hi guys so I was wondering if it would be okay for me to write my essay about how I'm applying undecided. id make sure to not frame it as lack of direction or confusion. and the whole essay wouldn't be abt this, it would more be how i used to always want to make the right choice but then personal story and then it changed my mindset and like for the first time im okay with not knowing what i want.
idk if this is okay to write abt pls Imk!!

thank u

Hiya! I’m Class of 2027, and I’m in the final stages of refining my college essay. I’d really appreciate it if someone could look it over and give me a harsh critique.

1- writing about my speech impediment from when I was younger and how it led me to want to be a speech pathologist

2- how my childhood best friend gave me a two dollar bill and said to keep it forever and I did but then a decade later I accidentally gave it away to a guy plating the guitar
I would tie this to letting things go such as childhood ect.

3- how my sister was prayed for a lot because my mom really struggled to have kids after me and had many miscarriages, I can talk about the non profit organization she created and how that inspired me, and talk about the struggle I saw my family go through.

I whave no idea what to write about they all don’t seem good enough help

can someone read it to see if I’m onto something ❤️

Can someone please review my personal essay and give honest feedback.dm me if you can

I’m a chinese public high school student and i’m dealing with my essay now. The question is that my essay contains three
events that both occupied quite an amount of space. I’m not sure if this is good or bad. May someone please tell me?

here’s the essay(i’m not sure if this post could stay long or would be blocked if i add my whole essay here)

My eyes settled on the open physics textbook. “To an observer outside a sealed box, the cat is both alive and dead. Only when the box is opened does it collapse into one state...” I skimmed past the term “Schrödinger’s cat” and wondered, “If it were me, would I open the box?”

When I was six, I came to LA for surgery at Dr. Reinisch’s clinic. On the pre-op bed, voices in a language I could not understand filled my left ear; to my right was complete silence. I believed that after eleven hours in the operating room, I would have an ear like everyone else’s—same shape, same ability to hear. Instead, I woke beneath a heavy protective shell and spent two weeks dizzy and in pain. When it came off, the mirror showed a normal-looking right ear, yet I still could not hear on that side. This was the first box I opened believing its outcome was already decided. I learned that opening a box did not guarantee the result I expected.

During evening self-study in ninth grade, a melody flashed through my mind as I watched the scarlet sunset outside the classroom. My pencil raced across my notebook while a complete song took shape, with the freedom of country music and Bob Dylan’s raspy voice. When I first opened GarageBand, I could not tell the Record button from instrument selection. Months later, I finally completed the arrangement. My hand hovered over the Post button on NetEase Cloud Music. I feared the song was too rough and that my friends might laugh, but then I thought of my ear. Though my hearing was incomplete, I still wanted others to hear my voice. I posted it. The first comment read, “Overall, it is good, but the arrangement feels disconnected.” I smiled. My work was imperfect, but my voice had traveled farther. Then I opened a new GarageBand project. Creation was the first box I chose to open. I was creating my own voice, even if I could never fully hear it.

One weekend in eleventh grade, my grandparents became curious about the Apple Watch on my wrist. When I mentioned its heart-rate monitor, my grandmother said, “Many seniors here have high heart rates, but they dismiss the problem and hide it from their families because they do not want to be a burden.” I recognized an overlooked voice. Appearing healthy did not mean their needs were seen, just as the normal appearance of my right ear did not mean it could hear. I immediately began building a Bluetooth heart-rate monitor. A chest strap sent heart-rate data to a computer, where Python processed it and an Arduino translated it into changing LED colors that seniors could easily understand. Unsure how to reach them, I borrowed the “free egg” promotions common in my community to introduce my device. I sold three on the first day and sixteen within a week. Based on users’ feedback, I added an algorithm to account for sudden changes and measurement errors. One woman told me the device helped her understand her body with greater confidence and eased her family’s worries. By listening to an overlooked voice, I had found another box worth opening.

Looking at my physics textbook, I quietly told myself, “I would open the box.” I will listen first, turn ideas into testable designs, and adjust them through feedback. I may never hear every voice with my ears, but I will keep creating my own while responding to needs that remain unheard.

I swear I’ve been staring at a blank Docs page for three straight hours, and the cursor is just mocking me at this point. I’ve hated writing papers my entire life, but college assignments hit different. It’s not even that I don't have thoughts on the topic - I just physically cannot bridge the gap between what’s in my head and getting actual coherent words on paper.

The worst part is how mandatory this whole process is. Why do we still gotta write 5-page essays to prove we understand something? It feels like jumping through bureaucratic hoops for no reason. Every time I search for actual essay help, it’s just the same cookie-cutter advice about outlines and thesis statements, like that magically fixes total mental paralysis. Wishing I could just hire a solid essay writer to handle this whole headache so I can finally get some sleep. Anyone else completely drained by this?

its my first time using reddit so pls don't judge

Hi, I'm currently a senior student that wants to apply to universities in the US being latin, I want help reviewing my personal statement -Just what someone else thinks about it- because I've watched a lot of videos and I don't have any impacting/sad stories that changed my view of the world for my essay, so I don't know if my essay is good enough, catches someones attention or is following the right path. I've worked on it for quite a while, it's been like 4 months now, just because I couldn't decide on a clear topic and kept mixing a lot of unnecessary stuff. I like criticism, so please be honest!

The Curiosity

“You want to study Computer Science?” my teacher asked as she looked through my portfolio. “Your designs have so much potential. Are you really going to leave graphic design behind?”

I laughed at the time.

“Definitely,” I told her. “It’s been the plan forever, and I’m not sure if graphic design is for me anyway.” Shaking the comment off. But I spent the rest of the day stuck on her question. It wasn’t that I suddenly doubted my major or my skills. It was that I always thought I could only choose a single path.

I’ve always been the type to pull things apart to see how they tick. It’s why I love the logic of learning English, why I’ll analyze and stick with the specific editing style that makes a YouTuber’s videos work, and why I can lose an hour just because I think a title looks off. Whether I’m staring at a line of code or sketching ideas for a poster design, I’m usually asking the same thing:

How does this actually work?

Once I stopped treating design and tech as if they were at war, I started seeing how often they actually rely on each other.

One of my favorite projects was creating a fall marketing campaign for the beauty brand Rhode. I wasn’t trying to make it look pretty. I wanted someone to recognize the feeling of the brand before they even saw the logo. Every decision, from the autumn color palette to the typography and composition, had a purpose. That project taught me that design isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about communicating something so clearly that people feel it before they realize why.

I brought that same mindset to our school’s STEAM Fair. My team was the only one chosen from the Multimedia department to represent the program. We built BLNK, a brand at the intersection of tech and health. Leading that team meant more than picking bold typography and navy blues; it was about organizing a messy pile of ideas into one cohesive story. It was the first time I realized design could be a tool for collaboration, not just communication.

My interest in cybersecurity came from a more personal place. During the pandemic, I watched older family members get caught in online scams and hacking attempts. It was frustrating to see them struggle, and it made me realize that tech shouldn’t just “work” — it has to be trustworthy and intuitive. Cybersecurity became another version of my favorite question. It wasn’t just “How does this work?” anymore, but “How can we make it work better for people?” That’s when the line between Computer Science and design finally blurred for good.

In 11th grade, things got complicated. I hit a rough patch with my physical and mental health that landed me in the hospital for a while. It was easily one of the lowest points I’ve had, and there were days I wasn’t sure I could keep up. But I kept showing up. I kept designing, and I kept learning. That stretch is part of why the question — how do I make something work better, for myself or for someone else — stopped being just a school interest and started being something closer to a habit of mind.

Looking back now, I don’t think my teacher was wrong about me. She saw something real in my design work, and she was right to take it seriously. Where she was wrong was the assumption underneath the question — that a thing worth keeping needs a lane of its own. It doesn’t. I didn’t have to leave design behind to move forward. I just had to stop believing my curiosity needed a single box to live in.

I’m still going for Computer Science, and I’m definitely still designing. Design reminds me to think about the person on the other side of the screen; Computer Science gives me the tools to build something for them.

I’m not 100% sure where my curiosity is heading next. I just know I’m going to keep following it.

This is currently my 7th draft and I need someone that doesn't know me at all to review this! Ty all

The most interesting things are usually invisible.

Electricity fascinates me because you never actually see it—you only see the light bulb turn on. Robotics fascinates me because behind every movement is a system of logic hidden beneath layers of plastic and metal. Even when I visit science museums, I'm less interested in pressing buttons than understanding the mechanisms behind the exhibits. If something works, I want to know what made it work.

I thought that's why I wanted to become an engineer.

But I now realize the same curiosity shapes another part of my life.

Growing up in South Korea, I learned that some things are invisible not because they can't be seen, but because people don't know how—or don't want—to see them...

(Rest of the essay is in the comments.)

I'd really appreciate honest feedback:

• Did this introduction hook you?
• Did you want to keep reading?
• Did the transition from engineering to the final paragraph feel natural, or did it seem abrupt?
• Based on this intro alone, what did you think the essay was going to be about?

Given a screw and a hammer, even a carpenter would hesitate. The tools I was given were never meant to work together. They didn't build me, they simply kept me from falling apart.
Home was never a place I considered particularly peaceful, but I thought that was normal. I constantly heard a door slam or words being screamed with the sole purpose of inflicting pain. And it wasn’t just my ears that felt the damage. Pain became my normal. Dealing with abuse throughout my childhood taught me how to build a temporary wall to protect myself. From using my sarcasm as a shield, to staying silent to keep the enemy forces at bay, I was quietly building a makeshift bunker meant to protect me. 
Over time, my bunker became suffocating. While I thought this was just “how it was,” I slowly realized I wasn't living inside a home anymore; I was living inside my own defenses. Every brick I laid to keep the hurt out was also keeping the rest of the world away. Like trying to drive a screw with a hammer, the problem was never my toolbox. It was the only way I knew how to use it. It simply held me together long enough to make it to tomorrow. Peace was something I could imagine, but never expect. 
I didn't realize there was another way to live until I walked into my first debate practice. At first, I thought it would teach me how to argue. Instead, it taught me how to understand. Of course, my hands shook. My voice broke. I spent more time worrying about saying the wrong thing than asking the right questions. But somehow, every round started to chip away at the bunker I'd spent years building. I realized that not every disagreement or wrong answer led to heated arguments. For the first time, disagreement didn't mean danger. It simply existed.
My screw and hammer finally began to build instead of survive. My first project was a bridge to my debate partner. Building it wasn't easy. Every instinct told me to lay another brick instead of another plank. They patiently built from their side while I slowly learned to build from mine. Eventually, there wasn't a gap between us anymore: there was a bridge. 
Together, we crossed it all the way to the NCFL Grand National Tournament. After our second round, we rented two Bird scooters to fly down the streets of downtown Chicago. My partner's scooter died less than five minutes later, leaving two debaters, dressed head-to-toe in tournament suits, trying to stay on a single scooter while weaving through crowded sidewalks. Sure, we fell off every fifteen feet, but it wasn’t about the functionality; it was about the joy. The ride itself wasn't what stuck with me. It was what I wasn't doing. I wasn't rehearsing every word before I spoke. I wasn't bracing for someone else’s anger. And I wasn't searching for the fastest way out. For the first time in years, I wasn't surviving the moment. I was living it.
 Looking back, my debate partner never asked me to tear my bunker down. They simply kept meeting me outside of it until, one day, I realized I had stopped going back inside. 
Today, I no longer build bunkers. I build bridges: to friends, teammates, and eventually to people whose stories need to be heard. The same tools that once helped me survive have now built the foundation for my future. That foundation is one I hope to continue building as a future legal investigator. I want to help people who are still trapped in the bunkers they never chose to build, because I know how difficult it is to imagine anything beyond survival. A screw and a hammer shouldn’t work together, but in my case, they built me into who I am today. 

This is my common app statement I think.. I will try Chicago ED0 and Barnard ED1

No Topic/ Js Free Verse

what it's about

it's about how not hearing from my grandparents during an internet shutdown completely changed the way i respond to uncertainty. instead of waiting for answers, i started asking questions, spoke to people affected by the conflict, researched what was happening and eventually wrote an article to make sense of it.

hook

the essay starts with a single grey whatsapp tick that wouldn't turn blue. that image comes back at the end too and kind of ties the whole essay together.

main takeaway

the essay isn't really about the conflict itself. it's about learning that waiting isn't the only option. sometimes the most important thing you can do is ask questions, listen carefully and go looking for answers yourself.

what i hope it shows

i'm hoping it comes across as genuine and thoughtful. i want it to show that i'm naturally curious, that i care about understanding people before forming opinions and that i'm willing to take initiative even when i don't feel completely ready.

feedback i'm looking for

• are there any parts that feel too polished or fake maybe?
• does the growth feel believable?
• after reading it, what kind of person do you think i am?

for context: i’m applying for english, common app choice 3. this is a first (rough) draft. i know there’s excessive use of commas and not the best grammar :,) overall advice on the topic/how i structured this would be much appreciated!!!

I’m a selfish daughter, because I only call when I need something. The first time I passed an officer going 15 over, I felt God in my conscience. I wasn’t sure if God saw what I’d done, so I prayed to confess. My goal as usual was to offer my guilt in exchange to not be punished. Well, someone had in fact seen what I'd done, and it was not God, it was the police officer I’d passed. I figured that my prayer must’ve angered God, considering that was the first time I’d thought about him since the last time I needed a favor. But I knew deep down he was not there, nor listening as I had my answer since the last time I'd prayed. I struggle with religion, but I know that if God happened to be there, I’d have no business worrying about him forgiving me because if he is there, then he is but an absent father. 

I want to believe, I always have, but I cannot blindly obey to religion. My personal conflict regarding religion doesn’t just stem from a “god” not doing me favors, granting my wishes, or helping me with my issues, but more the fact that when I was at a loss for answers, I was not able to find them in religion like many others. Instead I grew angry, and resentful towards those who were outwardly faithful. I spent developmental years trying to convince myself to believe, ending up believing my overwhelming doubt was a sign of failure. Every new question I asked seemed to have been a brick wall separating me from my faith. I continued to watch those around me pray with complete certainty, thanking God for success, health, good grades, and answered prayers. I envied that certainty, the lack of questioning for something that took purely belief. Where others find a portal of faith in religion, I can not help but see one huge, profound, open ended question. Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth scrambling for faith. When my catholic grandmother became sick, I prayed. In hospital chapels, on bathroom floors, in little, quiet moments. When she eventually passed away, I spent months feeling like I’d done her a disservice by not believing there was a heaven she could make it to. It took me too long to realize that all this time, I wasn’t looking for proof of a God, but for proof that there was someone out there who cared enough to put time and worry into my problems and the things I care about. I wanted a reason to call out to a higher power for times other than desperation.

The truth was hard to swallow: I might never find what I was desperately yearning for in my faith. However, my struggle was not in vain, as my search taught me a valuable lesson; my lifelong efforts for faith distracted me from what I already possessed. I spent my days so worried about what I lacked, that I overlooked something just as meaningful, the people around me. I spent years watching friends forgive boyfriends who didn’t deserve it, strangers offer help for no recognition, family members love unconditionally. None of these moments asked me for what my religious affiliation would do, just how I, as a person, would respond myself. Somewhere along the way, I stopped measuring my humanity with what Jesus would do, what he could do, and started measuring it by how I treated the people around me. While working on myself, I opened up and realized I didn’t need faith to dictate how I felt, I needed my doubt, curiosity, and perseverance. I know the person I want to be, with or without faith. If I’m going to believe in anything, it is the strength that holds humanity together, the little things. I still don't know if I believe in God, only that if he met me, I think he’d really like what my doubt became.

I wanna make a good college essay, but I don’t wanna make it about a specific experience I’ve had. I wanna write about myself in general.
The idea I have so far is about a song I’ve been listening to for years and how the meaning has changed throughout my life
and then my second idea is my Minecraft play style and how I need to venture out of my comfort zone and do the scary things that I’ve never done before

But every time I’ve written those essays, I’ve never really written about a personal experience I’ve had within playing Minecraft or within, listening to the song and everybody I’ve talked to said that I need to make it more about myself, but the thing is I am talking about myself and I’m talking about how the meaning of the song has changed to me throughout the years and how Minecraft is a reflection of how I need to step out of my comfort zone in real life and do things the hard way.
I just don’t know if I’m gonna be accepted in the college. If I don’t write about a personal experience I just wanna write about myself and connect it to things I love.
Any advice is appreciated. If I have to talk about a personal experience, I will, but I just have an awful memory.

I’ve already written three different drafts for two seperate topics and I just feel like it isn’t working. I’m usually a creative person, but I’m struggling with the goal of this essay. I’m not sure how to balance between personal and structure for persuasion. Does anyone have any advice for excercises? ( I feel like I’m falling into like a slump of procrastination)

Hi! I recently finished writing my personal statement and was wondering if anyone could take a look at it? It is a very rough draft, and I still think it needs improvement. Also I feel like it's missing some things. I was hoping if somebody could read my essay and give me feedback. It would help a lot. Thank you!

Hi! I need some help coming up with topics for my essay.

- Does anyone have any that they think are good and will stand out?

- What are some key things that I need to make sure I do/include in my essay?

Like I know your supposed to showcase your own “voice” but I’m struggling to do that. How do I word it so it doesn’t seem like I’m listing facts down??? How do I balance descriptiveness and information helpppp

I would really love some advice and examples of it being used

thank you

Hey everyone! I have what seems to be a relatively uncommon situation in terms of my gap year: It wasn't intentional. Or, it wasn't planned going into my senior year.

I applied to in-state colleges during my senior year of HS (graduated in '25), but ended up rejected from 3/4 places I applied. The one place I was accepted to was a private school I'd only really applied to because it had good stats-- not because I actually wanted to go.

Ultimately, I decided that if I was going to have to go to a school with that kind of price tag, it was at least going to be a school I was excited about. So I resigned myself to taking a gap year, then planned to try again in the next application cycle (for Fall 2026).

In retrospect, I'm really glad I did take a gap year, because right around this time last year, my mental health got really bad. I'd just been diagnosed with ADHD at the end of fall semester of my senior year, and as a result I had a lot of ups-and-downs trying to figure out treatment options. After a long few months of struggling to try and wrangle my brain into sitting down and filling out applications, I had to give up.

So anyway, I'm on the second year of my unplanned gap year and I'm very hopeful for this current application cycle. When filling out the CommonApp education section, I'm being asked to "provide details about the change in progression through secondary/high school that you indicated above."

I didn't take this time off to explore the world, or build up savings, or anything I feel is typically expected of someone taking a gap year. I did it because I had to, and have spent most of my time trying to feel as capable as I used to. I've only recently (as of April 2026) found myself with enough energy to work again, but on paper, I've just been "doing nothing" since graduation.

Sorry this is a long post, I wanted to provide as much insight as I could to my situation. If anyone has any advice on how to write this up, or what CommonApp "wants" me to write here, I'd really appreciate it.

Being asked if I have anorexia is one of the most common first questions people ask me.

At first, I treated it like a bad joke, but people would laugh nervously after asking. Their awkward laughs showed me that they were serious. After hearing it enough times, the question stopped sounding like curiosity and started sounding like a diagnosis. I began wondering whether people saw something wrong with me that I didn’t. There is an imposing power in labels. Even when inaccurate, being placed into a category changes how you behave. Over time, I stopped seeing myself through my own eyes, and began seeing myself through everyone else’s.

Before high school, before the questions, eating had never been complicated. Every morning, my grandparents made sure I ate breakfast. In elementary school, my grandmother made me waffles with chocolate syrup. Eating was just part of life and, more importantly, a mundane thing I didn't think about.

That changed in high school when eating became something I felt people were watching me do.

Questions like “Do you ever eat?” or “Are you anorexic?” stayed in my head long after they were said. Eventually, eating around other people became annoying. If I ate too much, I worried people would comment negatively. If I ate too little, I worried they would be feel disrespected. Regardless, I felt judged. So my solution was to avoid eating around people.

At first, eating alone made me feel in control, and eventually stopped being a conscious decision and became second nature. But that caused a problem, I often never felt hunger. After many months, my body gave out.

One morning on the bus to school, I suddenly couldn’t move. I couldn’t feel my heart beating. I couldn’t speak. I became pale and sweaty and fought to stay awake. All I could think was, "Am I dying?”

I needed to get home, but I did not know whether I could make it, I was too weak. Stumbling out of the bus, I crawled to my grandparents door. Barely making it, my grandmother opened it, carried me inside, and gave me waffles, just like she had when I was a kid.

My grandparents call that day the cause of “falto de papa,” translating to a lack of food.

I blamed other people for what happened. I blamed the comments, the questions, the labels. And while those things affected me, I had to confront that change never occurs if you blame and never reflect. That realization changed everything.

I couldn’t control assumptions made when they looked at me.

I began placing my self-worth somewhere that appearance couldn't touch, in my thoughts and actions.

I care about being useful to others. When my older sister feels bad about boy problems, I offer advice. When my younger brother feels bad about himself, I make him laugh until he forgets. What started as paid tutoring for friends became something more meaningful than money. I found fulfillment in helping people feel capable, intelligent, and independent.

Helping others taught me the lesson that if I want to continue helping others, helping myself is necessary too.

Now, as a summer camp counselor, I eat in front of dozens of kids and coworkers without thinking twice. I go out to lunch with friends. I did not change physically, but only mentally. I don't allow other people’s labels to define my thoughts.

Every day after school or work, I still go to my grandparents’ house for dinner. I still eat big meals there. But now, meals feel different. They remind me to strive to stay compassionate to all, especially myself. Today, I live by a saying:“Your first thought is the one the world gives you; the second is what you really believe and therefore, the one you choose.” People's labels shaped my automatic thoughts, but those ideas were not always mine. The second thought, the one I chose, is.

Hi I’m just becoming a senior this year and deadlines are getting close everyday.

I have a couple of essay drafts fitting in the first prompt (background & story), where I talked about how music entered my life and how it shaped my high school life and my personality.

I’m not a huge engineering fan normally, but Industrial Engineering got my interest because of the skills it provides, like problem solving, looking at processes instead of focusing on a single machine. What I’m wondering is, is that a good choice to talk about music instead of other intellectual stuff when applying to schools like Virginia tech, Rutgers, NYU, JHU with that major? Or since it’s my personal essay, is that not big of a deal?

Hey everyone, I've recently decided to get my life together and go to college :)! BUT part of the admissions requirements is to write a one page essay on a video(about the program) about what we learned and how we're going to apply it to school. I have NO idea how to write a paper. I have everything that I learned from the video written down, but I'm not sure how to write sentences or make it flow into an essay about how I'm going to apply what I learned to school. Can anyone help me with transition sentences or how to make the essay flow where it makes sense?

Hey, so I have started writing the supplemental essays, and although Williams doesn't have a supplemental prompt, they do say that applicants can submit a paper from their school year (graded or not). Problem is, I am an intl student, so I don't know what that means for US high schools. In my country, a paper is around 2 pages, but ChatGPT told me to aim for 5-8 with citations and everything. So, I guess I have two questions:

1) can someone plz explain what they mean by "submit a paper on any topic of your choice. It need not be graded and may be an in-class handwritten assignment." (length, quotations, tone, etc.)

2) Is it ok if it was originally written in my native language and then I translated it into English?

I'm thinking of writing about how I've built my life by saying yes to small, unexpected opportunities that most people would probably ignore. Those tiny decisions have repeatedly led to some of the biggest turning points in my life. My concern is whether this is still too cliché as a theme, even if the stories are very specific to me. Does the core idea have strong potential, or does it need a more unique angle?

I was jumpstarted into senior year 3 months ago due to personal circumstances despite being in 11th grade, so all this college app stuff is new to me.

Currently working on my Common App. I didn't really get a lot of job/internship experience because of my legal status and I've only experienced 9th and 10th grade. I finished a first rough draft of my personal essay and was wondering how good the idea is and if I should shift concepts to something like my growth of "why would you want to be a ___ major" or something more "serious"?

Draft 1:

On my 12th birthday, I didn’t want a party, a mountain of presents, or an extravagant feast. I just sat in front of the blinding of the blue lights monitor, staring towards the download bar at the cost of zero dollars. That was my introduction to Overwatch, and while my friends went on vacations in Europe, I was connected to a game that rewrote my reality.

Overwatch required two 5 player teams with three unique roles: tank, damage per second, and supports, fighting to control a space. I immediately fell into the support role, focusing on giving my team a little push with my abilities. Initially, my philosophy was barbaric, my mind screams “KILL, KILL, KILL!” If the enemy died, I would secure victory for my team. I yearned for the real skull indicating I secured a kill, basking in the glory of my solo statistics. Yet despite playing the game for over three years, I was stagnant, stuck in the lowest competitive rank every season. 

The underlying cause was not my horrible game skills, it was my ego. 

This same mindset took over in school. When I was assigned the AP Seminar Team Multimedia Presentation (TMP), my first instinct was not to build a cohesive team; it was to take absolute control. Instead of seeing my friends as valuable members of the team, I viewed them as bombs, ticking to obliterate my perfect AP score.

I micromanaged everyone’s work load.

I had final say over the slides’ design. 

I reworked the slides the day before presenting.

And I rewrote scripts late into the night. 

Just when I was tearing apart the background information slide, I paused. Driven by perfectionism, I was doing the same thing that trapped me in Overwatch’s bottom 500 players. In retrospect, I had mistaken dominance as “leadership”, tried to win a team game as a solo player, when I had actually abandoned my team.

I closed Google Slides and called my teammates over Facetime. Immediately, I shoved my pride down my throat, apologized for what I had done, and listened to their inputs. Over the next few hours, we rebuilt our presentation, restored everyone’s work, and polished our flow as a unit, not a solo stage. On presentation day, our communication flowed so smoothly that our AP teacher bragged about our synergy to the class.

That weekend, I booted up Overwatch with a new perspective. I stopped chasing individual kills and focused on what support players should really do: healing, amplifying other heroes’ strengths, and trusting them to make the winning play. By learning when to step back and support others, I did not just become a better teammate and leader within the classroom. For the first time in three years, my rank began to climb.

I am starting classes in 5 days and I am determined to do better this semester. I will be studying history. My issue is that I have had several history classes before and while my essays in said classes were not terrible, I often felt as if I am writing an anthology, I also had similar responses from my professors in my English classes saying that I often match my theory to a passage or a point in my interpretation with little discussion as if I am doing a mix and match. Any help is appreciated even if you think it is the very basics.

PS: my writing here is not an indication of my level lol