Freshman Admission Essays

Freshman Admission Essays I have already read some of the books in the curriculum once, and so now I will be able to ‘read a book,’ during my second round of reading and discussion at St. John’s. My junior year in particular was my most interesting round of humanities. It focused entirely on Greek works, starting with Homer and the playwrights, transitioning into Thucydides, and then on to Plato and Aristotle. This is why I recommend brainstorming a list of unique, fun facts or thinking about favorite objects. Often, there are anecdotes related to those things that the student can talk about in an essay, which will really give colleges a glimpse of who they are. Thinking about those objects can pave the way for a really interesting essay. This double life that I live now is so different from what it was in the beginning, when I was a normal kindergartner, just like the heroine. It wasn’t like reading Plato, or studying Mark Twain, where I feel cultured and empowered, adventurous and brave. My favorite protagonist and I grew up together until I moved on from the third grade, finally outgrowing that special connection. The outlining process involves envisioning your story and then framing its structure. To help you begin YOUR essays, we have developed this guide specifically for writing a compelling Personal Statement. Dig in on these five key steps for essay writing so you can master everything from choosing the right topic to providing polish in your final round of revisions. Before the B, as in Beatrice, I was content to have my dad read to me until he fell asleep. I was in Kindergarten when I got my first Junie B. Jones book. I couldn’t read it by myself yet, and my dad was in the middle of the first Harry Potter book, so the pick checkered cover was put on a shelf. However, through my entire high school life, I was not allowed to have a conversation in classes. Being quiet was the unspoken rule of manner and etiquette, where the dominance of the teacher to teach and submission of student to learn by observation was naturally accepted by all members of every class. Not only that, for me, saying aloud my ideas helps me to better understand and clarify my thoughts, and thus myself. What excites me about St. John’s the most is that I have some previous exposure and that familiarity will improve both my understanding of these texts as well as my ability to discuss them. When I was six, we moved, and a box of my books turned up in my new room. I collected the series, and when I finished with the ones I had, I reread them and begged for more. Before the series, I had no real interest in books. I loved stories, and I liked scribbling on pages and pretending to write books, but turning the pages of other people’s words never caught my attention. The tennis racquet may remind the student of the first racquet they received from their favorite uncle and the fun moments they shared together when the student first learned to serve. Or the garlic press may remind the teen of the time they spent cooking with their grandmother and how it became a family joke that they loved to smush the garlic in it. I think that this is one of the reasons that rising seniors procrastinate writing their essay. They’ve likely just finished a academically challenging junior year. But reading the Junie B. Jones books taught me to connect in different ways with other texts. I knew what to look for, what it felt like, and I desired to find that connection in other places. Junie opened my eyes to a world of possibilities, and saved my dad a neck cramp from sleeping at a weird angle. This is likely a different style of writing than students typically use in their classes. It’s especially different than the one they have often learned to use in their AP Language and Composition class. For some kids, it can be tough to break away from that. It feels more important than the others they have written for an English class grade. The Junie B. Jones series, by Barbara Park, was my real introduction to reading on my own.