No Templates. Just Voice.
Personal statement mentorship rooted in real writing instruction.
Founded by Jacob Lozano, a Houston writing teacher and storyteller.
Personal statement mentorship rooted in real writing instruction.
Founded by Jacob Lozano, a Houston writing teacher and storyteller.
No Templates. Just Voice.
How did 3rd Coast Narratives start?
This work started the same way many teaching projects do: students asked for help.
Through that work, I realized something. My process looked very different from the large essay consulting companies families were paying for.
Part of that comes from my background in writing. Part of it comes from the way I approach the work itself. After more than a decade of teaching writing, I know good essays do not come from templates. They come from careful conversation, reflection, and revision.
What matters most to me is not just the final draft. It is helping a student sound more honest, more confident, and more like themselves by the end of the process.
What should students expect working with you?
Students who work with me should expect thoughtful questions, honest feedback, and real revision.
I have taught English and writing since 2013 and have helped students develop essays and narrative writing across many contexts, including college applications. I hold a BA in English Writing & Rhetoric from St. Edward’s University and an MFA in Screenwriting from Boston University.
My approach to the personal statement is story-driven. We still meet every requirement an application expects, but we do it in a way that sounds like a real person speaking rather than a formula being filled out.
The goal is not to fit a student into a box. The goal is to find the shape that fits the student.
Who are you outside the classroom?
I grew up in La Porte, Texas, and I still think like a kid from the Gulf Coast.
Writers who have shaped me include Kurt Vonnegut, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jesmyn Ward, and Emily St. John Mandel, among others.
Outside of school, I read constantly and continue working on my own fiction. That part of my life matters to this work. I am not only teaching students how to write. I am still thinking seriously about writing, too.
Why does the personal statement matter?
The personal statement is one of the few places in an application where a student can truly speak for themselves. Test scores, transcripts, and resumes provide important information, but they rarely explain the deeper motivations behind a student’s goals and decisions.
The essay gives students a chance to have a conversation with the admissions reader without being in the room. When everything else on an application looks similar, that conversation is often what allows a student to stand out.
And that conversation should sound like the student, not the consultant.