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…

I woke up with the feeling that I was already living someone else’s life. Because I would rather be terrified in a city I couldn’t afford than deadened in a future that looked prestigious from the outside and airless from within. But the only words that came out were the bluntest ones. “Because I hate it.”

The sentence hit the room like broken glass.continue reading …