17 Essays That Got In to Dartmouth

Prompt: “Be yourself,” Oscar Wilde advised. “Everyone else is taken.” Introduce yourself.

I won’t be able to hide my weird forever, so here goes… I'm the kind of person who finds joy in the unconventional.

Take my childhood Saturdays, for instance. They were less about the hustle of the farmer's market and more about the joy of discovering how to eat summer strawberries: In WHOLE, leaves and all.

Weird, right? But that's me, always curious, always questioning the “why not” in life's small moments. (FYI: strawberry leaves rock)

I've carried this trait of embracing the unconventional into my passion for bassoon and fencing as well. I rarely find others who can relate.

Indeed, everyone I know tends to follow more conventional, popular sports. My closest friends, who seem to know every single football and basketball player alive, couldn’t tell you a single thing about fencing. They have legitimately asked me if my fencing blades are sharp enough to kill.

They’re not. This isn’t the Middle Ages.

As a bassoonist, I also deviate from the norm. As if the instrument itself wasn’t unusual enough, I’ve found my passion playing outside the traditional classical genre in the chaotic rhythms of jazz. Locking myself into the narrow road of classical music just seemed too limiting.

Following Wilde's counsel less as a mantra and more as a quiet acknowledgment, I find contentment in my unique blend of interests. Whether it's the unconventional crunch of strawberry leaves or the offbeat rhythms of jazz bassoon, each step I take is a testament to the joy of being myself.

Essay by Zach P.

4/5 HYPSM Admit | Asian Male @ Harvard!

Read Zach P.'s other essays

Prompt: What excites you?

Whenever my mom describes me, excitable is the first word she uses. Which I always thought was strange, why not funny, adventurous, or passionate? But, without fail or hesitation, she says that I am excitable. She’s not wrong, though. There is a seemingly never ending list of subjects that excite me. So my answer to “what excites you?” could’ve been sustainable land usage or 70s soft rock or camping or high-speed railway systems or film photography. But, as I reflected on the past few years, I realized that cinema has been the center of my most exciting conversations and experiences. There is something about the chaotic, love-filled action sequences in Everything Everywhere All at Once, and the vast visuals of Dune, and the quiet, intimate moments in The Power of the Dog that excites me to no end. And it’s this excitement that inspired me to write a film studies-based research paper.

Over the course of six months, I wrote 25 pages of original research about the impact of female perspectives on male-centered filmmaking. Through this opportunity, I studied the portrayal of female and male characters and their emotions, and how they shifted based off of the gendered perspectives represented in the filmmaking process. Despite the struggles of conducting research and the frequent moments of doubt, this experience deepened my love and understanding of cinema. So the movies are more exciting than ever, especially with my newly-honed analytical skills (although my friends are often annoyed by my mid-movie interpretations).

Essay by Colleen Bailey

Hey! I play soccer, take photos on film, and explore the outdoors (among other things)!

Read Colleen Bailey's other essays