Hello dear reader! I hope you are well and staying hydrated (seriously go drink some water right now!).
As some of you may or may not be aware of, it is almost time for a new round of college application season, where rising juniors pour over time and energy stressing over the copious possibilities of things, of which they do not have control over, could go horribly wrong in the college admissions office. Guess what?! I was there too last year! And it was... certainly a time. This is definitely intended more towards people who are applying to colleges, but I hope you enjoy even if you're not!
But dramatics aside, once moving past the fear of impending doom, I actually really quite enjoyed writing my college essays??? (I know! who is she?!). True, there's the level of "imperfect perfectness" that you need to achieve in portraying yourself and it's definitely a daunting task to write 750 words that serve as your only first impression for the oligarchs over at the college admissions, but forcing yourself to write in this manner sort of forces you to introspect in a way that you don't really do otherwise. You start to think about what exactly you want people to know about you and what you value most about yourself.
At least that was the case for me, an aspiring Creative Writing major who is hoping not to screw up in life. However, even on a technical level, I'd argue that college essays make you a better writer in general. The word count limit forces you to be concise. I definitely started writing essays to realize that they were five hundred words over the limit, only to rack my brain and condense it to half its size. This made me realize how much of an overwriter I was(and as you can probably tell, still am), and forcing me to cut down words and focus on what really matters, I think is what made my essay great.
So anyways, without further ado, here's my common app essay for college.
Some art of my characters by TuesdayWrites(Blog)/ @nikkasart(Instagram)
Prompt: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
I scribble through the half-empty page, furiously jotting down the message. I hear the enemy approaching, carrying cavalry and chaos. They want to destroy this kingdom. The place that I--
I wrote this scene, willing it to be something I’d be happy with. I wished that, for once, I’d be satisfied, that I’d finally make progress on the fourth draft of my novel, Kingdom of Irdris. But in the end, the scene was left in the document with all of its unused predecessors.
Writing Kingdom of Irdris has been a journey. I started as a wide-eyed middle schooler who wrote to explore new worlds and live among magic, sword fights, and dragons. Back then, the book followed a band of five characters on an adventure and resembled many popular tropes such as the ‘chosen one’ and the quest for a McGuffin.
As I grew, the story matured with me. In the second draft, I aged the characters to portray more complex themes. Upon realizing that I wanted to be published, I molded my story to fit a typical YA fantasy, with a young female lead, two kingdoms at war, and a love interest.
After finishing this draft, however, I took a break from writing and instead, explored some of my other passions, namely Model United Nations.
Model UN was a place where I was forced out of my comfort zone. Unlike writing, which only required solitude and creativity, MUN demanded collaboration and factual analysis.
I remember quivering as I made my first speech in front of hundreds of strangers in New York, note cards clutched in my palms, shaking from head to toe. Here, creating worlds could not solve a problem; I had to understand the real world and implement solutions to present issues.
MUN not only built my confidence, but it also forced me to examine the richness of the real world. Through MUN, I met students whose way of formal greeting was a kiss on the cheek, much unlike a handshake. I learned of the history of Sharia law and the impacts of trade barriers, both of which play a large role in international diplomacy. Most importantly, I found a community of people from vastly different backgrounds who gathered to better understand the world, collaborate, and help solve real-world issues. I gained a broader perspective in this experience, realizing that what I know is a very small grain of sand in the mountain of knowledge and experience.
Last year, I dusted off the cobwebs from my old novel and began writing again. I smiled as I opened the document, but it quickly turned into a frown. I forced an unsatisfying third draft and started a fourth, yet I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t enjoying the story that I was so passionate about in the past.
Upon rereading my old work, I have come to the stark realization that my purpose for writing has changed. As a twelve-year-old, my story reflected the small world I knew: black and white, good and evil. It was a world that contradicted everything I learned and will continue to learn through higher education and experiences, creating a disconnect with my writing. For the longest time, I played a constant tug-of-war between writing for my past self and creating something that reflects who I am today.
The decision, at once, seemed so simple and so difficult to comprehend, but I finally understood. I wanted to write something inclusive, something nuanced and reflective of the vibrant world around me. And the only way to do that was by letting go of the expectations of my younger self; by letting go of Kingdom of Irdris.
To stop a project that I’ve worked on for five years was difficult, but I knew that I had better stories to tell and higher limits to surpass. So, with a sigh, I opened a new document and started writing.Now, six months later, I definitely have plans for KOI in the future, and if I were to write this now, I'd probably phrase things differently because my writing style has changed a bit, but that's beyond the point. I was really (and I mean reeeallly) proud of this essay when I wrote it, and I still quite am.
My point is, while the thought of writing a college essay does scream volcra in the fold (for saint's sake, read the Grishaverse if you don't get the reference!), but it really doesn't have to be! Yes, it's hard to perfect (it took me three months to write this), and you're probably screaming a blank page without ideas, but it's an experience that most seniors applying for higher education go through.
Make it enjoyable for yourself in any way that you can! For me, that was by writing about things I was passionate about, whether that be about MUN and Writing in my main essay or Karnatic music in my short essays. And at this point, I'm rambling, so I will end it off here.
If you are an upcoming senior, I wish you good luck on your college process!
Until next time,
Nitya :)
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