Big storms - Yale - Free example college statement
Hometown: Rancho Mirage, CA
Year: Sophomore
College: Davenport
Major: Political Science
Extracurriculars: Air Force ROTC; Chi Psi Fraternity
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Jackson Lindley credits the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps for giving him his best friendships and his favorite memories at Yale. A cadet in the university’s detachment, he says that taking his oath of enlistment during the first week of his first year felt like “stepping into the next chapter of [his] life.”
It is a chapter he had planned for years. Jackson says he always knew that he wanted to be in the military, even as a boy growing up in Rancho Mirage, California. Being part of the Civil Air Patrol in California allowed him to train with officers and develop his “outdoorsy” side through backpacking, hiking, and even conducting search and recovery patrols.
As a high school senior, Jackson applied to Yale, the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy. He says he ultimately decided to attend Yale because of its diverse student body and cooperative community.
“I’m so fortunate to be exposed to the people here,” Jackson says. “They’re the ones who set it apart and set it above. I’ve been able to grow more through talking with friends than being in class.”
But it’s been a long road to success, he adds. Being in New Haven has been a process of making mistakes and getting into a groove, something he describes as “growing into Yale.” Now, though, he can’t imagine being anywhere else.
When he’s not hanging out with his fellow Davenport suite-mates, Jackson is active in Greek life on campus through the Chi Psi fraternity. He is also certified as an emergency medical technician. Even though he never joined an a cappella group at Yale, citing how its unpredictable time schedule could potentially conflict with his ROTC obligations, he says he has sung with jazz combos and orchestras and loved it.
Jackson adds that he “coasted” through high school and got a crash course in focus and time management once he came to Yale. Outside of what he has learned as a political science major, he has figured out how to work within the school’s institutional constraints and “get Yale to work for [his] own opportunities.”
But he says Yale’s most valuable lessons have been on how to listen, communicate, and understand the opinions of others. “I count myself lucky to be able to talk to people with such diverse opinions,” Jackson says. “In the Air Force, you’re going to be interacting with people from all different kinds of cultures . . . I try to take [Yale’s diversity] in and allow it to influence me so I can apply it in the future.”
Jackson’s essays include his Common App personal statement and one of his Yale supplemental essays.
ESSAY 1 (COMMON APP):
Personal Statement
It hit with the sound of an explosion. A wave of gravel and sand stung my face and I had to lean into the force to stay upright. One moment I was standing in the protected calm of a 24-by-20 military command tent; then in an instant I was outside, and the world went brown. It was a gale force blast of wind that tore the 400-pound metal and canvas structure from its stakes and tossed it in the air like a plastic bag. I heard screams and saw several of my cadets go down. The heavy tent had plowed forward before it went up. Now their eyes were on me. This weekend had just changed in a very serious way.
It was a three-day Civil Air Patrol mission in Indio, California. I was the cadet Project Officer in charge of twenty cadets providing support and security for the Desert Triathlon. One might wonder why a sixteen-year-old student was in that position. The answer starts back a long time in my relatively brief existence. I have wanted to serve as an officer in the US Military as far back as I can remember. I have an “All about me” drawing from second grade when I listed my future occupation as “working on an aircraft carrier” followed by being the President. I was an ambitious seven-year-old. When I was eight I attended a football game at the Air Force Academy. At the tailgate party before the game I was introduced to “Ben, he flies F-22’s” and “This is Niles. He’s a Special Operator and can’t tell us what he does.” They were in shorts and t-shirts, flipping hamburgers, and talking to me about the most amazing things I could imagine. I wanted to be them. It has not changed.
I was already involved in Scouting. I learned the basics of survival, first aid, and leadership, earning the rank of Eagle when I was twelve. I loved it. Then I discovered Civil Air Patrol, a civilian auxiliary of the Air Force. I went all in. The training and responsibility went to a higher level. I was learning the importance of supporting my leaders, who were teaching me how to lead by example.
We had been battling the wind for two days, which was much worse for the 1,000 athletes competing. In all, there were about 3,000 people there. Coordinating the parking and securing the competition bikes was our job. Organizing the team, and keeping them safe, was my responsibility. Now I was doing concussion testing. We determined three cadets needed to be taken to an urgent care. I was walking to the vehicle with one of the cadets, who was protesting that she was fine, when she slumped against me. I caught her and carried her to the truck. I looked at the senior member nearby and said, “She needs attention now.” He pulled out his phone and dialed 911. When they left in the ambulances I focused on the remaining team and the mission. It poured rain all the next day, and at the end the Race Director told me it was the toughest event in his twenty-five years of competition, and he couldn’t have done it without our team. Battered, bruised, cold, and wet, I was so proud of every cadet. I had been awake for 40 hours, the three injured cadets were going to be fine, and I felt great.
I once listened to an Air Force General explain that basically there are our homes, and there are our enemies, with a dangerous space in between. Most of my life has been spent preparing me to stand and lead in that space. I am looking forward to a university experience where I can learn, contribute, and mature as a leader. Whatever comes my way in the next thirty days and the next thirty years, I want to be the one who is always ready when the big storms come.
ESSAY 2 (YALE SUPPLEMENTAL):
Please reflect on something you would like us to know about you that we might not learn from the rest of your application, or on something about which you would like to say more.
I sing. It is not just something I do, it is part of who I am. I have grown up around music. My mother sings opera and I am told that when I was two she heard me humming a cartoon theme. She grabbed my dad and said, “He’s on key!”
Humming sounds turned into singing words, and I have never gotten tired of it. I can’t say I loved it from the beginning, or even knew the meaning of it. My mom had to pay me ten dollars to sing my first duet with her in church. It was after a sixth grade school performance that I realized how much I loved the experience. The applause was great, but I realized how much they loved it too. I saw that music was something the performer and audience enjoyed together.
I began to learn instruments to accompany my vocals. I performed jazz, rock, R&B, country, and even classical. The special moments continued until it wasn’t about the moment. It was the story of me.
Most people find it interesting that I sing, especially those who know that my career goal is to be an officer in the United States military. While I don’t plan on a career in music, I do plan on a life of music. I took my senior year of science in summer school to open a spot for AP Music Theory, which is taught by my AP Calculus teacher. Math and music have always seemed more alike than different to me. Although I intend to study engineering in college, I also intend to sing. Whenever I hear about Yale, the music is always mentioned. The ability to be part of three hundred years of history would be an incredible honor.
An important chapter came at the end of my sophomore year. I was asked to sing a solo with a full orchestra in our largest local theater. That performance was the first time that I practiced not only singing well, but working with my fifty-four new musical friends to move the emotions of a large audience. The rehearsals were chaotic and intense.
The night of the performance, I was ready. It was a tradition at that theater to sign the wall backstage. I scanned the names looking for an open spot. Johnny Cash, George Burns, Tommy Tune, Bette Midler, and so many other amazing people were there. I humbly selected a spot between Bob Hope and Lucille Ball.
My song was in the second act, and I wasn’t nervous, but I had to contain a lot of energy for a really long time. “Jackson, you’re next,” finally came from the stage manager. My heart was racing as I ran through the opening notes in my head. My cues with the orchestra, my marks on the stage, my personal journey with music were all there. She handed me a mic, said “Break a leg,” and gave me push. I stepped out into the light.
From 50 Yale Admission Success Stories: And the Essay That Made Them Happen, edited by the Yale Daily News Staff. Copyright © 2020 by the authors
and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group.