if you want to build a castle start by building a hut
and overused baseball metaphors
Going into 12th grade I dreamt of going to Princeton. The campus was majestic, historic, and like Hogwarts. It seemed like an idyllic place. I didn’t really think about the East Coast winters, but that was something to be considered after I got in. As Princeton was my dream school, I applied for early admission. The deadline to apply was at the end of October and was the first college application deadline. It was the highest priority because it was due first, and because it was Princeton. Thus, I worked on my Princeton essay first. And golly was it my worst college essay. I got rejected from Princeton. No fear though, the next set of applications was due in December, and I fared much better. Looking back, it seems obvious that my first essay would be my worst. It was my first at bat. And I needed a few warm-up swings.
Over the last few months I’ve been trying to write an important essay that is foundational to what I’ve been working on. I have the essay formulated in my head, I’ve been marinating on it for a while, but when it comes time to write it, I go blank or write something and immediately scratch it out. I need the essay to be great.
Luckily, a few weeks back, I was reminded of my college essays and the post-Princeton improvement. I needed to warm up. Get the writing muscles going. So I’m going to take a few practice swings before I need to hit a home run. I hope this one wasn’t a miss.
- Ajay