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…

the front door, a cold so direct it felt personal. I remember standing on the front steps with my coat half-buttoned and my breath breaking into white clouds and realizing I had done it. I had actually done it. I had detonated the version of my life everyone in that house had already chosen for me. I was twenty years old, had eighteen hundred dollars continue reading …