Stick With Me Amanda Craig Hudson

As I sit staring with droopy eyes at my computer, the mere thought of having to write another 1000 word essay describing the “most influential person in my life” or “a time that I made a bad decision” makes me cringe. With seven essays down, and two to go, I can say with no reservations that not one essay topic has sparked the flint that is creativity in my mind. This creative barrier limits students nationwide to compose essays of banal quality, forcing much of their intellectual character to be demonstrated through a large vocabulary; but the verbosity of a 17 year old can be only so impressive. This essay topic though provides a welcomed reprieve from the trite topics in which I have been engulfed for the past few months.

A good admissions essay should require the applicant to shed light on their character, not just boast knowledge of multi-syllabic words. It should also ask a question that forces the applicant to prioritize between options. After hours of brainstorming, I feel I have determined a topic that tackles both of these requirements; “If you were required to have one, and only one, bumper sticker on your car, what would it be and why?”

Upon first reading it, the topic appears rather simplistic; bumper stickers...