Mr. McKenna's Common Application Essay from High School

If you could have lunch with one person (living, dead, or fictional), who would it be and what would you discuss?

I could say that I would like to have lunch with Einstein, but I worry I would not be able to understand a word that came out of his mouth. I could say that I would like to have lunch with Gandhi, but discussing the effectiveness of non-violent resistance would be a little too heavy for a light lunch. And, if I was feeling risqué, I could say that I would enjoy having lunch with some supermodel, but then lunch would be filled with awkward pauses and embarrassing glances. Nobody enjoys a lunch with awkward pauses and embarrassing glances. So maybe I would have lunch with you- the person who is reading these words this instant.

We would not have a sterile conversation of canned answers to interview-like questions about "what I have to offer to your institution" or "what quality I feel best exemplifies a leader". We could discuss any topic that interests me. The topic could be reptiles; I have bred and raised various species and know more about them than most people should. The topic could be skiing; something I have done since I could walk and have competed in. Alternatively, if you were attacked by a snake while skiing at a young age, we could talk about something less traumatic- the socially critical poetry of Ezra Pound (my favorite poet), the radical architectural style of Mario Botta (my favorite architect), or the masterful storytelling of J.D. Salinger in Nine Stories (my favorite book).

I hope that I have enough to say about any of the above topics that we would make it through the main course without resorting to talking about the weather. By the time we got to dessert our conversation would show me that you are not some Wizard of Oz-like application machine hidden behind closed doors, and show you that I am far more interesting than a transcript, an S.A.T. score, and a 500-word self description.