It’s that time of year for high school seniors across the country — knocking off supplemental essays for Early Decision and Early Action college applications. Hopefully, students have downed a few of these supplements at this point and are benefitting from the resulting energy boost as they turn their heightened attention to the rest. Whether or not this reflects your current state of body and mind, here are a few tips for continued good health:
- Know how your system works best: Do you need to schedule uninterrupted time, put your butt in a chair, and pound out draft after draft? Or does your constitution have more in common with Thoreau, Nietzsche and other writers who find strength and inspiration in walking about in nature? Often I’ve seen students who need a diet that includes both inspiration and grunt work. My recommendation: if drudgery and compulsory writing is what you need, return to your writing before submitting to be sure that your personal misery isn’t transmitted on the page to your eventual reader. Inspiration and misery both can be contagious!
- Use past success to power future accomplishment by reusing, adapting, and reframing supplements that have worked for you so far. This can be a creative exercise in writing transitions, choosing prompts carefully, and selecting material to add or delete to address specific questions. It’s also a great way to avoid trying to go from zero to sixty unnecessarily. Remember the laws of friction: a body in motion is easier to keep in motion.
- Keep it personal and not too heady. Your reader wants to get to know you in 3-D, not as a collection of abstract ideas and statements. Stories and anecdotes not included elsewhere in your application can provide the energy to get you across the finish line ahead of the pack.
Finally, remember that you are a living, changing human and these pieces capture your thoughts and best work at a (crazily busy!) point in time. Find the workout routine that best suits your style, do the reps, and move on!
