So as January rolls around and all of you are working on getting in those college apps, I wanted to give you just one example of the many Common App essays possible - here you have the essay I used to apply to fourteen - yes you read that right - fourteen colleges. Wouldn't recommend it, but honestly, everything truly worked out for the best! ...And I sure got practice writing essays. But anyway - totally a true story, only names have been changed.

I hope you enjoy... and I wish you all the best of luck!

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I never thought that the best night of my life would be spent in three different states, with three total strangers.

Confusing? Sure.

A blessing? Absolutely.

The thing is... airports and I don't really get along. I can’t remember the last trip I took that actually went smoothly. You know, I actually recall saying – darn my big mouth – “Wow, I can’t believe everything is going according to plan!” At this point, the storm was raging outside, but we’d gotten free passes to Charlotte Airport’s Admirals Club, and there I sat, slurping hot soup and grinning wider than a kid at a candy store.

Little did I know that I would spend the next sixty-or-so hours traveling what should have been a twenty-hour course.

I guess I should start from the beginning. I’m bi-cultural, and I’ve been trucking myself between two countries every summer for most of my life. I’m used to it – sometimes the trips are longer than expected by a few hours – no big deal. This time we even had the trip pretty well planned out – three flights, twenty-seven hours. Easy enough.

Until we hit Philadelphia. In short, a twenty-minute delay caused us a trip three times as long as planned…

…And gained us three friends for life.

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My mom and I met Diana and Will at the Charlotte Regional Airport in North Carolina. I remember the first time I saw Diana. She was in the middle of a little celebration dance, having just been informed that her flight plans would actually work out. We started dancing with her when we found we were headed for the same flight, and the exhausted blank-faced airport-workers all started laughing with us.

From there we met Will. We flew with the two of them to La Guardia airport, then hailed a taxi to JFK. There we would spend the next twelve hours in a 1930's-style diner, with them and yet another new companion. The next day, around noon, we would fly half-way across the world together, to a country we would have arrived at twenty hours earlier, but with a piece of us secretly incomplete.

We spent the night in the diner, sharing our stories. We met quite a few others from around the world that night - Russians, Malaysians, Ethiopians, and more. We introduced ourselves to countless families, and by the end of our delirious night, probably also scared some off too.

It was an unforgettable experience. I left that diner with a new sense of self, walking exhaustedly, yet elatedly, down the burnished red steps. When I had awakened that morning, I had no idea that I would spend the next two days with a group of complete strangers - from each of whom I would learn a great deal.

Contemplating these events a little later, I realized that what I have gained from this experience is that sometimes, unfortunate complications can turn into miracles; it’s really what you make of it. Yes, we were delayed for hours on end, shipped halfway around the United States, and almost around the globe – spent two weeks of our vacation without luggage, and probably experienced the most intense jetlag of our lives. But it was probably one of the most wholesome, enriching nights of my life as well.

In my mind, it’s really about perception and reaction. And this is truly applicable to any situation, whether it’s a disappointing score on a math exam or some exciting opportunity lost. As I have discovered, there is always a positive side, always a reason. This is how I carry myself in any situation… good or bad. And I think that’s really what makes me who I am, a Pollyanna of sorts. Because in my world, possibility is always gleaming quietly in the darkness; you’ve just got to be willing to look.