Sample StoryMap
Mara's StoryMap
Mara is a fictional student in the Class of 2027. She did not begin with a dramatic life story or a polished essay idea. She began by answering questions about her ordinary life.
As she talked, StoryMap helped her save details worth returning to, notice connections across them, explore possible ways those experiences could shape her application, and begin writing.
This sample shows how ordinary material can become a distinctive college application story without inventing anything that was not already there.
Discover
7 reflections
Shape
4 moments, 2 possible directions
Write
1 draft started
Apply
3 colleges
Decide
Compare offers and choose
Transition
Prepare for what comes next
Discovery
Mara began by answering questions about her everyday life in her own words.
Walk me through an ordinary weekday of yours. What actually happens?
I get up before anyone else because the kitchen is the only quiet place in the house. I make my brother's lunch and hide a note in it, which he pretends to hate. School, then the library until six because the bus that goes past my street only runs on the hour. On Thursdays I help Mrs. Halloran close the laundromat and she pays me in quarters and unsolicited advice.
Three weeks ago·Private
What do people around you rely on you for, even if nobody has ever said it out loud?
Translating. Not language exactly, my mom speaks English fine, but forms. School forms, the insurance letter, the thing from the county about the water bill. I read it twice and then I say it the way she would say it. Somewhere along the way that became my job and nobody ever announced it.
Two weeks ago·Private
Mara's own words, spokenWhat do you notice that other people seem to walk past?
Bad instructions. Signs that tell you what not to do but never what to do instead. The laundromat had one that said DO NOT OVERLOAD and nobody knew what overloaded meant, so I made a new one with a line drawn on the drum and the machines stopped breaking.
Eleven days ago·Private
Story Bank
As Mara answered questions, she saved details that felt worth returning to. StoryMap calls these story moments and keeps them in her Story Bank, with the original answer still attached for context.
The line I drew on the drum
The laundromat had a sign that said DO NOT OVERLOAD and nobody knew what overloaded meant, so I made a new one with a line drawn on the drum.
From her answer to: What do you notice that other people seem to walk past?
Reading the county letter out loud
I read it twice and then I say it the way she would say it.
From her answer to: What do people around you rely on you for, even if nobody has ever said it out loud?
The note in my brother's lunch
I make my brother's lunch and hide a note in it, which he pretends to hate.
From her answer to: Walk me through an ordinary weekday of yours. What actually happens?
Thursday closing with Mrs. Halloran
On Thursdays I help Mrs. Halloran close the laundromat and she pays me in quarters and unsolicited advice.
From her answer to: Walk me through an ordinary weekday of yours. What actually happens?
Patterns and tensions
StoryMap looks across what Mara has actually shared and suggests connections that may be worth exploring. Mara decides whether they fit.
Possible pattern
You make confusing things easier to use
Two different moments point toward the same instinct. When instructions do not work for the person receiving them, Mara translates them into something more usable. She did it with the laundromat sign and with the county letter at home.
In Mara's words
The line I drew on the drum
Reading the county letter out loud
StoryMap suggests the connection. Mara decides whether it actually feels true.
Possible tension
A responsibility nobody formally gave you
Mara describes helping with forms as something ordinary, but she also notices that it became her job without anyone ever deciding it should be. That may be worth exploring further before StoryMap assumes what it means to her.
In Mara's words
Reading the county letter out loud
StoryMap does not decide what this means. Mara does.
Story Directions
Once Mara had enough material, StoryMap helped her explore a few possible ways those experiences could come together. StoryMap calls these Story Directions.
A Story Direction is not a finished essay or a conclusion about who Mara is. It is a possibility she can accept, reject, or change before she writes. StoryMap suggests possibilities. Mara decides what actually feels true.
Possible direction
The person who rewrites the sign
I keep noticing when instructions make sense to the person who wrote them but not to the person who has to use them. I think I have been turning confusing things into something more human for longer than I realized.
The connection is not simply that Mara is helpful. In both moments, she notices when information technically exists but still does not work for the person receiving it.
Built from
The line I drew on the drum · Reading the county letter out loud
Possible direction, needs more from Mara
Quarters and unsolicited advice
Mrs. Halloran appears in Mara's ordinary Thursday routine, and the detail about quarters and unsolicited advice feels potentially meaningful. But StoryMap does not yet have enough evidence to decide what that relationship means to Mara.
Before turning it into a writing direction, StoryMap would ask Mara more about those Thursday conversations, what she remembers, and why Mrs. Halloran stands out.
Built from
Thursday closing with Mrs. Halloran
Sharing a Story Direction does not automatically reveal the Discovery responses, Story Bank material, or other private work behind it. If a student separately chooses to share another supported resource, that remains possible.
Drafts
Private by default. Mara decides whether to share a specific version for feedback.
Common App Personal Essay
Draft excerpt
The sign on machine four said DO NOT OVERLOAD, which is the kind of instruction that only makes sense to someone who already knows the answer. I asked Mrs. Halloran what overloaded meant and she said, you'll know. That was not a definition. So I took a paint marker and drew a line inside the drum, about two thirds up, and under it I wrote: fill to here.
412 words·Private draft
StoryMap coaching note
The opening makes the problem clear quickly. Before moving on, Mara may need to show why she cared enough to fix the sign instead of simply ignoring it.
Mara's next step: continue writing or answer a follow-up question
Colleges
Mara can keep her colleges, application rounds, prompts, deadlines, and story choices connected in one place.
State flagship
Early Action·Nov 1
Personal statement (650 words)
Direction: The person who rewrites the sign
Where it stands: Drafting
Small liberal arts college
Regular Decision·Jan 5
Why us? (250 words)
Direction: Still exploring
Where it stands: Deciding what to write about
In-state public university
Rolling·No fixed date
Personal statement (650 words)
Direction: Not chosen yet
Where it stands: Not started
See what StoryMap notices about you
Start with four quick questions and get a first glimpse of the experiences and connections StoryMap can help you uncover. No account needed.
Your answers stay in your browser unless you choose to save them to your StoryMap.