Creating Your Story: Free Resource to Launch Your Student Project

Today, almost every young person is a leader of some position, whether it is founding their own non-profit or running an organization at school - but not everyone can explain WHY they’re doing so.

This is what a story accomplishes and why it is so important. It clearly explains the connections between your commitments and demonstrates your purpose.

Here are three steps to create a cohesive story for your project.

Step 1 - What’s a Potential Story?

Your story stems from your personal character and what you believe in. You must first understand your aspirations before thinking externally.

The way we accomplish this is through Belief Statements. There are three types:

1. Personal Beliefs (PB) - Who do you want to be?

2. Leader Beliefs (LB) - What traits do you believe leaders should have?

3. Societal Beliefs (SB) - What should society do/believe?

Write down answers to these questions. Some examples of belief statements:

1. PB: I believe I am a strong role model for youth around me because I hold myself to a high standard and find incredible joy in helping others.

2. LB: I believe leaders should always eat last because taking care of your team

   creates a strong team bond.

3. SB: I believe that access to healthy and nutritious food should be accessible to all because food is not an option - it is a basic human right.

Now with each belief statement, come up with an example of something that happened to you which inspired that belief.

These are the best places to draw inspiration for your project.

Step 2 - What is a Good Story? 

Now that you have a list of your beliefs and what inspired them, you need to identify which have the most depth & substance.

You can use the STARL(A) framework. If you haven’t done this already, read our previous article to get an explanation of how STARL(A) works.

Apply each of the past activities/experiences you’ve written in Step 1 to the framework. If you find yourself struggling to fill out the worksheet with a specific experience, that means it does not have enough depth.

By the end of the exercise, you should have filtered your potential stories to 1-2 options with proper depth. Refer back to your belief statements and double-check — are these the experiences that best exemplify your beliefs?

Step 3 - How do I Tell my Story?

The last step is to properly share your story. This can be a quick elevator pitch to people interested in joining your project or to teachers, officials, etc. that may want to support you. The best framework we have developed to accomplish this is called the Story of Us, the Story of Self, and the Story of Now.

• Story of Now - situates your audience with the immediacy of the issue you are tackling. Drawing reference to your experiences and project ideas: why do you need to mentor young students NOW, and not a year down the line?

• Story of Us - brings people together. Think about the people you want to join your project - how would you convince them to work with you together?

• Story of Self - establishing your personal connection - why are you so passionate about this project?

Once you’ve answered these three questions, your last step is to put it all together in a pitch. You don’t have to present the Story of Now, Us or Self in a particular order - choose whichever feels the most natural to you.

If you would like to see a student example of what Step 1, Step 2 and Step 3 looks like altogether, download this PDF.

By crafting your story with these elements, you can effectively communicate your mission, inspire others to join your cause, and highlight the urgency of your project.

Your project’s story will continually evolve over time. Belief Statements, STARL(A), and the Story of Self, Us, and Now are excellent frameworks to guide you. Having a good project with a bad story can undersell the work and time you’ve put into it, but a good project with a good story will take your initiative to the next level.