My first potential Zinch blog.

Note: If I had a superpower, I would want the ability to have my own soundtrack wherever I go. Life would be so much more epic this way. (There are several teachers who I can't imagine walking anywhere without 'The Imperial March' playing.) Unfortunately, I haven't been hit by gamma radiation or bitten by a radioactive iPod, so the closest I can manage to that is giving you some music to listen to while you read my blog.

Today's song: The Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Why?: It’s 4:30 AM, and this is what turned up in my iTunes playlist.


Topic of the day: College applications.

If you’re like me, college applications probably took a really long time. Not just because you had to do research, or had to fill out tons of forms. God knows your parents probably badgered you all the time, and you knew in the back of your mind, no matter how much you vehemently told them to leave you alone, that they were right, lest you be owned by rolling admissions or a sudden deadline change or your internet giving out minutes before the deadline or something equally cataclysmic. (This actually happened to a friend of mine; he had to “hastily drive” to another person’s house to submit his application an hour before the deadline.)

No, it was probably those dreaded essays. Even those among you who take pride in being smart, eloquent individuals know what I mean. For me, the most difficult part was talking about myself. The advice I was given – brag; be proud and ostentatious. But I’m not like that by nature. I’ve had some very humbling experiences - I’m a debater and have some very, very smart friends and acquaintances which make it hard to feel proud about anything I’ve done.

But even worse, I felt like I wasn’t painting a cogent enough picture of myself. I didn’t want to represent myself as some air-headed idiot who thought that everything he ever did was God-tier awesome, but I certainly didn’t want to present myself as overly unconfident or unsure, either. I ended up writing most of my essays about debate or some other very personal experience, and they might not be the most impressive things ever, but they’re certainly sincere, and I’m satisfied with the finished product.

How about yours?

- jeff zhao