Maya was a quiet storm. Head girl, IB student, five APs, debate team captain, school musical lead—her resume was a ticking time bomb of burnout. She didn’t come to me with a question. She came with a list.

“I need help finalizing my university list. And I have six essays due next week.”

Rather than dive into rankings or deadlines, I asked, “What would make you proud, not just of where you go, but how you get there?”

That shifted the energy.

We started with what I call a Story Web. Maya listed pivotal life events—moments of grit, joy, discomfort, and revelation. The map lit up with themes: her parents’ divorce, a fascination with behavioral economics, a protest she helped mediate about gender rights. From this, we unearthed her values: resilience, empathy, and clarity.

We overhauled her college list through this lens, focusing less on prestige, more on alignment. Her essays became meditative explorations rather than marketing pitches. Each draft began with journal entries—free-writing, emotion-laced, imperfect. What followed was not “editing,” but refining the truth into art.

For interviews, we rehearsed vulnerability. Saying “I don’t know” became a strength. Maya was accepted ED to Northwestern, not because it had the highest acceptance rate, but because it resonated. She felt seen there. And now, finally, she could see herself.