Josh Weckesser
AP Language & Composition
Journal Entry Number Seven: Free write on college essay
October 15, 1999
Your Personal Statement is your opportunity to let us learn about you, beyond your grades and
test scores. It is up to you to decide what you want to tell the admissions committee. In past
years, many topics have been addressed, including the following:
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Interest / experience in your chosen major
State or national recognition for talent, creative ability, leadership, or academic achievement
An ethnic or cultural background or an age group that would add diversity to our campus
Extenuating circumstances that have significantly affected an otherwise strong academic record
The essay that I’m working on s my personal statement for the U of I. Okay, so
well, I don’t know what is really neat-o about me. Let’s list what I personally think I
have that’s worth while:
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I write indifferent well (but I can quote Hamlet)
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I have beautiful friendships
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I can relate to people
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I am not afraid to computers
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My personal web page kicks ass (if only to me and a select few)
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I think. I truly think.
Great, wonderful, beautiful. I have no marketable skills. That’s quite a downer.
What I mean by marketable skills is something that I could do that someone would be
willing to pay me for. I can work at Taco Bell, but then again, if I quit at Taco Bell
they’d get another grunt. It’s unskilled labor. It takes not mental work to know that you
put meat, lettuce and cheese on a hard shell taco.
One’s ability to make money is directly related to ones use as a human being. If
you can’t do anything at all, nothing more then work at Taco Bell, you’re a pretty useless
person, seeing as anyone could work at Taco Bell. In addition to that, I can’t see working
enough that I could live comfortably with my pay check from Taco Bell. It’s a crap job,
I’m in high school; it’s allowed. I don’t want to do it forever. I don’t want to even do it
in college. I want to think, I want to be challenged, I want to be useful. The problem is
there’s nothing I can do well that any of those things apply. Pardon my language, but I’m
fucked.
I asked a friend of mine what I could do, he said, “You are a people person. You
are easy to talk to and can be very down-to-earth when the situation calls for it. Also,
you are intelligent and stimulating to talk to.” Another said simply, “Good hair.”
Stimulating to talk to… hmmm…
Well, I can write, kinda. I can think, I’m sure of that. I have motivation and a
desire to learn. I am creative, somewhat. How can I link this together? How can…
There is nothing wrong with sociality. Friendships and relationships are
wonderful. In fact, my relationships with other people are the most important things to
me. A man can not live alone. There is a sigma against people going out on the
weekends and partying. The thing is, it’s a good thing to party. Go out with your friends
and have a good time. If you have no fun then what’s life about? School is fun…
What? Would they let me in, “Please, let me come to your school. I have no idea
what I want to do with my life, and I probably never will. I have a massive potential that
I’ll never live up to, but it’s nice to have. The one thing I do know is that I actually work
well with people and I like to learn. Please, let me come to your school.”
I don’t know. (That being the hardest thing I’ve ever had to admit in my life)