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 the shame of not being able to buy a round of drinks when everyone else could—those things were real too. But so is the damage of staying loyal to a version of success that requires your self-betrayal. That is what my family never understood when I was twenty. They thought the danger was that I would fall behind. They did not see that the greater continue reading …