Georgetown Personal Essay: College Admission Essay Sample

When I ventured out onto the rural homestead occupied by Tambudzai and her family in colonial Rhodesia, I never returned. My mother's worn copy of Nervous Conditions, the book that tells of their adventures, was surreptitiously slipped back into her shelf, but my thoughts dwelt in the stark, psychological landscape that was 1960s Zimbabwe. My vague concerns regarding my gender and ethnicity coalesced to form an understanding that was tantalizingly sharp. I was thrilled when the protagonist, Tambudzai, joined my Year Eight English Class. I attempted to share my ideas regarding patriarchy and other prevalent African attitudes during class discussions. However, my teacher disapproved of the earnest direction I took.

I was hardly discouraged; not because I identified with Nyasha, the Anglicized yet conflicted cousin that dissected traditions with her sharp wit. I had discovered a world where my amorphous feelings were clarified. I began to speak proudly in my stigmatized dialect, pidgin, after reading Chinua Achebe's Man of the People. Thus, reading African literature was not a mere pastime for me; it was a source of affirmation. I was delighted to discover Achebe ranked amongst the likes of Brontë and Dickens in one of my school texts. My fingers trembled as I leafed through the pages that listed distinguished, Classic novelists. Chinua Achebe was the only African writer that was mentioned. There and then, I determined to lend my voice to the emerging African narrative that is crucial to the definition of global, human ideals.

In time, I persuaded my classmates to produce a collection of written works which was published as a school magazine titled Triber. We wrote for girls who were dissuaded from realizing their intellectual interests. We wrote to challenge deeply ingrained attitudes which were condoned as permanent features of our society. Most importantly, we wrote in defiant celebration of an adolescence that was uniquely ours. Writing served to broaden my appreciation for a spectrum of human experiences. In May 2015, I won a National essay competition and was selected to represent my country, Nigeria, at the EF Academy Global Founder's Contest in New York. I presented a portfolio of ideas to improve the world alongside 16 international finalists and was awarded the grand scholarship prize of 50,000 USD. This experience confirmed to me the importance of international co-operation to eradicate human challenges.

Unlike Tambudzai, I have no qualms debating issues related to inequality and oppression. Neither do I distinguish 'activism' from my core beliefs- I believe respect for universal freedoms is a prerequisite of global citizenship and should not warrant a special label. Like Tambudzai, I write to gain strength in the midst of adversities which suggest my aim to harmonize my interests in engineering with the development of the world around me will not materialise. I have determined to be African and feminine without compromise, for the limitations posed by these identities have instilled the values of tenacity and perseverance in me. Above all, I have learnt that a proactive mind-set and great further education is the propeller of my ambitions and look forward to contributing to and partaking of the rich atmosphere of Georgetown University, to become a highly impactful student, debater, and engineer.