My Struggles With The 50th Reunion Essay and April 30th

As the webmaster, I see an alert when someone uses the form to submit their “Personal Essay” for the 50th Reunion ClassBook.  The pace is picking up now that the deadline is nigh.  Today, I’m seeing 2 or 3 new essays per hour!

Hopefully, yours is among them, but if not, you have until Monday.

I have a confession.  I have yet to do mine.  I WILL do it, probably this weekend, but “the excellent has become enemy of the good enough.”  I know I shouldn’t, but I have a little fear!

Original Assignment.  I’ve re-read the original assignment several times and still find it intimidating.  When I whined about that feeling to Doug Colton, the primary author of the instructions, he explained, “I was just trying to invite responses from a very broad range of perspectives.  I didn’t want to limit what anyone would want to say about their lives so far.  Some will do a report about major happenings … you know, the twists and turns and straightaways.  Others will share reflections or talk more philosophically.  It’s all good.”

Essays Received So Far.  Doug’s goal has succeeded: There is a broad range of essays.  By having us submit the “Objective Data” (full name, and, optionally, contact information, spouse, children, career summary, etc.) in a block that will be shown between your name and the body of the essay, most writers jump right into sharing personal observations, commentary and descriptions of their journey so far.

• The shortest essay is one paragraph … but it’s interesting.
• Another pivots off the unexpected death of a father shortly after graduation … and drills into how that changed things, then and afterwards.
• A few have reminisced and reflected more on the Yale years themselves … with only a short discussion of the implications for their later life.
• Some are vulnerable … being open about bouts of depression or coming to terms with their sexuality.
• Some talk about a life’s work in education, environment, social justice or NGOs … and how classmates or teachers helped that passion/vocation come into being.
• Many adopt the tone of someone who’d explain some aspect of their lives, not to their closest friends (say, a roommate), but to that next 75 – 150 Yalies they know.

Seed Questions.  Tom Guterbock, who so masterfully guided the Survey effort, had a good suggestion to help me with my writer’s block.  “Wayne, take the assignment and spin out some ‘seed questions.’  Then, start to answer those questions in your head or in a quick outline.  Don’t slavishly answer the question fully, but rather let the effort remind you of some things that you’ll likely want to share. And it will give you a framework for organizing those things.”

That strikes me as a good strategy, so here goes:  Here are some ‘seed questions’ from the original assignment:

• Is there a choice you made earlier in life that you wish you’d made differently?  Is there a choice you made that worked out great?
• What’s happened to you since your Yale years?
• If you did a 25th Reunion Essay (which is here, under “Classbooks”), you can revisit what  you wrote there – compare, contrast, update?
• What were your dreams and plans when you left Yale, and how has that worked out?
• In the Survey, you answered, “in 50 words or less, what advice would you give your 22-year-old self?”   Expand on that.
• Write one short paragraph about Yale, one about career, and one about family and personal life.  A 500-word limit doesn’t allow for much more than that!
• How did Yale prepare you for what became of your life?
• Reflecting on 50 years, what are the lessons learned, self-discoveries or surprises?
• Read the original instructions for more

I’m going to finish my essay this weekend, but let me close by answering some common question that have come into the “contact us” mailbox:

• How to use the submission form.  Most of it is simple to use, but “attaching” files containing your essay or any pictures, requires two steps.  Here’s a 1-minute flash video showing you how.
• Pictures.  If you want to add pictures, make sure they are big enough to print on paper — the longest side has to be 600 pixels or bigger, preferably much bigger.  And it’s best if all pictures are clear and well-lighted.
• Revisions.  If you’ve submitted stuff before and have a change or addition, just go to the submission form and submit again.  The new submission can be total (meant to supersede entirely what was sent before) or incremental (e.g., just adding a picture).  Use the “Special Instructions To Editor” field on the form to tell your editor what you want.Everything you submit ends up in a file folder, and one of our Classmate-volunteer editors will review everything and prepare it for the publisher.  So, you’ll have a Classmate organizing things, and he’ll be in touch if there’s a question.   Please be careful, though.  Fixing things or answering questions takes a lot of time, and the volunteer editors have hundreds of essays to deal with.
• Help.  If you need technical help, email support@Yale1969.org.   If you need editorial help, email y69content@gmail.com.

I hope this helps you get the Essay done.  Leave any additional ideas in the Comments field below.  Good luck!