College essays part 2. In my last post I talked all about how I am atrocious at writing conclusions. Especially in essays about myself. Like college essays for instance. I decided to apply early decision to Bucknell University, which requires that my application be submitted by no later than November 15th. But me being who I am, I have all of it done already. By far the hardest part of my application was writing the essay. The filling out of boxes was monotonous and fun for me, but the college essay was not. I don’t even remember which prompt I used, but my essay was centered on my desk and how all the things on it show what kind of person I am. I talked about my puppy calendar and volunteering at the county animal shelter, and I talked about my wrenches and rowing. But the one thing I couldn’t nail down was my conclusion. It either made my essay sound super preachy, or end far too abruptly. I eventually found a good way to finish it out though. Towards the end of my essay I started getting away from my desk and focusing more on my activities, so when I asked one of my English teachers for advice, she gave me a fantastic strategy to kill two birds with one stone. She told me to make a book end. So, I restated my opening sentence in different wording and talked about my desk a little bit more. That way I finished my essay with a strong conclusion, and kept the focus on my desk. My conclusion may not have been perfect, but it was a whole lot better than it would have been had I not gotten help. The moral of the story is: be friends with your English teachers because they will help you out a lot. Or something like that.
by: Charlie Espy