Constellation Essay
Recreate several scenes from your life that tell a story related to our course. Use vivid details, dialogue, and the present tense to bring the reader into these scenes. Between these scenes, provide your reader with commentary that helps them see the context surrounding the scene, unpack course themes in the scene, or offers insights you reached with reflection.
It might help to think of this essay in the following ways: (1) You are bringing the reader into a curated gallery of your life. You lead the reader to a series of canvases that contain the scenes of your life. You let them see the canvas. After they take it in, you offer them insights about what they see. (2) The scenes of your life are like stars in your night sky. You show the reader these stars. You then help them to see the connections and larger shape.
It Is What It Is
By Anonymous
I’ve known strong men, hard men, and strong women. You can tell by what they don’t say. The quiet places conversations go when the words are worthless. There wasn’t a higher honor than to sit lower-than-eye level in the organic shape my father and his friends would make on the staircase in front of one of the childhood homes back then. I learned story and the power of connection and shared history. The cost for admission was being the one to get the beer from the fridge for whoever was empty.
Sleep Paraylysis
By Anonymous
There was a time when I used to analyze photos of my face for how “clockable” they were, for how “mannish” they looked. Now when I remember that I used to do that, I find it such a weird concept, which is good, because it is a sign that it’s becoming unfamiliar, that it’s a part of me that occupies less space, that I haven’t thought like that in a long time.
Stained Glass Garden
By Anonymous
In the summer, my father took me and my brother to the pool to swim before our family reunion later. Family from all over were coming to visit… It’ll be my first time meeting a lot of them, so I put on my favorite outfit and gathered all my favorite toys and games that I could share. One by one everyone started to flood in, and I was beaming with excitement. However, that excitement started to fade throughout the day because, for some odd reason, the first thing people would make comments about was how much darker I was in comparison to everyone else in my family… The more comments I got about the color of my skin, the more I felt myself being insecure about it. They look at me as if my skin has been stained.
Reflections of Light
By Anonymous
The love has always been there. I just didn’t see it. I was blinded by the fire of competition. The soft light of the love of my family and friends was only visible after I walked far away from them. The light wasn’t destroyed by the rat race. I just needed to step out of the race to find my light. I just needed to look out the window to find the light. On the other side of the window, there have always been people willing to listen to me and love me.
Fighting the Monster
By Anonymous
The unexpected loss of the most loving and charming person in my life completely changed my sense of belonging in this world. But what had the most profound and intense impact was what came later. Acknowledging the structural barriers that compromise any effort toward self-realization, happiness, and quality of life made me lose every bite of hope and sent me on a trip of no return to nowhere. Something started growing within me. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew this feeling was growing bigger and more powerful without any chance of stopping it. It was a monster that would soon take control of every aspect of my life.