Learn · TED

Talk13 min

The rise of the "trauma essay" in college applications

Tina Yong · TED

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About

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.

The talk

  1. The rise of the "trauma essay" in college applications 13 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TEDxUBCStudio
Speaker
Tina Yong
Year
2022
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Medicine and health, Literature and writing, Teaching and learning
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed