my college essay assignment from last year
turned into more of a creative writing piece.
looking back, it’s terribly written for a college essay…and sort of crappy in general. but im gonna take a risk and just post it here and id appreciate it if you cool cats can tell me what you think of it (as just a piece of writing, not in terms of college essay shit)
and if the person it’s about (MELISSA) reads it, id like them to know: I hope you aren’t offended/weirded out by it or whatever, its just me from a year ago being honest and etc…im actually nervous/hesitant for you to see this, but whatevah, here it is.
“Raymundo!!!” cries a voice.
My body is slammed against a table.
My papers fly into the air.
My body is squeezed in a painful hug.
The location is at my high school freshman orientation. My name is not Raymundo, but Ryan. And the voice is that of Melissa.
To say she changed my life would be cliché and speculative, for who can even judge change as a form of measurement in all its abstract nature. Let alone say it’s changed our lives when we are only a quarter of the way through it. The only way I saw its affects was in the smallest ways: my bare baby-blue bedroom walls began to be spotted with collages and lists. My apparel slowly morphed from generic, half-thought out choices of Mervyns polos to hipster flannels bought at low prices from vintage stores on Haight Street. Then there was my entire mindset, which moved from Catholic school boy to free wheeling spiritual agnostic.
There was something so original about her. Throughout my life I had only met carbon copy after carbon copy, but here was someone truly original. Her perfect humor and use of formal, retro lingo created a strange blend of spacey awkwardness I had never ever discovered before. It was enthralling. I made it my new life goal to win her friendship. Her attention. Her approval.
“Are you troubled because of someone you like? Hm, yes, this friend of yours?” my high counselor inquires as I sit in her office holding a list of psychologists she has just handed to me.
