116: Who is Tutor Ted? (and Resources for Brainstorming a Personal Statement)

This is the first of two podcasts with Amie Dorsey, also known as Tutor Ted, who scored perfectly on the ACT, SAT, PSAT and runs a cool test prep company called (what else?) Tutor Ted.

Now, in the second part of this podcast she’ll show you how to improve your ACT score by 2 points… in just 20 minutes. But before we get to that, I thought it might be great to get to know Amie on a more personal level--and what better way, I thought, than to take her through the exercises I use with my students when we’re brainstorming personal statements. Why? Because I use some exercises that go really deep, really fast--as you’re about to hear.

So in part 1 of this episode you’ll hear Amie and I going through some of my warm-up exercises (which I actually call “vulnerability training” -- you’ll see why in a minute), so you’ll essentially get to see part of my brainstorming process in action.

Amie will do (on the spot!) a distilled version of the Essence Objects and Values Exercises, which you’ll be familiar with from Episode 111 of the podcast, or if you know my book or my website. Then you’ll hear me walk her through my #1 favorite brainstorm, the Feelings and Needs Exercise (which has been called the “20 minute therapy” exercise--again, you’ll see why once we get into it).

By the end you’ll know Amie a lot better and, even though we don’t talk about on this episode, you’ll see that Amie has some GREAT content for a college essay… were she to go back and write one.

I’ll say more about Part 2--How to Improve Your ACT Score By 20 Points--at the beginning of that episode. Right now, please enjoy Part 1 of this two-part episode with Amie Dorsey...

Play-by-Play

• Who is Amie Dorsey? [:38]
• Ethan walks Amie through three essay writing exercises [3:47]
• Ethan plays the “I Love” Game [4:47]
• Amie plays the “I Love” Game [6:19]
• Ethan plays the second exercise: “If you really knew me” [7:51]
• Then it’s Amie’s turn. [9:53]
• The third exercise: Ethan plays the Essence Objects [14:21]
• Amie describes her own essence objects [15:47]
• Amie tells a story about one of her past students [18:20]
• The fourth exercise: Values Exercise [21:19]
• Amie’s top core values [22:50]
• How creativity has been manifesting in Amie’s life [23:39]
• Number five: the Challenges exercise [26:35]
• Amie talks about the biggest challenges she faced and how they impacted her [26:45]
• The feelings Amie felt along with these challenges [29:05]
• What unmet needs went along with these feelings and how she met them [30:58]
• What Amie learned from these challenges [35:45]
• How Amie’s past challenges connect to her future road trip [36:54]

Resources

• Tutor Ted's website