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…

But Hartley and Sons turned out to be a brutal, accidental apprenticeship in resilience. I read everything. I read manuscripts so bad they made my eyes cross and manuscripts so promising I carried them home in my tote bag because I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I learned how an opening paragraph earns trust, how a scene carries tension, how one continue reading …