Michigan State Admissions Essay

I was filling out an application for Michigan State University (scary right) and found out I needed to make an essay with a word count of 400. Of course the little box that you have to type in didn’t have word count so I just decided to bring it to good ol’WordPress. At first I wasn’t even going to publish it but then I thought why not share it with you guys! Tell me what you think!

Describe a significant experience from the past two years which required you to interact with someone outside of your own social or cultural group (ethnic, religious, geographic, socio-economic, etc.). How did this impact you? What did you learn and what surprised you? 

I’ve always been told that I have a natural talent for writing. It’s never dawned on me that after years of compliments and having my work posted on a big board in front of the classroom with the other “above average” papers to actually pursue it. It wasn’t until I was given an opportunity to attend Michigan State’s MIPA Journalism Workshop last month (late July- early August)  that I realized a hidden passion.

At my school, kids aren’t passionate about too many things unless it’s basketball or what celebrities are doing, so I wasn’t exposed to an active appreciation for the news or our school newspaper. I’ve never been involved with journalism until I got around a journalism-orientated environment. Actually, it wasn’t until I was introduced to the MIPA crowd that I saw not all schools thought their newspapers were “lame”.

Being around journalists and editors and columnists really opened my eyes to more than the “daily news” view I had on the world of writing. Talking to the kids, sharing our scripting passions opened up something in me.

Writing is so much more than a mandatory essay at school, but an actual hobby, passion or even career. There are so many ways to express yourself and in so many areas, the possibilities are infinite.

At first when I thought of journalism camp, all I could think of was geeks and nerds in high suspenders waddling around snorting about how cool the news is. I couldn’t be so wrong! Teenagers just like me were there, no suspenders in sight! After I got over my stereotypical nerves, new nerves came over me.

I was so intimidated to be around kids that, to me, held such high status. With this being my first year in journalism, I found it hard to speak up in a class full of “hardcore” editors-in-chiefs. I still pushed through my classes with confidence in hopes that I didn’t sound too inexperienced.

In the end, out of all the amazing people in my class, I was awarded with an Excellence Award (I was #2 in my class). I learned that when you look past barriers, stereotypes or even personal barriers, you can discover the true essence of what is really there.

I was stuck with a mind spoiled with what cool kids should do and should act like; not to be confused with being a follower. The newspaper wasn’t being prioritized at my school, so I didn’t pay attention to it.

My talent for writing was masked by the thought of it not being what’s trendy today. If I didn’t think writing was cool, why would I try to pursue it? Sometimes you have to put yourself out there, no matter how scary it could be at first. I’ve learned that you have to venture into new elements to really see the full picture.

I hope you guys enjoyed my essay, at the top the bold is the question I had to answer in case you didn’t already know. I always critique my work really harshly so opinions on improvement would be MUCH appreciated.I’m not keeping this style (column writing), I’m going to indent and form it into paragraph style since it’s an essay. I only broke it up like this so it could be more attractive to read for my blog audience.

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xoxo JBTIPTON