Dear College Admissions Chairmen

Dear College Admissions Chairmen,

I ask you not to judge me by the scores neatly printed beside my name, or the percentages clearly displayed by each subject. Because my whole life I have been a number. When I was five I was 1271, I stared at the number engraved into my home that I knew I had to memorize. From Kindergarten on I have been 1030570. My tests required it, my lunch required it, to participate in football crowds I was required to be 1030570. Since Freshman year I have been the self destructing 3.71. Too many numbers have brought me tears and trembles. So I ask you, Mr. College, please do not judge me by my numbers, as they have followed me my entire life.

The number 1271 provided security and a roof over my head. The number 1030570 offered me an education like no other. Although 3.71 has brought me tears and trembles it has given me lessons I cannot learn in a textbook. I’m not referring to the quadratic formula or how to balance a chemistry equation. I am talking about the number that gave me the most pain. Now this number is different for everyone but mine was 80 and lower. 100 awesome, 90, good job Kaitlyn!  But my number was 80. It gave me panic attacks and hives. That above average caused me so much agony. The stomach twisting and earth shattering 80 was mine and I made sure to get everything out of it. My number taught me responsibility and unforgettable life lessons. That number, those two digits are mine. They are not yours to judge me by. And even more importantly this is a number that I have chosen for myself, it was not assigned or labeled, it was chosen. Some people are even judged by the way they write their numbers. Whether they loop theirs twos or cross their sevens. I decided to choose my own numbers and I decide how I respond to all my numbers, chosen or assigned. How you respond to your numbers is up to you. We are not our our numbers, we are our choices.

Judge me by my late nights and early mornings. By my love for education and admiration of the great exaggeration of Shakespeare and Hemingway. By my ability to influence students as a student. To allow my chest to be opened and pinned like the frog I dissected in seventh grade for my heart to be touched by my teachers, peers, and authors I studied. By my perfect attendance and work ethic that cannot be shown through a number. There is so much that cannot be displayed through a number or through my application.

I do not believe I am the best writer and I do not believe I am the brightest fire. But do I carry passion in everything I do? Am I the first student at school and the last to go home? I am not the student that wants success, I am the student that reeks of it.

Sincerely, Respectfully, and ever so truly yours,

Kaitlyn Backe