The Jenn Co.

The Jenn Co. Probably struggling to roll up the projector screen. Professor POVs on: college life, rhetoric, Disney Parks, circus arts, & Flarda. Come learn with me!

06/11/2026

People ask me what prepared me to become a high school teacher and now a professor. Honestly? Working in food service and retail during my college years.

I am completely serious when I say that becoming a server at Chili’s gave me the best on-the-job training I have ever received. I learned so much about multitasking, about holding a lot of information in my head at once, about having 360-degree hearing. Being able to pick up conversations happening in front of me, behind me, one table over. Working efficiently. Being patient. Being funny. And I learned there that when you’re talking to someone at the table, you squat down so you’re at their eye level. I still do that in the classroom today. I learned it at Chili’s.

I also worked in the shoe department of an outdoor sporting goods store, and at a hipster coffee shop before coffee shops were hipstery. (That place claimed they invented pour-over coffee). And it was the same lesson in all of those environments: listen and capture what’s happening all around you. Be patient. Be empathetic. Hear not just what people are saying, but what they actually mean.

All of those things are crucial for teaching. And nothing prepared me to do them better than food service and retail.

06/09/2026

A lot of students and parents initially misunderstand college application essays because they think they’re just another school essay.

They’re not.

College application essays belong to a genre of writing called, “creative nonfiction.”

Creative nonfiction is nonfiction because the stories are true.
It is creative because writers use techniques like description and dialogue.

What makes it different from more “regular” nonfiction is the writer’s voice and reflection.

And that is exactly what college application essays ask students to do.

You tell true stories about yourself in your own voice.
You use creative techniques to help the reader step inside the story.
And you include reflection so the admissions reader can hear how you think, what you notice, and what the experience meant to you.

That’s why a strong college essay is not just a list of events or achievements.
It is a true story, told with care, voice, and insight.

Follow for more clear, practical information about college application essays.

06/07/2026

If you’re a Gen X or Millennial parent, here’s the one thing to know about college application essays:

There are many more of them now than when we applied.

That can make the process feel confusing.

The good news is that they all have one thing in common:

They are all the same genre of writing.

Why does that matter?

Because many parents assume each essay is a completely different task.
Or they read these essays by the standards they were taught in school.
Or they judge them by what college essays looked like when they applied.

That is where a lot of confusion starts.

Yes, the prompts vary.
Yes, the applications ask for different things.
Yes, there are more essay types now:

Common App.

Coalition App.

University-specific apps (like University of California system).

Supplemental essays.

Honors college essays.

Scholarship essays.

But underneath all of that, these essays are still asking students to do the same kind of writing.

So the most helpful thing a parent can understand is not just what each prompt says on the surface.

It is what all of these essays have in common.

Send this to another parent of a junior or senior.

Let me introduce myself! I’m grateful for all my followers, and if you are new here, welcome!Hi, I’m Jenn. I’m a rhetori...
06/06/2026

Let me introduce myself! I’m grateful for all my followers, and if you are new here, welcome!

Hi, I’m Jenn. I’m a rhetoric and writing professor at a small public university in Florida. I’ve been here fifteen years and I really do love how beautiful Florida is, even though other parts of it are complicated. I’m originally from California and I have the state flag tattooed on my arm, so that tells you something about me.

I have three Papillons who compete in dog sports. I collect hobbies. Right now I’m learning social media, I do aerial silks, and I’m starting lyra this summer. I started aerial silks in my forties. I love to travel and I’ve been doing freelance travel writing, with a new focus on cruises. I’m a Disney Adult and Trader Joe’s is my happy place.

My family is all on the West Coast so I don’t see them as much as I’d like, but I have really great friends here and I’m still close with people I grew up with.

I’ve been teaching college application essays for seventeen years and it is my favorite thing to teach. A strong essay can change admission outcomes and scholarship opportunities, and I’m building this space to help students who can’t afford a private essay coach have access to this information.

If you’ve read this far, you’re in the right place! Thank you for coming along!

06/05/2026

This year, I was coaching my college students through the process of generating good research questions.

One of them asked, “At what age do people become excited about going to the grocery store?”

👀

Limoncello scented candle ✅
S’mores bars ✅
Gozleme ✅
Cold Brew coffee bags (1 for now, 1 to add to my winter hoard) ✅
Vitamin C serum ✅

06/05/2026

I genuinely thought that if I built a good course, people would come.

So when I first turned my in-person college application essay course into an online offer, I poured so. much. energy. into creating it. I focused on the lessons, the structure, and making it valuable. And then hours and hours recording it all.

What I didn’t focus on was building a new online audience for it.

Because I had made something I believed in, and then had to face the reality that people online didn’t know me yet, trust me yet, or even know it existed … that was brutal.

I even tried direct mail to fill it, and that was a disaster.

What that experience taught me is that building an online course isn’t just about creating something helpful. It’s also about building connection, trust, and demand alongside it.

If you’re turning an in-person offer into an online course, don’t make the mistake I made. Build the audience while you build the course.





For their final project in my Rhetoric of Walt Disney World course, I gave my college students a choice. They could use ...
06/02/2026

For their final project in my Rhetoric of Walt Disney World course, I gave my college students a choice.

They could use rhetoric to analyze an aspect of an existing Disney Park. Or, they could design their own theme park, and then use rhetoric to analyze their creation.

I warned them the theme park option was more work. But half of the class chose it anyway.

What they created was better than I could have imagined.

The names, the descriptions, the menu items- it reminds me how much thinking can hide inside a creative assignment when students are given enough room to build.

For academics, it’s easy to assume that serious learning has to look a certain way. But sometimes the most rigorous work is takes the form of a wooden rollercoaster with a mini-pencil ride vehicle inspired by a father’s workshop.

Which of these would you visit?

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