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…

encouraged it. Because some part of her no longer trusted the script she had been given. And then she found the truth. Not the family version, not the half-omitted updates, but the actual shape of my life: publishing, Columbia, teaching, the book, the admissions work, the Yale appointment. She described the moment her worldview cracked open when she continue reading …