When I Dropped Out At 20, My Sister Told Everyone: “She’s The One Who Didn’t Finish.” Twelve Years Later, I’m Yale’s Dean Of Admissions. One Essay Read: “My Family Moved Past My Aunt’s Setback.” The Name? Amanda Chen. My Niece. I Picked Up My Red Pen And…

and felt not triumph but a kind of ache. Amanda had done it entirely on her own merits. That mattered intensely to me. Later that evening I sat with her file open again, now officially resolved, and tried to decide what to do with the fact that my niece had written me back into my own family history. I could stay silent. Let her receive the official continue reading …