk (left) and education director April Bo Wang (right) share published books written by some of 826 Boston’s young authors.

On Nov. 7, Ropes & Gray hosted a “College Essay Boot Camp” for local high school seniors in partnership with 826 Boston, a local nonprofit youth writing and publishing organization that is dedicated to empowering traditionally underserved students ages 6-18 to find their voices, tell their stories and gain communication skills to succeed in school and in life.

Ropes & Gray attorneys and support team professionals worked one-on-one with 24 students from Boston Community Leadership Academy in Hyde Park. Each pair worked to craft a unique story for the student’s college essay that will help to distinguish them as an outstanding applicant to their college of choice.

Students reported that they made significant progress on their college essays. One student said that “My tutor really helped me. She made me feel comfortable to share personal information with her in order to get further in my essay.”

Following the tutoring sessions, volunteers from Ropes & Gray served on a panel to answer questions from the students. Student questions focused on a range of topics including career goals and paths, attending college in-state versus out-of-state and the day-to-day life of a lawyer.