NaNoWriMo :: NaNoWriMo Blog

"Pretty quickly I decided that the only thing I wanted to write about was writing itself."

"Autumn of senior year is grueling. You enter it thinking you have it all together, tired of high school and ready to graduate. Many hope to go on to college, and that was definitely me in Fall 2006. I wanted early acceptance to my first-choice college and the comfort of knowing I wouldn’t have to worry come spring; my future would be laid out for me, steam pressed and unwrinkled. Unfortunately, it turned out that everything I had ever heard about college applications was true, and what really didn’t help was the personal essay.

My English teacher’s advice was to write about our accomplishments, or important experiences in our lives that (let’s face it) glorified us in some way. I am not big on writing about myself in the first place, and as far as building myself up and talking about something I’d accomplished? Too bad I’d spent high school ditching class, not researching a cure for cancer.

Pretty quickly I decided that the only thing I wanted to write about was writing itself. It was something I felt like I could talk about without feeling like a complete ham or like it would blend in with a million other essays all talking about how awesome their personality is and how that can’t be perceived in an essay so universities everywhere should change their system. I realized though, that I couldn’t just write about what writing means to me, or that I’ve written my whole life. Had I really pushed myself and dropped out of high school, maybe I’d have a book published and I could write about that. Then again, if that had happened, I wouldn’t be writing a college admissions essay in the first place.

That’s when it dawned on me. Why not write about NaNoWriMo? I’d been doing it since sophomore year while all but one of my friends thought I’d gone utterly mad (mind you, they already thought I was pretty strange for 'writing for fun.' What a concept!) and it was a great way to express how I felt about writing while building myself up a little bit.

I’ve never won NaNo, not once in the past 4 years. Honestly though, (and I will be corny for just a moment so bear with me because you probably feel like this too) I feel pretty kickass just for finishing a chapter. Getting past the first ten pages. Completing a major plot point. Every year of NaNo, I feel like a winner, just for taking time for myself to do something I love, and to do it intensely. That’s where I found its 'magic', so that even less-than-perfect me could write an admissions essay that I didn’t want to pulverize.

I didn’t get early acceptance, which resulted in three worry-lines on my forehead that won’t go away. (I’m only a teenager! I don’t deserve wrinkles yet.) It wasn’t the clear and comfy future that I wanted, but I did get accepted eventually to my backup school. After a year there, I’ve decided that I like it much better than what was my first-choice college. I’ve also decided that I want to be an English teacher, so maybe someday I can get a classroom of kids to feel that magic and see the reward that there is not only in writing, but in doing something for yourself every once in a while, regardless of the consequences. You don’t have to be perfect; you just have to find a way to give yourself a little love."

—K.J. King

K.J. is a Pacific Northwest college student who spent her freshman year perfecting the art of chugging 200 degree Fahrenheit espresso while running in obnoxiously high-heeled (but AMAZING) boots and still arriving to class on time.

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