The prompt was basically just "tell us more about yourself."
I need to cut off 11 words to fit in in the word limit.
Any comments would be appreciated!
Also, I wonder if it is too "woe is me"?
Thank you.
I love to read.
I will be the first to admit that this seems rather mundane, especially when compared with such adventurous hobbies such as rock climbing and sky diving. But ever since I picked up The Cat in the Hat, I have been hooked. Just as I'm sure a music lover's heart keeps time like a metronome, mine beats to the turning of pages. If you cut me, I would bleed ink. It is not entirely a genetically inherited trait, but grew from the twisted roots of my childhood. My parents went through what is commonly referred to as a "messy" divorce around the time that I was learning to read. I remember staying up late at night deciphering the mysterious symbols in my numerous Dr. Seuss books, huddled under the covers with a flashlight, while the enraged voices of my parents fighting resonated in the next room.
In an effort to escape the war, I turned to books. Once they were separated and later divorced, I escaped into books from my mother's alcoholism. It was only years later, when I entered middle school, that I realized the joy of writing for myself. One afternoon, my mother was late picking me up, and I had already finished the book in my backpack. I took out my notebook in a fit of anger at myself and at my mother. I can't even remember what I wrote, but I do remember the feeling of absolute freedom. Ever since, I keep a pen and paper nearby for when the need to write overcomes me, which is often, but I have since loved to write for more than therapeutic purposes.
The instant Ms. Vernon, my IB English teacher, entered the classroom with her precariously balanced square glasses and her all-black ensemble, we all could clearly see that she was a force to be reckoned with. Our first novel to study was The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende, which eloquently depicts the double-standards between men and women in the Latino culture. When I did further research, I saw that Allende works to educate women in Latin America and Africa through charitable organizations and to raise awareness for injustice through her writing. I was so provoked by her powerful writing that I read all of her works, beginning with La casa de los espíritus. It was this piece that showed me that literature is more than just escapism, but can act as a vehicle to incite change in the real world. I began to write more and share with others, even about my childhood. I confessed to my friend, Tiana, about my long buried past after she read a paper that I had written for Psychology class about the effects of addiction. She effusively repeated how sorry she was. But, at the risk of penning a cliché, something Ms. Vernon never tolerated, I feel grateful for all my experiences as they have helped to shape who I am today.
As I learned from my first love, William Shakespeare, "Sweet are the uses of adversity."
My Yale supplement is about my love for reading and literature as well.
Yours is so much better compared to mine. I took a more abstract route.
Perhaps you can expand on your last thought concerning the quote. It just seems to be tacked on.
If you have time, I'd love for you to critique my essay as well!
P.S. It is definitely not "woe is me." You showed how you positively dealt with a bad situation and didn't draw attention to the divorce, just how you responded to it.
Your essay is amazing.. colleges love to see how young people overcome adversity! I think the quote sounds fine without any further analysis since you've supported its meaning throughout the essay, but if you feel like it shouldn't be there as you are out of more words, The sentence before it can be a great ending as well.
