The Joy of Creative Outlets — One Path to the Summit
“What if the moon were made of cheese? Or Neptune made of soap? Pick a celestial object, reimagine its material composition, and explore the implications. Feel free to explore the realms of physics, philosophy, fantasy…the sky is the limit!”
(2021 application essay prompt for the University of Chicago)
This undergraduate essay prompt from the University of Chicago is not unusual. Society’s quest for outliers, dreamers, enthusiastic hobbyists, misunderstood inventors, quirky performers, and raw poets is the paradigm that our children will emerge into as they explore middle school, enter high school, and spread their wings into the world beyond.
It is, in fact, the activities or unique hobbies that bring our children joy that are most likely to set them apart! It’s the notebooks full of brainstorming scribbles and practice poetry that they keep, the collection of stuffed polar bears or unicorns that they covet, the hours spent making-up dance routines with their cousins, the Saturday improv workshops they attend, or the chess games played during a homework break that will ultimately make them shine like beacons.
While our children still have quite some time before college applications or job interviews, consider allowing their innate passions to share center stage!
“What brings you joy?”
(2021 application essay prompt for Princeton University)
"If any of these three inanimate objects could talk, how would your room, computer or car describe you?"
(2020 application essay prompt for UC Berkeley)
“You have 150 words. Take a risk.”
(2020 application essay prompt for Notre Dame)
“There are many paths to the summit of the mountain...” And if the summit represents our children’s academic success, let’s celebrate their journey as they choose paths that might twist, that might turn, that may cross uncharted terrain and possibly lead in the most surprising directions.
This past April, and again in August, Grupology ran its Poetry & Perspective elective for budding writers and promising poets. We are honored to feature a beautiful perspective piece written by Ava Zukin, 5th grade, age 11:
