Summer 2026
College Ready: Drafting Your Narrative
This Journey offers a streamlined path to college readiness through interactive workshops, mentoring, and peer exchange. You will move from drafting a compelling personal statement to building a strategic school list and navigating financial planning, all while receiving personalized feedback on your work. By the end of the program, you’ve gained the skills to create a polished application and the insider knowledge needed to present your most authentic self to admissions committees.
Ready to Apply?
Learn more below or get started now. If you do not already have a Girls Write Now Portal account, you will be asked to create one in order to apply.
Apply Now
Ready to Apply?
Learn more below or get started now. If you do not already have a Girls Write Now Portal account, you will be asked to create one in order to apply.
- JOURNEY REQUIREMENTS
- Cycle(s) One cycle (July 1 to September 30).
- Time Commitment A minimum of four hours per month.
- Journey Meetings Attend monthly Journey Meetings. See dates listed below.
- Mentoring Have a minimum of two one-hour pair sessions per month.
- Journey Project Develop a polished personal statement.
Learning Objectives
College Ready: Drafting Your Narrative Community Experiences
Participants must attend one live workshop each month, and one College Chat event per cycle. Participants should also schedule one Mentor on Demand session via their Portal each month.
Summer Cycle Journey Workshops:
- Tuesday, July 28, 2026, 7 – 9 PM ET
- Tuesday, August 25, 2026, 7 – 9 PM ET
- Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 7 – 9 PM ET
Summer Cycle College Chat:
- Tuesday, August 11, 2026, 4:45 – 6 PM ET
If you’re unable to attend a Journey workshop, you must notify your Staff Lead in advance and attend a community event to make up for it—recommended options for this journey include Community Studios and Career Chats.
College Ready: Drafting Your Narrative Courses
Personal Statement & College Prep
In this course, you will explore personal narrative and strategic planning while building practical tools to support your next academic step. Designed to reinforce your live Journey sessions, the coursework provides guided lessons, reflective exercises, and structured planning resources to help you clarify your experiences, refine your voice, and navigate key decisions with confidence. Through ongoing drafting, research, and feedback, you will strengthen both your storytelling and your strategy as you move toward a polished, purposeful application process.
College Ready: Drafting Your Narrative Mentoring
Mentees and mentors in this Journey will be matched for a minimum of one cycle. Pairs will meet for at least two hour-long sessions each month.
Teach 360
Journeys in the College 360 Adventure focus on the process of getting into college and making the most of your college experience. It is perfect for mentees and mentors who are applying to college or are in college currently.
College Ready: Drafting Your Narrative is a Journey in the College 360 Adventure.
Explore All Journeys
Explore All Journeys
Independent Study (Summer 2026)
Create your own experience with our Independent Study Journey. Meet as a pair, attend events of interest, and use coursework to help you plan creative projects and meet your goals.
Career Exploration: From Searching to Securing the Position (Summer 2026)
This Journey provides a strategic roadmap for navigating the modern workforce, moving from self-discovery to landing the position.
Explore Tour (Summer 2026)
Explore all of the creative and storytelling pathways Girls Write Now has to offer through a multimedia, multi-genre experience that includes mini courses, exploratory studios, and one-on-one pair sessions. Discover new skills and build on existing ones with offerings that range from fiction to journalism to publishing, and dive into formats like video, podcasting, visual storytelling, and more. Ideal for mentees who enjoy working across multiple genres and media or are focused on specific projects, this Journey offers the flexibility to tailor your learning experience to your individual needs.
Writing Our Way to Wellness: A Podcast Journey, Pt. II (Summer 2026)
This Journey invites mentees to explore the intersection of storytelling and wellness through the art of podcasting.
Stories of Becoming: Crafting Young Adult Romance (Summer 2026)
This Journey invites participants to dive into the world of young adult romance, exploring the joys, challenges, and complexities of love in adolescence and young adulthood. Through creative writing exercises, character development, and plot crafting, mentees will learn how to create authentic, relatable stories that resonate with YA readers. Participants will explore themes of identity, friendship, and emotional growth while honing their craft in storytelling that captures the heart and imagination.
Teach GWN (Summer 2026)
In this Journey, members of the GWN community will develop curriculum and facilitate a Community Studio for one or more cycles within GWN’s Collaboratory structure. Each cycle involves facilitating three Community Studios, one per month. Participants will gain valuable skills in leadership, teaching, and community building. Mentees and mentors can facilitate a Community Studio either solo (if they are 18 or older) or together as a pair.
Fresh Mouth: Confidence Through Comedy (Summer 2026)
This Journey transforms your unique observations and "wild and wacky" thoughts into a structured comedy set. Through bi-weekly Journey Meetings and personalized coaching, you will explore the mechanics of humor, moving from a raw premise to a polished delivery. You will learn to find the funny in the everyday while building the stage presence and confidence necessary to share your voice. The experience concludes in a live showcase alongside peers and professional comedians, where you will debut your original material and celebrate the power of humor as a tool for connection and self-expression.
College Ready: Drafting Your Narrative (Summer 2026)
This Journey offers a streamlined path to college readiness through interactive workshops, mentoring, and peer exchange. You will move from drafting a compelling personal statement to building a strategic school list and navigating financial planning, all while receiving personalized feedback on your work. By the end of the program, you’ve gained the skills to create a polished application and the insider knowledge needed to present your most authentic self to admissions committees.
Zine Makers: Crafting A Peer Poetry Zine (Summer 2026)
This Journey invites you to step into the role of editor and designer to transform poetry from the spring Poetry Rising Journey into a compelling, collaborative zine. You will move through the specialized stages of the publishing world, beginning with a deep editorial dive to refine existing verses inspired by heritage and created by your peers. As you master visual composition and multimedia design, you will learn to pair these powerful voices with a cohesive aesthetic, ultimately gaining the technical skills and creative vision needed to produce and share a high-impact, independent publication.
Book Club: Fantasy (Summer 2026)
This Journey offers an immersive dive into contemporary literature, shifting from passive reading to a strategic analysis of a writer’s craft.
