<p>In a nutshell: My essay is about the National Spelling Bee and how it’s inspired in me a lasting interest in linguistics.</p>
<p>The question: Basically, I don’t have a Plan for the rest of my life. Will it be held against me if I say that in my essay? There are just so many possibilities and I feel like I’d be lying if I said, “I’m going to major in this with a specialty in that and then work here and solve such-and-such a problem and that’s how my life is going to unfold.” I’m not even one hundred percent sure that I am going to major in linguistics. After all, I could do that equally well in graduate school.</p>
<p>If anybody would like to read the essay, I’d be happy to link you to it in PM. As long as you’re not, um, a former National Spelling Bee competitor, I guess.</p>
<p>IMO: Honesty in this regard could well be rewarded. I think the important thing is to be seen to pursuing your interests with focus and intensity. That doesn’t mean that your interests might not be a jumble or that you have everything all mapped out. Most people change their minds a lot during college and beyond, and I think people know that. If not linguistics, though, it may do to be able to demonstrate a passionate interest in other things that you have actively pursued to some extent and have intention to pursue further. Does that make sense?</p>
<p>It does. The essay focuses on what I learned from preparing (how I began to learn to understand the pieces and figure things out rather than try to memorize) and what I’ve been doing with that interest since then, particularly participating in a small constructed-language project. I’m sure that linguistics will be involved; I just don’t know exactly how.</p>
<p>Sounds like a good way to conclude too your essay too. How you will use that same strategy (understanding the pieces as you acquire them in college, rather than start from a conclusion) to decide what you will ultimately put together and what you will do with those pieces when you graduate.</p>