College 101

College 101 Take special care to complete the Feelings and Needs Exercise, as it will help you outline your essay. You may also choose to write about the struggles you’ve faced without getting into all the details. Saying, for example, that you experienced verbal abuse from your father, for example, may be enough; you don’t necessarily need to share the specifics. For the Type A essay, give us a sense of your vision, even if you don’t name your precise career. In The Birth of Sher Khan essay above, for example, you can track both. For this essay type, I recommend the Montage Structure. A montage is, simply put, a series of moments or story events connected by a common thematic thread. Complete the brainstorming exercises, as these will help no matter which structure you choose. You may not want to spend an entire paragraph describing your feelings, for example, or you may choose to describe your needs in just one sentence. However, the sideways Feelings and Needs chart can help you think about how the chronology of your experiences might translate into a personal statement. If you’re interested in writing about challenges, I highly recommend using the Narrative Structure. Unfortunately, if you have spent your entire high school career genuinely doing no extracurriculars, you've hurt your chances of getting into many schools. I spend all my time gaming/blogging/shopping/on social media, so I don't have any extracurriculars. In fact, these sorts of activities are often highly regarded because they show a passion for an area of study. In the streets, in school, and in Baba’s taxi cab, my family and I were equated with the same Taliban who had pillaged our neighborhood and preyed on our loved ones. Okay, this isn’t necessarily a perfect way to outline an essay. It can be an activity in your school, in your community, a nationwide group, or something that you find online. The key is that you get actively involved and make an impact with your involvement. You have a lot of time to develop your extracurricular list. If you are a freshman, I would recommend trying a lot of different activities to see what interests you most. By sophomore year, you ideally should have some sort of idea about what interests you, and you should start to narrow your focus to just those activities. The answer to this question largely depends on how far along you are in high school. These are especially valuable activities if you are planning on pursuing something similar in college. There are many extracurriculars that are related to academic activities. If you have written for a literary publication, joined a competitive math team, or have worked with a local community college professor on a science experiment, these all count as extracurricular activities. Tutoring your younger siblings at home after school or working at the local hardware shop to help bring in money for your family do count as extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities can be almost anything you are productively dedicated to. Of course, if you choose to work when you don't have to, it can take time away from other activities. Read out article on getting a job as a teenager to see. If you have dedicated a lot of time over the years to developing a talent, such as art or playing a musical instrument, this also counts as an extracurricular activity. I never fully escaped war; it’s evident in the chills that run down my spine whenever an untimely call reaches us from family members in Pakistan and in the funerals still playing on Geo News. But I’m working towards a war-free life, internally and externally, for me and the individuals who can share in my experiences, for my family, and for the forgotten Pashtun tribes from which I hail. War has taught me to recognize the power of representation, to find courage in vulnerability, and best of all, to celebrate humor. Within a few weeks, my panel and interview were accessible worldwide, watched by my peers in school, and family thousands of miles away in Pakistan. Although the idea of being so vulnerable initially made me nervous, I soon realized that this vulnerability was essential to my growth. Like the faint scent of mustard oil in my hair, the war followed me to the United States. Here, I was the villain, responsible for causing pain.