I had an idea to write my college essay as a letter to my alcoholic father. Is this a good idea? I am also a little scared the teachers who I give the essay to will report him or me, when that is not my intention as he is currently getting better in therapy. Any thoughts?
Could be great & insightful or could be disturbing & incriminating. Really depends upon how it is written. Best to have someone proofread it before submitting it as part of your college application.
Great topic & a wonderful, potentially cathartic approach.
P.S. If you need a reader, I can give a brief critique. I will PM you &, if you like, you can send a draft of your essay via return PM.
Typically, colleges want to learn about you, what you potentially contribute to their community. Not private secrets. They appreciate getting to see your personal strengths, traits they look for in the class.
And when adcoms read, they don’t assume. I.e., that your experience with him made you a better candidate.
This isn’t ordinary writing- eg, when an English teacher says, “write something revealing.” This is for a college app.
A letter to an alcohlic parent can offer great insights into an applicant. In my opinion, it could be a very powerful, insightful & meaningful portrayal of who you are, how you became that person, what obstacles you have overcome & challenges that you continue to face. If written well, I cannot think of a more effective essay topic.
P.S. Many understand that adult children of alcoholics tend to be mature beyond their years, responsible to the point of taking blame even when another or others were at fault, perfectionists, and sensitive, deep analytical thinkers.
Try to share your thoughts in a non-blameworthy fashion. Demonstrate understanding & compassion.
It could be a very powerful and interesting essay, but a college app may not be the place for it.
The point is to sell yourself to a school, but doing that is very difficult to pull off when writing about “Where My Parents Fell Short”.
@Groundwork2022 : Nothing in OP’s post indicates that OP’s essay will be about “where my parents fell short”.
Still needs to be relevant to what those adcoms want to find. Not just “true to me.” Or “profound to me.”
In the end, a kid will choose to write what he or she thinks is right. I just advocate they understand this is more about fitting and geting the college admit. After all, that’s the point of applying, no?
If it were some other sort of contest, say, for an internship, and they asked for an essay, would what I learned from his alcoholism be the trick?
I think it’s very hard to have good perspective while still under the same roof as an alcoholic parent. Especially the kind of perspective that will show an adcom the qualities they want to see in a potential student. Go ahead and write a draft and see if the qualities you want to highlight shine through. If not, pick a different topic.
First off, I am sorry you’re going through this, but I am glad your father is doing well getting help.
Since you’re willing to have a teacher review your essay, how would you feel about asking them for a couple minutes to talk to you about your potential essay topic - you might get a sense from them as to whether they’d feel obligated to report him, but since he’s already getting help and doing well, they may not need to. Since this is only a potential topic - maybe have another topic ready to discuss - and then decide.