<p>The human narrative is replete with memorable characters like America's Paul Revere, ancient Greece's Perseus, or the Fox Spirits of East Asia. Imagine one of humanity's storied figures is alive and working in the world today. Why does Rapunzel work at Saks? Would Shiva be a general or a diplomat? Is Quetzalcoatl trapped in a zoo? In short, connect your chosen figure to the contemporary world and imagine the life he/she/it might lead.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure I understand the point of this one well enough, but just for clarification before I jump in and start hammering something away, would a narrative/short story work? Just curious/unsure.</p>
<p>Thank you! Would you know if it’s OK to do something other than the “standard” first-person description for the other non-optional supplement questions, such as #3? I have a kinda non-standard idea, something aside from the “I’m [X] because I [Y]” jig, but I don’t want to go too far outside the guidelines and risk getting stares come review time.</p>
<p>It’s always OK to do something that’s not “standard” if that’s what best represents you because that’s what they want—a true representation of you.</p>
<p>In general I think it’s a plus to be creative. My son (now a sophomore) did his alternative history as a series of excerpts from letters and newspapers. He’d originally had some connecting narrative, but then was way over the word limit! I think it was just as strong without it.</p>
<p>Seriously had the most fun with the optional essay this year. All my friends wanted to celebrate their nerdy sides (which is awesome) but I chose a not so nerdy approach with mine (another personal narrative using question 5) and came out with a killer essay! Have fun with it. If the essay doesn’t appeal to you as you write it/make you smile, erase it and try again. I went through five drafts with different ideas before I found the one. And it was worth the trials and errors!</p>