(This is not my usual tech post, but something I found important enough to post.)
November 1st is fast approaching, and it’s the first deadline for my college applications. Writing essays and filling out the application is an experience everyone applying to colleges in the US will share. But it can sometimes feel incredibly daunting.
I remember having discussions with my friends about their college essays, and how much progress they had made. It scared me to see that they had written so many essays over the vacation, while I hadn’t even started.
Accumulating all your life’s experiences into a few essays feels incredibly daunting— I couldn’t stop thinking of whether I’ll be able to properly convey my character through words— it felt like the last decade of efforts and experiences came down to a few thousand words.
“How do I portray myself?”, “What do I choose to write?”, are questions that wouldn’t stop bothering me. Every day for the last month, I’d wake up thinking, with a slight hint of existential panic, that my entire life depends on this essay. Okay— I’m exaggerating a bit— not my entire life, but at least what college I go to.
Last week, after weeks of procrastinating, I got to writing: I decided I’d write an essay a day. I opened up the prompts for the college I’m applying to, and started writing. I watched the words flow, and wrote my first essay. That first essay felt (and still feels) special, and I’m proud of how it turned out. I’ve been continuing this process with the rest of my essays for an hour every day for the last week, and I’m enjoying it. I’m only a few essays away from being ready for the Early Application cycle.
In fact, this week I’ve written almost ten thousand words— it’s a little crazy to think about. My IB Extended Essay, my IB IAs, college essays, this blog, and everything in between; it’s all happening at once, and while it does sometimes get overwhelming, I can’t say I don’t enjoy it.
I’ve always loved writing, it’s the reason I have this blog, but something about getting to write always feels a little scary. Thoughts that seem incredible in my mind sometimes fail to shine through paper, but I’ve realised that’s OK. Everything will fall into place, as long as I pick my pen up, and start writing.
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