When the stakes are high and the future is on the line, what are the stories we tell about ourselves? In Personal Statement, twenty-three American students enter a brutal college application workshop where they must get their personal statement topics approved in order to leave. As they pitch their stories – some absurd, some manipulative, some deeply personal – to the mysterious, unseen instructor guiding (or tormenting) them, they confront the expectations, fears and ambitions that shape their lives. Poignant and darkly funny, Personal Statement unpacks identity, ambition and the absurdity of proving yourself in 650 words.