<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I am looking at a 2011 admission to EWSP, am currently 21, and live in Canada, so I get the futher complications of being in international student, lol. I have drawn up a plan of projects that I will work on for my application, and I was wondering what your thoughts were in regards to the plan of attack.</p>
<p>But first, some background: I was one of those students who never had to try in high school. I completed homework, but I never actually had to study for any tests. I had strong grades in English, Drama - artsy things - average to poor in the Sciences, and HORRIBLE in Math. I only needed a grade 11 math for my high school diploma, and so that was all I ever took. Although, it should be noted, I did get my advanced-level math for that requirement. Writing has always been my passion, and it is what I want to persue at Yale. I am a strong and active writer. When I graduated high school, I was accepted to the university in my city. Halfway through the fall semester, my father was diagnosed with MS. I didn’t talk about it - in fact, my closest friends still don’t know he’s sick, and this is three years after I found out. I was completely unprepared for the emotional stress I was about to carry with me, and I gradually just shut down. By the end of the year, the university offered me a place in their second-chance program (otherwise, my grades were such that I would not be accepted for the second year). I declined. The following year, I spent working, and halfway through, started a very harmful relationship that was destined to cost me a year-and-a-half of my life. Wasted. The guy I was seeing was a trust-fund kid and didn’t have to work for anything. Only a month after I met him, I moved in with him when the situation at home was too painful. From there, I was given full liberty to over-dose on the drug I now realize I turn to whenever I am emotionally overwhelmed - avoidance. Suddenly, I didn’t have to work or do chores or even curb a single impulse. I had a life completely without responsibility or goals. The boyfriend paid for everything, gave me whatever I wanted…spoiled me. He never said no. I stopped writing. I stopped hanging out with my friends. I stopped seeing my family. The only thing I did was sleep or watch tv. I rarely left the house. The only way he could entice me was shopping trips or supper out. I’m not sure why or how it happened, but one day, it was like I woke up for real for the first time. I saw what I was becoming someone who didn’t contribute to the world. A waste of space. Of potential. There were so many things that I could and wanted to do, and I wasn’t doing any of them. I started working on some projects that the boyfriend and I were both interested in, but he had been trapped in the lifestyle of avoidance far longer than I had and couldn’t shake it. He lagged on his responsibilities, and ultimately destroyed one of the projects because he didn’t finish his share of the work on time without telling me until it was too late (publicly embarrassing me). This shattered my trust in him and reshaped my perspective on the relationship. I didn’t want to be with someone who wasted their life like that just let all the amazing opportunities pass them by. He could sense that things weren’t good between us anymore, and for the next 4 months or so, the presents and surprises increased dramatically. Like an unspoken bribe to stay. Finally, on New Years, we went to a party at a friend’s house. That night he drank more than anyone in the house thought possible. Midnight came, and the kiss. The way you spend New Year’s is the way you’ll spend the next year. I did not want to waste the next year on this guy, in this old life We kissed anyways. It would have been awkward for everyone if we hadn’t. But he knew it was done. That night, when everyone was passed out, he threatened to commit suicide if I left him. The rest of the night, I passed keeping him in the house, where I could keep an eye on him. Physically restraining him. He slammed me against some walls, but ultimately, he was too drunk to do too much harm to anyone but himself. I moved out the next day. I have since cut off all communication with him. Now, I’m in my third year out of high school. I’m done hiding. Life is hard, but it’s overcoming those hardships that make it worthwhile. My dad is sick, but he’s still alive, and I need to spend as much time with him while I can. Living on my own sucks, I work 70 hours a week, but I am nobody’s burden. I want to go back to school. I wasn’t ready that first year out of high school, but I am now. In fact, I’m ready to get into one of the best schools there is. After everything I’ve gone through, I need to accomplish something impossible. I have something to prove to myself. That’s why I chose Yale. They have a focus on undergraduate studies, and their English department is outstanding. They have so many extra-curricular theater opportunities, too, which has always been another focus of mine.</p>
<p>So, now for the plan.</p>
<p>Participate again in community theater
Read the Pulitzer Fiction Award Novels (familiarize myself with American repertoire)
Read the Great American Novels (familiarize myself with American repertoire)
Write 2 novels
Write a graphic novel
Participate in the Walk for MS
Take some courses at the university
Take SATS
Attend Writers’ Group meetings again</p>
<p>I want to prove that I can handle a heavy workload, but more importantly, that I am committed to pursuing my own passions and education independently, too. What else can I do to increase my odds of acceptance? Or, for that matter, how does it look right now?</p>