I have been working on my applications to college, but writing essays about my identity is difficult. It is difficult to expound at length on things I don’t understand. As for my identity, I may have passions and beliefs, failures I’ve grown from, and people I’ve learned from, but the image I present of myself always seems off, because I am presenting an image of myself. I need to cast my passions, beliefs, failures, or influences in the best possible light: Here is something that did not work out for me, but look how I learned a valuable lesson! I like doing this thing, so here is how that thing impacted me in profound and meaningful ways! It feels dishonest twisting the simple hobbies I enjoy or small personal accomplishments into “selling points” but I am also grateful for this process and (mandatory) opportunity to sit down and think deeply on questions specifically designed to glean my identity and values.

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters