Hometown: Naperville, IL

Year: First-Year

College: Pierson

Major: Cognitive Science; Economics

Extracurriculars: Steppin’ Out; Hippopotamus Literary Magazine, editor; Matriculate; Asian American Cultural Center, peer liaison

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Profile

Lillian Yuan is a sophomore in Pierson College from Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Back home, she and her twin sister, Vivian, were affectionately known as “the power twins” because of their involvement with school activities. In the classroom, Lillian was particularly interested in English, which led her to write for the school’s literary magazine. Meanwhile, outside the classroom, she spent time as president of DECA, a business club focused on community outreach, and sang in her school’s show choir.

When looking for college options, Lillian wanted to find a place where she could feel comfortable exploring new fields without having to sacrifice her other interests. She was not sure whether she wanted to pursue English further and wanted to try other disciplines like economics and cognitive science.

Yale appeared to be a perfect fit, with a competitive academic environment that also allowed for intellectual exploration. Before arriving for her first year, Lillian, while incredibly excited to attend, was worried the other members of her incoming class might be “intimidatingly competitive” or “too smart.” However, after spending her first year at Yale, she quickly came to realize that while her classmates were indeed impressive, the caliber of her fellow Yalies pushed her to grow as both a person and a student

At Yale, Lillian has continued to pursue a broad array of activities. She not only works to fight against the underrepresentation of Asians in national politics but also performs on Yale’s step team, Steppin’ Out, and writes for Hippopotamus Literary Magazine, a new publication that she helped create. She also works for Matriculate—an organization that matches current undergraduate mentors to promising low-income high school students—and is active in Yale Students for Christ. Lillian is often found on the Divinity School campus, a short walk north of the center of undergraduate life, working on her assignments in cognitive science and economics.

Lillian’s essays include her Common App personal statement and three of her Yale supplemental essays.

ESSAY 1 (COMMON APP):

Personal Statement

For as long as I can remember, my twin sister and I have communicated through song lyrics. Our shared playlist thrums through my earbuds as I sit on the plane, watching the clouds roll out and a beautiful college campus roll in. It reminds me of how much we’ve grown with and learned from each other, of how much of my personal identity has come from the one we share. So I close my eyes and just listen.

“We’ll sit in our bedrooms and read aloud, like a passage from goodnight moon . . .” Track 1: Goodnight Moon

When Vivian finally closes her Calculus textbook, I crack open a very different kind of book. She groans.

“Please?” I say. “Just one chapter. I promise.”

With a sigh, she moves over on the twin bed. I give a squeal of delight, plunging right in with my best character voices. Every couple pages, I insert the word “banana” into a sentence to make sure Vivian is still listening, but now she’s wide awake. One chapter spirals into three to five, and one night of pulling a Benjamin Buttons and becoming fearless, overly zealous children turns into a tradition. As we laugh, cry, and push the boundaries of imagination together, I decide that this is what life should be about: dreaming large and loving larger.

“You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains . . .” Track 2: You Raise Me Up

My breath comes out in sporadic puffs. This is it, I think. I’ve finally found the one thing I can’t conquer with hard work, optimism, and willpower: the mile.

Vivian strides a couple paces in front, but she slows down and reaches a hand out. She tugs on my arm and yells encouragements through her own exhaustion, so I pick up my pace and forge through, sprinting the last 150 meters by her side.

When blood starts flowing normally to my brain again, I think about all the ways we challenge each other through our competitive natures inherent to being twins. But even though our competition pushes me to be better, our unwavering support for each other pushes me to be the best that I can be—as an athlete, a student, and ultimately a person.

“Come on let it go, just let it be, why don’t you be you and I’ll be me?” Track 3: Let It Go

Connor looks at us skeptically.

“I swear we’re fraternal,” I repeat.

“But you guys are basically the same person,” he says, baffled.

Before high school, a comment like that would’ve punched a hole in my self-esteem. But I realized that being so similar to someone else molded my individuality in incredible, ironic ways, every joke about my replaceability fueling my drive to distinguish myself. I learned to define myself both inside the context of being a twin, balancing Vivian’s strict rationality with my more emotional, philosophical musings, and outside of it, finding a family and new identity in a Christian community and delving deep into creative writing, social work, and other passions unique to me.

So now I just laugh. “If you don’t believe me,” I joke, “you can just ask my mom for the birth certificate.”

“I don’t know if I’ve been changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good.” Track 4: For Good

My favorite duet from the musical “Wicked” plays me into the landing gate, where so many new songs await. As I hum along to this one, I tell Vivian all that I need to say: that our timeless traditions have shaped my creativity, spontaneity, and sheer love of living; that her unconditional support pushes me to improve myself ceaselessly and conquer the unconquerable; that this shared identity has paved the way for me to build my own.

That being a twin has changed me, for good.

ESSAY 2 (YALE SUPPLEMENT):
Why does Yale appeal to you?

Ever since I read Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows and watched Sam Tsui’s debut performance in Yale’s hilarious music video, I’ve dreamed of attending the college that shaped such inspirational figures in my life. Now my reasons are less star-struck: I long to experience Yale’s equally vibrant musical, academic, and social scenes, to class-hop during Yale’s shopping period, to participate in the rigorous Directed Studies program. I long to forge lifelong relationships in one of the twelve tight-knit residential colleges while networking in the large, research-oriented university. I long to become an inspirational figure myself; that’s why I choose Yale.

ESSAY 3 (YALE SUPPLEMENT):
Reflect on a time in the last few years when you felt genuine excitement learning about something.

What is the ethical dilemma that rises from memory hacking? How else can memory be distorted? Is memory meant to be accurate or adaptive?

My eyes were glued to the screen, but my mind was chugging away. NOVA’s Memory Hackers, a documentary recommended to me by a friend, had me completely enthralled. The idea that something so intrinsic to the human experience could be so complex fascinated me to no end, and I needed to learn more.

A month later, I began to tackle all my questions through a Humanities Capstone. I started my school days with visits to the library, my pile of articles from the local community college and various databases growing along with my enthusiasm. I poured over study upon study discussing memory distortion through false memory implantation, collective memory formation, radical museology, and optogenetics, scribbling notes clandestinely during lulls in my other classes. Though I was searching for support for my thesis—that memory’s malleability can help us develop historical consciousness and sense of self—I found something more valuable along the way: a budding interest in not only cognitive sciences but independent research, one that will stay with me wherever I go.

ESSAY 4 (YALE SUPPLEMENT):
Write about something that you love to do.

Three sentences in. No backspace button—just scratch away the words. Relish in the ink smoothing out your thoughts. Create a Kaz Brekker, a boy with a hardened heart that cheats life and was cheated by life, or a Skeeter Phelan who stops at noth ing in her pursuit of truth. Let the words run you over with their power and, more often than not, clumsiness. It doesn’t matter—just go.

In moments like these, creative writing takes over my heart and mind. My mother’s calls to eat dinner don’t exist, and three hours squeeze into just three minutes of intense dialogue. My assignment notebook transforms into a series of letters never sent. The library’s Georgia Pacific–brand bathroom amenities become poetic metaphors for pushing past constructed horizons while I push my own.

Throughout my life, from writing a fifth-grade free verse about ostriches to grueling over a National Novel Writing Month story to running a book blog with four enthusiastic readers and best friends, my passion for creative writing has continuously evolved. What started as fun turned to catharsis, and now, to inspiration: inspiration to think deeply, live wholeheartedly, and appreciate the beauty in every small moment.

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.