300 words
"Seek the fashion which truly fits and befits you. You will always be in fashion if you are true to yourself, and only if you are true to yourself. You might, of course, rightly wear that style which is emblazoned on the fashion magazines of the day, or you might not." -Maya Angelou
Other than fashion, what medium(s) do you choose for self-expression and why?
On the whole, human beings love to talk. At times, it seems that we hardly trust a thought or a feeling to belong to us until we have communicated it to others. We love to talk about everything and anything- what the weather is like, whether we saw the Olympics, and even about the latest edition of our favorite magazines. However, all of this talk points out one thing- that as humans, our needs and ability for self-expression are gigantic. Indeed, our capacity for self-expression lies at the very heart of our humanity. Since speech is such a core function of society, it is the ultimate vehicle of self-expression. Our ability to speak gets to the core of who Man is, and what he can do. Man's ability to speak not only marks his intelligence, but allows us to become spiritual by allowing us to transcend the self and relate to something other. Not only can speech spark different feelings in each and every person, it allows a wielder of words to redefine reality by communicating his experience of it to others. Through speech, every human being has the power to create. We can extend beyond the reality of our own existence and recreate ourselves and our vision of reality in the minds of others. Not only this, but through, we can inspire others to act, and nowhere is this more evident than on college campuses, where there are daily demonstrations, speakers, and rallies that seek to influence students to adopt their version of reality. The University of Maryland is a perfect example of the creative power of speech, with values such as "Civility and Collegiality" as well as being a place where diversity is promoted, ensuring that a multitude of voices will always be heard.
THANK YOU!
I think you definitely accomplished what you set out to do: express importance of free speech and tie it in to the college experience. Overall, I enjoyed the idea of your essay, but I just found myself getting lost at times. Maybe I am not as abstract as you are, but I would suggest "getting real" earlier in the essay. Try to tie your essay into your personal experience with speech as a form of self expression to help explain why: I found myself wanting to hear more about you, and I think the admissions counselors will too.
"Not only this, but through, we can inspire others to act..." I don't understand what this means, and you might have to edit this area.
Good luck!
