Go with Unique—It’s so You!
by Adam
Webster’s Dictionary defines “rejection”
as “the result of a trite essay that opens with a dictionary
definition.”
OK, Webster’s doesn’t really say that—but
it should. With the thousands of essays that college admissions
officers read, the last thing you want yours to be is just another
one in the stack. You want to be truly memorable without being
offensive. You’ve got to think outside the box…er..no,
scratch that; “think outside the box” is a trite
phrase itself. Instead, imagine all conventional, formulaic
forms of writing and speaking, all boring conversation, unspun
catch phrases, useless drivel that no one should even pretend
expresses them uniquely. Got ‘em? Now imagine a cookie
jar and…oh wait there’s still a few cookies left.
I don’t know if you like honey oatmeal cookies, but you
can eat them if you want.
OK, now that you’re sated—or maybe just less hungry—and
the cookie jar is temporarily empty, imagine all that aforementioned
standard, simple, and over-used crap is stuffed in the jar.
Put the lid back on tight and just make sure you’re thinking
outside the jar and within your own independent mind and individual
personality. Don’t be afraid to go in an unexpected direction.
In fact, I’d encourage it.
Use any simple statement or story to jumpstart your essay and
let your mind and personality shine like Alpha Centauri up close
and on paper.
Here’s a few examples of “starter phrases.”
Let your mind take a random walk on the path that best suits
it and think of one yourself.
…And so on. These are merely a few examples of how virtually
anything can introduce and initiate a good essay. Walk around,
think a little; you’ll come up with a good one yourself
for your own essay. Just don’t get caught with you hand
in the cookie jar.
