This is my essay for UNC-Chapel Hill. It asks what my comfort food is and why. I'd appreciate any and all suggestions and comments! Thanks!
I hear the hot sizzle of the grill, the sound of laughter as my cousins run around my backyard. I smell the slight hint of a sea breeze as the light fades from the night sky. I know that these are the summer nights I long for all year long. Nearby, I notice my cousins trying to push each other into the glistening, calm water of my pool - I guess it will not be calm for long. My mom and dad, aunts and uncles, and my grandparents are all chitchatting on the deck enjoying each other's company. This is what it means to me to be home: sitting in the open summer air, surrounded by family, enjoying one of my dad's barbeque cookouts.
On the grill are the chicken and vegetable kabobs and juicy steaks, while the lobsters are boiling on the stove inside. The one food that everyone anticipates is the corn on the cob, the one food that we always eat at family gatherings during the summer. Sometimes my uncles and my younger cousins have competitions with one another trying to see who can be the messiest, fastest, or funniest while eating it. Other times, we cut the corn off of the cob and have it as a side dish with whatever we eat. It would not be family dinner without it.
As soon as my dad yells, "Dinner's done!" all of the little kids scramble to get out of the pool. They grab their towels in a hurry and race to the table where they begin fighting over where they will sit. The corn is the first food to disappear as everyone grabs a cob for his or her plate. As everyone starts to eat, the silence is broken only by the slight crunch and pop of the corn kernels. Usually, one of the youngest children starts laughing first as he or she notices the butter running down everybody's face while they eat the corn. Eventually, the whole table is roaring with laughter.
There are certain foods that bring the family together and make for memorable moments. In my family, corn is that food. No matter where I am or what season, if there is corn, I feel at home. The family memories come rushing back and it is almost as if I can hear the laughter, feel the poking and grabbing from the children, and smell the abundance of flavors in the air. Whether I am home sick or just longing for another summer night with the family, corn can make me realize that summer is just around the corner and soon, I will be the one being pushed into the pool at the family cookout. Soon, we will all be laughing at each other around the table and smiling from ear to ear. It makes me, and the rest of my family realize that we are all young at heart. Together, during those summer nights, we realize how blessed we are to have each other.
I think this is a really cute and to-the-point kind of an essay. The anecdote in the beginning is great!
I would just say that maybe you'd want to tone down descriptions some and do more with the why part, if you know what I mean.
Hope that helps^^ and please take a look at mine :)
