Brainstorming Tip #1
My son began reading the Tintin books in elementary school and when he was 13, we took him to the fabulous Herge Museum in Neuve. Confused by the parking signs, we found ourselves unable to get past an immovable lever in (what we thought was) the museum lot. Fortunately, there was a button to press for assistance. Unfortunately, the man who answered spoke extremely rapid and colloquial French, something like, “Madame, vous pouvez blah blah blah.” “He said to wait here,” I hissed at my husband. “Madame!” said the man in a louder voice, “Babble, babble, babble…Madame!” From the back seat came my son’s voice. “Mother, he’s saying that cars are coming from the other direction and if you don’t back up now there’s going to be an accident!”
That moment when my son’s French surpassed my own to save us all has become part of our family lore, a funny but also meaningful story from our past that we share again and again. It would also make a great opening for a college admissions’ essay, highlighting not only not only my son’s fluency in French and ability to act quickly in highly charged situations, but a key coming-of-age moment when he realized his parents were not infallible and that he could, in fact, step in when necessary.
Every family has its own lore, the stories that come out when you meet new people or the ones you remind each other of so many times that you have a shorthand for them. “Remember the cowboy boots?” is enough to reference the story of the day my husband fell asleep on the couch while our daughter, then only 2, was taking her own nap. When she woke up, she walked past him and straight out the back door, stopping only to put on her new boots. Our neighbor found her on the sidewalk, setting out for adventure in nothing but a diaper and hot pink cowboy boots. These stories are told and retold not only because they’re amusing, but because they illustrate important truths about us both as individuals and as a family. My daughter’s irrepressible sense of adventure. My son’s ability to understand and navigate rules and regulations.
What are those stories for your family? What is the deeper meaning behind them? What do they say about who you are and how you’ve become that person? Figuring out the theme of your Common App essay is often much more difficult than finding a topic. But thinking about and considering your family lore can give you some insight into not only who you are but who you want to be, and how you want colleges to see you.
And who knows? You might even find that retelling the story is a great way to start your essay!
***Note: We are well aware that we were super lucky that my daughter came to no harm on her cowboy boot adventure and although we laugh about it now, we took it very seriously at the time. My husband was severely castigated (and castigated himself) and took care to ensure that nothing like this ever happened again. (Did other, (much) less dangerous misadventures occur under his supervision? No comment, at least at this time.)
Strike the Write Note 