Hi CC! I’ve just finished the last in a long series of college essays, and I think it displays who I am best. As a result, it’s a little… weird. I decided on prompt 2: The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
My essay is actually genuine. Although the lesson is a little cliché, it is actually something I learned about myself. My essay is about writing my essay. Is the current title too snarky? I may replace it with “650 Words”
Insert Witty Title Here
Crumpled papers surround me as yet another blank page stares me down intimidatingly. I’m about to embark on my umpteenth expedition into the uncharted territory of a fresh sheet of paper. The endless expanse of the flat, empty plane stretches on for miles. It’s a frightening journey, but one which every high school student must make.
“You have to use the essay to tell colleges who you are,” my teacher said. “This is your opportunity to make yourself shine.” But how could I describe myself in just 650 words? I’ve always had a passion for writing, whether it be poetry, papers, or articles for my school newspaper. So why was it so hard to write the perfect essay? How frustrating it was to be confined within the very thing I love.
“Write about something that you’re truly passionate about.” That was easy for me- I have many passions, as I have been interested in many things throughout my life. I decided to write about fencing- from anthropology to swordplay, I love examining the way people think. I wrote about how many years of training and failure came to fruition when I earned my C15 rating. What drove me to never give up was my refusal to accept anything but the best I could achieve. However, it was this quality that led to one of my first crumpled papers. Expressing my passion ended up being harder than executing the perfect counterattack.
“Sports are cliché,” my teacher said. “Focus on making yourself stand out.” My next essay focused on my love for music. In a few words, I succeeded despite being told I could not do so because of my determination. But how would this story stand out among many others just like it? I was better at expressing my passion through the language of music. Even a Spohr Concerto could not compare to the technical difficulty of stuffing myself into a 650 word box. My mulish desire to write the perfect essay resulted in my artfully crafted words being stuffed violently into the crammed trash can. The countless YouTube videos I’d watched and innumerable essays I’d read didn’t seem to be helping.
“The night before her AP Chemistry exam, she learned her father had an affair… with a 23-year-old prostitute.” “The alcohol-consuming, poor Muslim family down the street with whom no sane member of society would want interact.” Compared to the moving difficulties these students had faced, my mundane challenges seemed like they would fade into the background.
“This is confidence.” The three-word-essay had me reeling for months on end. How could I be unique without sounding gimmicky?
I needed to be remarkable, and I needed to stand out amongst thousands.
What could I do?
After weeks of drafts and phony essays, I realized what was most important. I had been given an opportunity to show who I was. I needed to show case every quality, both positive and negative- my determination, stubbornness, dry humor, indecisiveness, and even my weird, unorthodox way of thinking. It had to be me- not the “perfect” student, but me. No person is complete without his imperfections- and if my essay is supposed to represent me, it shouldn’t be perfect. The perfect essay is an impossible myth- and if it ever existed, I imagine it would be quite boring.
I took this lesson to heart. This essay may be unconventional, quirky, and a little weird, but so am I. Millions of cross-outs, sloppily written drafts, and dead trees later, here I am. Because of my unfazed mettle, I was able to use my failures as components to build my success. The moral of the story? This is me. I’m weird, a little avant-garde, and definitely not perfect. And I’d take that over perfection any day.