U Chicago Supplement - I have a mind that does not stick - the importance of 'useless' trivia

Hey everyone! This is my U Chicago supplement essay. The prompt is:

"Mind that does not stick."
-Zen Master Shoitsu (1202-80) | (2005-2006)

I really need some constructive criticism on it... I really want to show what kind of person I am (huge book nerd, you'll see...). I heard U Chicago encourages students to geek out, but I want to make sure it's not too much. If that make sense. I'm EAing, so this essay is super important to me. Anything will be helpful!!

Be harsh! I can take it (hopefully).

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My mind does not stick. Just a few days ago, I was at school, trying to write my English assignment on Hamlet. I had no idea what to write, so I decided researching would be a good idea. I went to library to look for some secondary materials, and the next thing I knew, I was reading Bertolt Brecht'sMother Courage and Her Children. Confused, I looked around, trying to piece together how I went from Shakespearean tragedy to postmodern theatre. Scattered around me were Aristotle's Poetics, T. S. Eliot's essays, and my own copy of Hamlet. There was only one explanation - I got sidetracked again. My mind does not stick - once given the opportunity, it wants to read everything.

In reading, I go through 'phases.' I tend to spend a period of time reading only the works of one particular author, a specific genre, or a literary movement. Then, after few weeks of obsession, I move on. The passion dissipates, like tears in rain. My mind is restless, always demanding more; being swamped in one spot is unbearable. It wants to be on the road: racing, chasing after new information, chasing for more. Perhaps this is why I spend so much time on Wikipedia. The actual Wikipedia page does not eat away much time, but the 'further reading' section is completely a different story. There is always more to read.

My mind does not stick. Some may argue it is a good thing - I have endless intellectual curiosity to read and absorb more. However, just like my mind refuses to be stuck in one paradigm, useful information never sticks in my mind. I take pride in my love of reading. I am never ashamed to admit that I am the sort of person who reads the back of the cereal box during breakfast, but I always found it slightly ironic that it is always the most useless trivia that I remember. If you asked me about Marcel Duchamp, the first thing that came to my mind would not the upside down toilet that he claimed to be a fountain. It would be the fact that he left his sister's algebra textbook out in the sun, until the words faded away, as a birthday gift to her, who loathed mathematics. If Foucault came up in a conversation, it would take several moments for me to recall that he was the genius who wrote Madness and Civilization, but I would definitely know that when Edmund White asked him why he was so intelligent, Foucault said it was because, in order to impress a boy he liked in middle school, he wrote all of the boy's homework, from Medieval history to algebra. Once, my friend asked me if I knew the band Steely Dan. I did not know how to answer. I have never heard its music - in fact, I did not even know the genre of its music - but for some reason, I knew that the band name came from William Burroughs' Naked Lunch. While we are on the topic, did you know that Burroughs had a pet cobra, which he fed - much to the vet's horror - by hand?

Having a mind that does not stick does get problematic at times. There are countless times in my life when somebody asks me incredulously, 'How do you even know that?' No matter how often I get asked the same question, I always feel awkward under their confused and scrutinizing gaze, but my answer remains the same - 'I read it somewhere.' My mind is always sprinting in several different directions at once, demanding more, picking up tidbits of information here and there, but, somehow, these tidbits became the foundation of my empirical knowledge. Duchamp's atypical yet heartfelt present is harmonious with his belief that anything could become art, even 'readymades.' Foucault's erudite way of wooing probably laid the foundation for the vast amount of knowledge evident in his later essays. Burroughs' perturbing choice of a pet and his nonchalance towards its lethality echoes with his style of writing - strangely elegant, most definitely unhinged, balancing right on the verge between adventure and a death wish.

Indeed, I have a mind that wanders, a mind that only picks up the most off-the-beaten-track trivia; but this trivia, seemingly inconsequential, gathered up and sculpted my understanding of the arts to an impossible height. Yes, I have a mind that does not stick - I would not have it any other way.

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Thank you SO MUCH! ><

Cecily, let's get something straight here. There is no such term as your mind does not stick. The proper term is "nothing sticks to my brain." or "My mind is a blank." Connoting that the mind does not retain what it reads and the brain cannot successfully process the learning steps. Having read your complete essay, I would like to offer another option for you to use in describing your mind. Try using "My mind will not focus". Yes. That seems like the correct term for you to use here. Let me explain why.

Throughout your essay I noticed that the problem with you is that you cannot remember things. Rather, because of your love of reading, since you describe yourself a nerd, you want to learn about everything and anything that comes your way. You are easily distracted. Therefore, it is not that things do not stick to your mind, but rather, you cannot focus on one learning process at a time. This is seen in the way you ended up going to the library for Hamlet and came out reading about Mother's Courage and Her Children instead. If you use the correct term, your explanation in the essay makes more sense.

Notice how you did not know about the band Steely Dan but you knew the history of the band name. Therefore, the information you read sticks to your mind. It is a gift that you should definitely highlight. Don't ever say "my mind does not stick" though, that is not true. Rather, everything you read sticks to your mind. Perhaps you have a photographic memory? Look up the term. It might help you further develop your explanation.

Definitely a very interesting essay. Congratulations on successfully reeling in your reader :-) Just change the term and everything will be perfect afterwards.

Ahh but the prompt is 'mind that does not stick'! >< do you think I should spin it/twist it/explain its meaning in the first paragraph (?) so it makes more sense...?

Thanks :)

When you translate the meaning of "Mind that does not stick" it literally means "mind that does not learn because it cannot absorb information." , because to stick means to absorb. However you do not depict that image in your essay. You need to have a deeper meaning of the saying (proverb?) in mind. My opinion, is that you took the meaning of the saying and then applied a different meaning to it. Rather than discussing it in terms of how you learn, you need to describe the way by which you do not learn.

What are the things in life that you feel do not offer a learning experience to you? Why do you feel that you don't learn from it? What are the things that interest you? What doesn't interest you? Those are the things that don't stick to your mind. Those are in my opinion, the things that you should be addressing in the essay. The essay that you wrote, describes how you learn and why you learn. The saying, I believe, is asking you to discuss the opposite.

Then again, there are different ways to interpret this essay prompt. Mine is only another way of depicting it. If you wish to proceed with the original one that you wrote and simply add an explanation at the beginning then go for it :-) Just remember, the mind is something that remembers things it likes and forgets things that it doesn't. So try to find the balance between the two in your essay.

@whips, it's absolutely not clear to me, what the purpose of your essay. It's a supplement essay on the prompt, "My mind does not stick", this means something about an idea or a thought that seems to be very difficult for you to comprehend and upon reading through your essay, it's somehow going to a different direction, it's like you are telling your reader, I for one, that you are not remembering anything, even the book that you just read which may actually lead to, you being or having some mental difficulties or memory lapse.

However, you did write well, it's just not the way the prompt is asking you to write. I do have a few suggestions which is for you to break down the prompt and know what is the definition of the prompt first then when you are able to do so, then go ahead and write. I'm not saying that you have to re-write everything but it will definitely help if you know the meaning of the prompt before writing about it.

You can start it with;

Comprehensive writing maybe difficult to tackle and what is more difficult is if you are not able to absorb the information nor the contents of what is presented to you.

In this day and age, reading can be done in various forms, online, downloaded on the tablets and of course traditional way of reading is still alive, (from here you can add your sentences) so I decided researching would be a good idea. I went to library to look for some secondary materials, and the next thing I knew,

I hope you see the difference it makes when you add a little bit of understanding of your prompt and writing from there.