My Stanford Essay

@akoratana|December 1, 2017 (7y ago)94 views

This was an essay I wrote many years ago as a part of my Stanford application. I've shared it with a few people so far and I closely regard it as some of my better writing.

Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate—and us—get to know you better.

We’ll be standing there at 5am every morning at the deep end of the pool. I’ll dip my toe in and say that I’m scared of the water. You should laugh. It’s funny because I’ve been a swimmer my whole life. Where others might drink coffee, I drink chlorinated water; it’s a natural antiseptic. I think.

We’ll be standing there in front of the whiteboard trying to solve that physics problem set. I’ll be drawing pictures, writing equations, and stroking my nonexistent beard. I hope you don’t mind me standing on your side of the room. I’m just trying to see the bigger picture.

We’ll be standing there in a pile of our laundry. If there’s anything I learned in econ, it’s that folding laundry is a waste of time. The diminishing marginal utility for every t-shirt folded isn’t worth the opportunity cost (yes, I went there): we could be fountain hopping instead. Welcome to the dark side.

We’ll be standing there in our dorm with my guitar and our friends. I know the room is designed for two people, but it’s how we’ll get away from it all without ever going anywhere. When we are together, we are greater than the sum of our discrete potentials. That’s my secret.

If I’m ever just standing there, can you do me a favor? Push me in the deep end of the pool.

I love it there.