For the Common App, I've tentatively zoned in on option 6, which is the "topic of your choice." I've decided to write about detasseling, a summer job I've had for 4 years. (It's an agriculture-related job, google it if you want to know more)
The trouble is, what would be my underlying point? I can't just write about detasseling. What should I try to say through my detasseling experience?
Thanks
katmandu
I'm writing essays for the common app myself so I don't know if my advice is worth much, but I personally think you'll have a hard time writing an essay about detasseling.
But at the same time, I think if you did it right it would turn out to be very interesting and unique (How many other applicants are going to write about detasseling, right?).
To start, perhaps, was it a tedious job? Did you have to work long hours under the sun, or pluck flowers off an astonishing amount of corn in a short amount of time?
If you did, you might be able to make the essay about your personal determination or dedication to the job. Like, how you worked so hard at a job that not everyone would consider their dream job,
but you just liked something about it that made you keep returning to it? (I assume, since you've done it for 4 years.)
Or maybe write about detasseling in a different light, as something more then just removes tassles from corn (going back to my earlier suggestion, writing about something you liked/saw in detasseling was no one else did).
Or maybe you hated it (?), so you could write about how you disliked the job, but stuck to it and saw your duties out to the end?
Well, that's my two cents. I'm sorry if I made some assumptions, since I don't really know your situation.
I hope this helped in someway, but I'm sorry if it didn't~.