Legacy: College Admission Essay Sample

As high school graduation inches closer, I find myself contemplating the word legacy. When I joined Dos Pueblos High School’s journalism team, the class was fading. The stories did not matter to the writers, and therefore, did not matter to the readers, so I made it my goal to recapture our audience’s attention.

A year later, I accepted the position of Editor-in-Chief and formulated an ambitious plan to add a tangible, printed edition of The Charger Account to our previously online outlet. I’ve always appreciated tradition and authenticity, so when news started going digital, I accepted the inevitable shift from paper to screens, but I did not want to see all a newspaper embodies be lost.

I became committed to learning the ins and outs of designing a paper and leading a newsroom. I now attend national student journalism conferences, run story meetings, shape angles for articles, and teach journalistic integrity in the face of controversy. My primary focus is to foster the visions of my staff writers through team building and skill development, while maintaining a smooth and effective workflow.

The first distribution day was the most rewarding day of my high school career. As the staff and I went classroom to classroom passing out our print issue, we were met with cheering teachers and students eager to read stories relevant to our community.

Serving as Editor-in-Chief has improved my communication and leadership skills, enhanced my understanding of team-building, and given me practice staying calm in the face of encroaching deadlines. In the future, I plan to build on these strengths and continue showcasing the values of integrity, equality, and truth through my writing.

I can only hope that years from now, when I visit the school that introduced me to journalism, I’ll be able to pick up an issue of The Charger Account and be reminded of the power in sharing stories. I have always strived to give a voice to those who have been silenced, and through doing so, I've inspired a team of emerging student journalists to do the same.