One day in 1989, not long after my parents and I set foot in America, we stumbled upon a piece of furniture that would come to define our early years as immigrants. Lying limply on a street corner in our Brooklyn neighborhood was a three-legged coffee table. The previous owner had abandoned it—surely for its obvious handicap—but on that lucky day, the three-legged table got a second chance at life and became part of our home.

We were so poor back then that even crippled furniture helped. In China, my mom worked as a chemist and my dad designed theater lighting. They were both college-educated and successful in their jobs, but a stingy communist economy and an unforgiving currency exchange fought against them in moving to America. The transatlantic flight devoured all their savings and left them at JFK International with two ratty suitcases, a seven-year-old son, and the courage to start over.

There’s a Chinese saying, “Tears fall downward,” referring to the sacrifices parents make for their children. My parents made theirs so that I didn’t have to grow up in a country where tanks were deployed against students whose horrible crime was pleading for democracy. My parents’ sacrifice eventually paid off, and within ten years, they purchased their first house in America and saw their son off to Harvard. The latter accomplishment belongs more to them than to me: the act of parenting validated.

Nothing, however, seemed more unlikely when we first arrived. Constrained by their broken English, my parents took what jobs they could find. They were outrageously overworked and underpaid, but they never brought any bitterness home.

What they did bring home was the occasional piece of abandoned furniture. My dad repaired the three-legged coffee table, recreating a fourth leg with the same passion and ingenuity that had driven his former success in lighting design. His handiwork did the job. The table served us reliably for years. It gave us a place to gather at dinnertime, to talk about my day at school, to hear stories of our family history and of our relatives in China, to share our hopes and dreams. That one piece of furniture is endlessly entwined with memories of my childhood. Whenever I think back to the things my parents taught me—about courage, sacrifice, optimism, creativity, and hard work—our coffee table was always somewhere in the room.

Analysis

When answering this essay question, many applicants choose stories in which they can display their maturity, their vision of life, and how they acquired both. This particular candidate uses a very powerful image, a three-legged table mended by his father, as a metaphor for his life. That crooked table also embodies the life lessons he learned from his parents. In order to maintain the readers’ interest, this candidate adopts a storytelling tone. He structures his essay chronologically, starting with his parents’ arrival in the United States and ending with a philosophical conclusion about how a single image is enough to remind him of both his roots and his direction in life.

From this response, the reader truly understands where the applicant comes from. Literally, he is the scion of a poor Chinese immigrant family. Figuratively, he comes from a background of hard work, diligence, and humility. Both aspects have shaped his unique personality, and the reader understands that this applicant’s words and feelings are genuine. In subtly paying tribute to his parents, “tears fall downward,” the candidate endears the reader with his humility. By choosing this particular anecdote, the applicant achieves two goals: he conveys a sense of authenticity, and he demonstrates a high level of self-awareness. By turning an imperfect table into the anchor in his life, the author demonstrates the strength of his resolve and gives the reader a glimpse of his essence. If this essay is a vehicle for applicants to shed light on their personality, mission accomplished.

From 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays edited by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson. Copyright (c) 2009 by the authors and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group