Ellen Karcinell teaches student at Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library how to write a strong college essay. This is how

To help navigate the path from high school to college, Ellen Karcinell, a seasoned instructor on essay writing, test prep and college applications, shared her best tips with students at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library on Sept. 19.

“I’m not the tutor or the teacher; I’m a tool to help you achieve your goal,” Karcinell said.

Six students attended the hour-long workshop about crafting an effective college essay. Karcinell handed out flyers to the students, grades ranging from 9th to 11th, outlining major topics to consider when putting together a college application essay.

One point Karcinell highlighted throughout was the importance of writing for the reader.

“You have to understand the person you are writing for,” she said. “If you don’t understand the person you are writing for, what you write could be taken in the wrong way.”

Karcinell then spoke on showcasing strengths and how that comes into play when selecting a major. She also told students the benefits of selecting a major, even if they end up changing direction.

“If you put down undecided, you go to the bottom,” Karcinell said of the college admission system. “College is, and this is a shocking thing, a business, they want to fill up their departments, they’re looking for people who want to be students in certain departments.”

The workshop also included the best ways to highlight top qualities that students would bring to a college.

“There are two ways of showing off, you could show off by saying, ‘I won the game for my team because I did the most,’” Karcinell said. “Another way of showing off is by saying, ‘I’m proud to be a member of my team and I was happy to be there to help the team to victory.’”

Karcinell emphasized the entertainment aspect of the college essay.

“In a movie trailer they spend millions and millions of dollars because they want to show you why you should go to the movie,” she said. “You show why the college should take you, why you should become a part of the college community.”

The group learned about hooking readers with the first sentence of their application essay. It is similar to writing a good lede for a news story.

“The best first sentence I ever read in all the years of doing this is, ‘And then the fat man pushed me off the roof,’” Karcinell said. “It got me to read it again. It was about going zip gliding, she was standing on a platform in Costa Rica and a heavyset guy pushed her off a roof.”

Karcinell instructed ending on a strong statement, along with topics to avoid like politics and location of the college.

Caroline Lynch, head of young adult services at HWPL strives to help the community teens by bringing in programs like this.

“I think the college application process can be very overwhelming,” Lynch said.

Patrick Risolo, a children’s librarian helped to organize the essay workshop.

“It reminds me of when I was their age, I didn’t even have this,” he said. “We want to give teens, especially, a helping hand.”

Karcinell has been assisting students for 30 years. She will return to HWPL in Oct. with her ACT Prep program.

“You can’t imagine what a high this is,” Karcinell said. “I’ve learned so much.”