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Writing Seminar for Combat Medics & Corpsmen

Post-Seminar Survey

Remember the worksheet you completed before you arrived and our conversation about what makes success for you as a writer?

This is a survey that helps us make changes and grow our program to better help you be successful. It also helps our partners and funders better understand our impact. We want you to be honest and feel free to express yourself as you rate the performance of our team and your own learnings. This will not affect in any way any future applications or stories you bring to The War Horse.

While the survey is not anonymous, we will not use your responses in reports or publicly without your explicit permission. We will also add you to a mailing list for contributors and participants in The War Horse seminar. Those emails will go out periodically, about four times per year. As time goes on, we will reach out to see how you are doing and hope that we can continue to provide support and space for you to publish your writing.

Post-Seminar Survey

Name
First Last
Email
Application & Logistics
We want the process of applying and attending our seminars to be easy so that you can focus on the content.
How was the application process?
- Very difficult
- Difficult
- Neither difficult nor easy
- Easy
- Very easy
What was it like to get your stipend?
- Very difficult
- Difficult
- Neither difficult nor easy
- Easy
- Very easy
How was the process of booking your travel?
- Very difficult
- Difficult
- Neither difficult nor easy
- Easy
- Very easy
Please elaborate on your numerical answers. We appreciate feedback on the performance of the staff of The War Horse and the logistics of the program.
Seminar Content
In this section, we want you to think about the seminar content. We want as much of it to be effective for as many of you as possible. While we will share this feedback with individuals, we will not identify you, so please be candid with us. Our goal is to help you write and tell your stories. But we also want you to be safe and healthy.
Before you arrived, did you know that you would be expected to write about and discuss potentially traumatic issues?
- Yes
- No
- Not sure
Did you feel safe and prepared to talk about the issues that were covered?
- Yes
- No
- Not sure
Were you nervous or surprised by any of the material you were given or tasks you were asked to do?
- Yes
- No
- Not sure
Did you have the resources you needed to deal with some of the difficult issues we discussed? Was that material presented in a way that was sensitive to your experience?
- Yes
- No
- Not sure
If you feel comfortable, please tell us more about your experience with the content of the course and delving into your own stories. Are there ways that you felt supported and included, or things that might have been better?
The Instructor
Please rate Dave Chrisinger’s effectiveness as a teacher and mentor on a scale of 1 to 5.
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Did your instructor challenge you? Did he provide feedback that was helpful? Did you feel like he created an inclusive environment? Please explain.
Is there anything you wish future instructors would do differently?
Guest Speakers
Now, please rate our four guest speakers and the newsroom tour on a similar scale.
Was Robert Rosenthal an effective addition to the program as a guest speaker who helped you reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Please provide comments, if you have them.
Was Karen Stabiner an effective addition to the program as a guest speaker who helped you reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Please provide comments, if you have them.
Was Dan Lamothe an effective addition to the program as a guest speaker who helped you reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Please provide comments, if you have them.
Was Wendy Wolf an effective addition to the program as a guest speaker who helped you reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Please provide comments, if you have them.
Was Stuart Krichevsky an effective addition to the program as a guest speaker who helped you reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Please provide comments, if you have them.
Was Tracy Grant an effective addition to the program as a guest speaker who helped you reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Please provide comments, if you have them.
Was Jodi Salamino an effective addition to the program as a guest speaker who helped you reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Please provide comments, if you have them.
Was the tour of The Washington Post newsroom an effective addition to the program that helped you reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Please provide comments about the newsroom tour, if you have them.
The Venue
Was the venue, Boulder Crest Retreat, an effective space for you to reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Was it helpful to be in a remote location? Please provide comments about the venue, if you have them.
Were the Boulder Crest Retreat optional activities, such as yoga, walks and hikes, an effective addition to the program to help you reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Please provide comments about the optional activities, if you have them.
How was Rachel’s food? Did it help you do your best work to reach your goals as a writer?
- 1 - Detrimental
- 2 - Ineffective
- 3 - Neither effective nor ineffective
- 4 - Effective
- 5 - Transformational
Please provide comments about the food, if you have them.
The Impact of the Seminar
Think back to when you filled out the first workshop about your writing life. Would you have agreed with the following statements before this experience? What about now, after you have met the cohort and gone through the workshop?
Before the workshop began, would you have agreed with the following statement: I have an important story to tell.
- 1 - No, I’ll keep it to myself.
- 2 - It might be important to some people.
- 3 - My story is just my story, neither important nor unimportant.
- 4 - My story is important and I want to tell it.
- 5 - I want the whole world to know my story.
Today, after the workshop, do you agree with the following statement: I have an important story to tell.
- 1 - No, I’ll keep it to myself.
- 2 - It might be important to some people.
- 3 - My story is just my story, neither important nor unimportant.
- 4 - My story is important and I want to tell it.
- 5 - I want the whole world to know my story.
Before the workshop, would you have agreed with the following statement: I have the ability to tell my story.
- 1 - No, I cannot convey what I want to say.
- 2 - I can tell my story, but not well.
- 3 - I can tell my story fine.
- 4 - I am good at telling my story.
- 5 - I am very good at telling my story.
After the workshop, would you agree with the following statement: I have the ability to tell my story.
- 1 - No, I cannot convey what I want to say.
- 2 - I can tell my story, but not well.
- 3 - I can tell my story fine.
- 4 - I am good at telling my story.
- 5 - I am very good at telling my story.
Before the workshop, would you have agreed with the following statement: I know people who can help me get my story out to the world.
- 1 - I can’t think of anyone who could help me.
- 2 - I can think of people but I don’t think I could ask for help.
- 3 - I can think of a few people who could help.
- 4 - I feel confident I can find people to help.
- 5 - I have more than enough people who I can contact for help.
Today, after the workshop, do you agree with the following statement: I know people who can help me get my story out to the world.
- 1 - I can’t think of anyone who could help me.
- 2 - I can think of people but I don’t think I could ask for help.
- 3 - I can think of a few people who could help.
- 4 - I feel confident I can find people to help.
- 5 - I have more than enough people who I can contact for help.
Tell us a little about why you chose the numbers you did, or elaborate as you’d like. As you thought about what has or has not happened for you in the last six days, reflect on any learnings you had or wish you’d had.
Thinking ahead to months or years from now, what would you like to do or feel after having been through this seminar? Is there anything specific you’d like to accomplish?
What information or resources can we provide to help you achieve these goals?
Your cohort is a powerful group that can influence the stories that we tell and hear about the experience of war. We also hope that The War Horse has connected you to a community where you feel understood. You answered this question before the seminar. Please tell us again: Do you feel like you have a community that understands you and gives you resources?
- 1 - I don’t feel like I have this kind of community
- 2 - I am trying to find this kind of community
- 3 - I have a community that understands me
- 4- I am growing my community
- 5 - I have a large enough and powerful community
If you’d like, please tell us more about your relationship to the cohort. Has it helped you as a writer? Has it helped you in other ways? Is there anything you are able to do or access now that you couldn’t before the seminar?
Do you want to keep connecting with the fellows and past fellows? How do you envision keeping this community strong? Some options could be Slack channels, listservs, chat groups, calls or in-person meetings.
Do you feel comfortable if we contact you to follow up on anything you’ve said? No pressure.
- Yes
- No
Thank you for taking the time to complete the post-seminar survey. Your feedback is very important to us.

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