Student Application Essay Questions
Here are the essay questions and details for students applying to the Field Academy.
Please answer the following questions with detail; to do so, please make every answer at least half a page in length.
Use your answers to tell us about yourself; feel free to be as creative as you want to be. We are not looking for one specific answer—there is no right answer to any of these questions—we merely want to know more about YOU. Who you are. What you love. What makes you unique. That kind of thing. You may type your answers, hand-write them (neatly, please), or choose another way to convey them to us. We can’t wait to see what you say.
Section A: For first-time applicants to the Field Academy.
Please answer the following questions with detail; to do so, please make every answer at least half a page in length. Use your answers to tell us about yourself; feel free to be as creative as you want to be. We are not looking for one specific answer—there is no right answer to any of these questions—we merely want to know more about YOU. Who you are. What you love. What makes you unique. That kind of thing. You may type your answers, hand-write them (neatly, please), or choose another way to convey them to us. We can’t wait to see what you say.
Choose one of the following questions to answer:
Section B: For returning students.
We are psyched that you are considering another adventure with the Field Academy! As before, we want to learn more about you through these essays. Please answer the following questions with detail; to do so, please make every answer at least half a page in length. You may type your answers, hand-write them (neatly, please), or choose another way to convey them to us.
Choose one of the following questions to answer (Note: Choose one you have not answered before…):
Please answer the following questions with detail; to do so, please make every answer at least half a page in length.
Use your answers to tell us about yourself; feel free to be as creative as you want to be. We are not looking for one specific answer—there is no right answer to any of these questions—we merely want to know more about YOU. Who you are. What you love. What makes you unique. That kind of thing. You may type your answers, hand-write them (neatly, please), or choose another way to convey them to us. We can’t wait to see what you say.
Section A: For first-time applicants to the Field Academy.
Please answer the following questions with detail; to do so, please make every answer at least half a page in length. Use your answers to tell us about yourself; feel free to be as creative as you want to be. We are not looking for one specific answer—there is no right answer to any of these questions—we merely want to know more about YOU. Who you are. What you love. What makes you unique. That kind of thing. You may type your answers, hand-write them (neatly, please), or choose another way to convey them to us. We can’t wait to see what you say.
- What aspects of the Field Academy’s program and style of education resonate most with you? What excites you about the Field Academy? Why?
- What do you hope to learn, discover, and/or explore while traveling in Central Appalachia this summer? What motivates you to learn about climate change, activism, and community leadership by traveling?
- Tell us about something you are in the process of learning or that you have learned in the past month that feels significant to you. This doesn’t necessarily have to be something that you’re learning in school. We’re curious to know what you are learning about currently that feels like it has real and deep significance for your life. Why and how are you learning it? What have you learned? What will you do with what you have learned?
- If you could change one thing in your community, what would it be? How would you, personally, change it? Your community could be your school, family, neighborhood, town, region – however you define it.
- What is one big, audacious goal that you have for yourself in your life?
- What do you feel are the most important elements of your identity, of “who you are”? This could include age, gender, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, religion or anything else that feels important to how you see yourself in relation to the world. We ask because it is important to us to bring together people with lots of different identities, and to build a program that strives towards co-creating safe space.
Choose one of the following questions to answer:
- Who were you in a past life? What parts of that person are still in you?
- What’s the best thing you’ve ever made? Why did you create it? Where is it now?
- If you could pick a lyric from a song, a line from a poem, a quotation from a movie, or an excerpt from a book to represent you in this moment, what would it be and why?
Section B: For returning students.
We are psyched that you are considering another adventure with the Field Academy! As before, we want to learn more about you through these essays. Please answer the following questions with detail; to do so, please make every answer at least half a page in length. You may type your answers, hand-write them (neatly, please), or choose another way to convey them to us.
- Why are you interested in more experiences with the Field Academy?
- Why are you interested in traveling throughout Central Appalachia this summer (specifically NC, VA, WV, KY, TN)? What do you hope to learn, discover, and/or explore? What motivates you to learn about climate change, activism, and community leadership by traveling?
- How will another program with the Field Academy help you to meet the goals you have set for yourself in the next three years?
- Tell us about something new that you are learning. Something that has real and deep significance for your life. Why and how are you learning it? What have you learned?
- What does it mean to be advocate for your own education? How are you one?
- What do you feel are the most important elements of your identity, of “who you are”? This could include age, gender, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, religion or anything else that feels important to how you see yourself in relation to the world. We ask because it is important to us to bring together people with lots of different identities, and to build a program that strives towards co-creating safe space.
Choose one of the following questions to answer (Note: Choose one you have not answered before…):
- Who were you in a past life? What parts of that person are still in you?
- What’s the best thing you’ve ever made? Why did you create it? Where is it now?
- If you could pick a lyric from a song, a line from a poem, a quotation from a movie, or an excerpt from a book to represent you in this moment, what would it be and why?
