Hey, anyone who can help me out with ideas or how to even go about this, that’d be great. I have an idea for my college essay, but it’s about superstitions, specifically the 11:11 superstition about making a wish. I’d discuss how the 11:11 make-a-wish superstition ran in our family, though I’ve never really believed it & just did it for fun.
Could I potentially make an essay about that and speak about a specific time when I’ve worked hard toward something that maybe I wouldn’t usually do? Or something along those lines, I have no idea but I want to make sure I 1) don’t sound crazy and 2) come off as someone who relied on luck to get through hard times because i didnt </3
Write something out, show to your friends, families or teacher and see if works.
GIven the prompt to write about anything that you want - you can write about anything that you want.
Will it share something about you to the schools that they won’t learn from the remainder of your app?
Good luck.
I think your instinct that this could work well is right - but I think the risk you should think about is that superstition ends up being a framework with nothing holding it together, not that someone reading this is going to think you’re crazy or that you lean on luck.
IMO the genuinely interesting part is that you do the 11:11 wish even though you don’t believe in it, because it’s a family thing. Sustaining a ritual you’ve never bought into bc it belongs to people you love is a little unusual and uncommon. Most people prob either believe or opt out. Intentionally doing it anyway reveals something about you that has nothing to do with luck - and telling readers something nonobvious about how you think or operate is exactly what a personal statement is for.
So if it were me I’d stay the course with what you already noticed. When did you first realize you didn’t believe it and kept doing it anyway? Who in your family takes it seriously, and what does it feel like to catch their eye at 11:11 knowing you don’t? Is there anything else you do bc it belongs to somebody, not because it’s true (which may suggest this behavior isn’t about superstition at all… which would make your PS even MORE revealing)?
BTW, I wouldn’t volunteer contra-evidence to head off criticism of you as “lucky” or “superstitious”. This tends to make essays flatter & less interesting, and actually makes you sound defensive and unconfident.