In this second session, participants will bring drafts of their statements of purpose (SoP) or personal statements (PS) to continue brainstorming. This session will be more collaborative as attendees will provide feedback to further explore writers' experiences and motivations as it relates to their interest in pursuing a graduate degree. Attendees will also have the opportunity to engage in guided writing activities to revise and elevate the SoP and PS.

Presenter: Erin Todey, Assistant Director & Writing Consultant, McNairs Scholar Program, Iowa State University

Erin Todey (she/her) is the Assistant Director of the McNair Scholars Program at Iowa State University. She earned her BA in French & International Studies and her MA in Applied Linguistics. Erin has taught a range of composition, linguistics, and academic writing courses in different domestic and international higher education contexts. Her research interests center on how discourse analysis methodologies can be meaningfully used in teaching academic writing, especially to support historically marginalized (e.g., first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented) students writing high-stakes, self-promotional genres, such as the statement of purpose for graduate school.