It seems that the good application essays tend to the deeply personal, that the student should open

up and talk about complex familial issues or how he feels hes grown from a previous self. In a way, it makes sense to think of the essay as a positionally impersonal interview; I mean, the intent is to try to give a summary of yourself in the form of a paper, so what better way to present yourself as best you can than through your lifes most ingrained aspects? So how should I balance a presentation of my self while simultaneously attempting to demonstrate my uniqueness and appeal as a prospective student? Should I talk about my semiadversarial relationship with my parents? My hard-wrought, overly large music collection (although still small compared to many others)? My motivation for being competitive in fencing? On the subject of my parents, the topics of the interactions which define our relationship are often so petty to the point of ludicrousness, so I think discussing such frivolities would be worth very little. Writing about my music collection seems almost bromidic, especially after I consider the fact that even though I have a significant amount of time invested in it, it is truly not something that deeply defines me. To be fair, it has taught me to be more open-minded about music, but I dont think thats all-encompassing enough to be the sole topic of an essay meant to sell, well, me. In my perspective, my sport, fencing, seems to be the least desirable topic of all (whatever my affection), for it is not exactly uncommon for athletes to talk about their sport and what it means to them. True, its different to each and every person, but if such essays were to continually pass before the same persons eyes, those distinctions might become more marginal with the passage of time and distinction is indeed what Im supposed to be looking for here, right? So, how do I describe myself? I generally dont like to approach touchy things directly (such as my feelings about divulging personal experiences) and tend to work around them. I am inclined to unnecessary verbosity and circumlocution when writing, and I constantly second-guess myself. Consequently, I decided to try a combination: an apparently arbitrary (but hopefully revealing), prolix, textual saunter demonstrating but not expressing my self-perception. Perhaps a similar idea has been used many times before; hundreds of students might have begun their essays with objectifying what they have learned the preferred topics are and proceeded circuitously to the main point. Will even my assumed self-awareness and somewhat excessive overthinking enable me to individuate myself from my competitors in getting to our desired ends? Perhaps, perhaps not, but such surety seems only to be held by people whom I am likely to find as without the introspectively inquisitive mindset which I both find myself attracted to and strive to acquire, so I shall continue my second guessing until I find reason to be certain.