Thanks for reading my essay! My biggest concern is whether to use this as my common app essay, or an essay about my brother that I posted in a previous thread. I wrote this as a supplement, but am considering using it as my main one. Let me know what you think!
Beyond your impressive academic credentials and extracurricular accomplishments, what else makes you unique and colourful? We know that nobody fits neatly into 500 words or less, but you can provide us with some suggestion of the type of person you are. Anything goes! Inspire us, impress us or just make us laugh. Think of this optional opportunity as show and tell by proxy and with an attitude.
I used to have a reputation as the cool girl: I had my nose pierced, I lived in my leather jacket and I wore stylish black jeans. Inevitably though, the truth came out: I'm a nerd.
It took me a long time to come out of the closet, so to speak. As a kid I was both a voracious reader and a social butterfly who danced competitively. My dance studio was in the same building as the neighbourhood library. You can see where the problem started. After class I would tell my friends I was leaving, then surreptitiously sneak into the library, and delve into a new tome of fantasy fiction. And so began my double life.
I thought that loving learning was like social suicide; if people knew how much I loved to go to class I would have no friends. So on the first day at my new middle school I made sure to bring a trendy purse to hold my books instead of a nerdy knapsack. When as an icebreaker we were asked what we liked to do in our free time, instead of saying homework I said going to concerts.
As I grew into a young adult, I became a rebel. Perhaps it was because as a kid I was forced to grow up quickly and uniform rules seemed petty to me, or maybe I just liked fashion too much for the no-accessories rule to keep me from wearing my cute new earrings. But rebel I did, and garnered a reputation as a "rebel babe", in the words of my grade 8 English teacher. But rebel babes aren't supposed to be excited about school. I was the kid who spent detentions discussing Shakespeare with the teacher on duty. My perceived self was battling intensely with my inner self, and I was in serious danger of developing multiple personality disorder.
Ironically, it was an essay on Twelfth Night that allowed me to come to terms with my double identity. Our teacher handed our essays back, and my friend reached out and grabbed mine out of my hands. "Typical. A 99%," she said with a laugh, "Oh Alex, you're such a nerd." I looked at her, dumbfounded. "What..." I stammered, "you know?" The relief was exquisite; I felt like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
Now I exert no effort in denying my nerdiness. I participate actively in class, I'm not afraid to use big words when I speak - I even read in plain sight! And yet I still wear black jeans, have the same friends, and stand up for what I believe in, because although I had been hiding certain aspects of my personality, those were all very real parts of me as well. In short, I learned that I could be completely comfortable with myself. And I still have a really cute book bag, I just don't hide the copy of Shakespeare's Collected Works sticking out of it. (Don't know whether I should add the word anymore to the end of my last sentence...?)
Beyond your impressive academic credentials and extracurricular accomplishments, what else makes you unique and colourful? We know that nobody fits neatly into 500 words or less, but you can provide us with some suggestion of the type of person you are. Anything goes! Inspire us, impress us or just make us laugh. Think of this optional opportunity as show and tell by proxy and with an attitude.
I used to have a reputation as the cool girl: I had my nose pierced, I lived in my leather jacket and I wore stylish black jeans. Inevitably though, the truth came out: I'm a nerd.
It took me a long time to come out of the closet, so to speak. As a kid I was both a voracious reader and a social butterfly who danced competitively. My dance studio was in the same building as the neighbourhood library. You can see where the problem started. After class I would tell my friends I was leaving, then surreptitiously sneak into the library, and delve into a new tome of fantasy fiction. And so began my double life.
I thought that loving learning was like social suicide; if people knew how much I loved to go to class I would have no friends. So on the first day at my new middle school I made sure to bring a trendy purse to hold my books instead of a nerdy knapsack. When as an icebreaker we were asked what we liked to do in our free time, instead of saying homework I said going to concerts.
As I grew into a young adult, I became a rebel. Perhaps it was because as a kid I was forced to grow up quickly and uniform rules seemed petty to me, or maybe I just liked fashion too much for the no-accessories rule to keep me from wearing my cute new earrings. But rebel I did, and garnered a reputation as a "rebel babe", in the words of my grade 8 English teacher. But rebel babes aren't supposed to be excited about school. I was the kid who spent detentions discussing Shakespeare with the teacher on duty. My perceived self was battling intensely with my inner self, and I was in serious danger of developing multiple personality disorder.
Ironically, it was an essay on Twelfth Night that allowed me to come to terms with my double identity. Our teacher handed our essays back, and my friend reached out and grabbed mine out of my hands. "Typical. A 99%," she said with a laugh, "Oh Alex, you're such a nerd." I looked at her, dumbfounded. "What..." I stammered, "you know?" The relief was exquisite; I felt like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
Now I exert no effort in denying my nerdiness. I participate actively in class, I'm not afraid to use big words when I speak - I even read in plain sight! And yet I still wear black jeans, have the same friends, and stand up for what I believe in, because although I had been hiding certain aspects of my personality, those were all very real parts of me as well. In short, I learned that I could be completely comfortable with myself. And I still have a really cute book bag, I just don't hide the copy of Shakespeare's Collected Works sticking out of it. (Don't know whether I should add the word anymore to the end of my last sentence...?)