1. 1
College common App Essay
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Course details
Professor’s name
Due date
2. 2
Introduction
His name was Jack Fliper: seventeen years old without blemish, a young man full of
energy with a face that is full of innocence. Most boys around this teenage years worry about
getting girls and wearing trendy clothes in fashion: Jack along with the many other boys was not
an exception, he worried about the survival of high school.
To many, Jack is just another character, a reference to the blood-spilling gang history of
this neighborhood. I had the chance to interact with him, we were assigned to become partners
one time in a health class. I never had the privilege to get to know him enough to mourn, or even
attend his funeral. As much as it might sound cliché, the person who said death changes souls
must have had a solid point. From my, point of view, I used to think it just made people miss
their lost loved ones, but is a big reality check.
Jack’s news of his death caught me off guard. My friends and I dodged the security
guards and pass by the barbed wire fence often on Tuesday morning. At first, nothing was
unusual concerning the day, but at some point, I noticed a group of girls clothed in matching air-
brushed shirts: this couldn’t quite make out the pattern at the time. I eventually figured that they
said “Remembering Jack.” The principal mentioned nothing about Jack in the morning briefs like
some time girls died in a car collision. I got the news from a classmate, Jack was walking with
his pal down some street when two girls of a competitive gang accosted them. In silence, one of
them lashed out a knife. Jack’s friend flee in another direction but jack was not lucky. I did not
get clear details on what happened, I guess it remains behind the scenes.
I may not compare myself to Jack. At seventeen, I still played video games most of my
time and repetition of the same outfits now and then. I lived a simple life riding my bike to
3. 3
school and my mom giving haircuts. I was an average student scoring B’s and C’s in which did
not bother me. School was not that important to me just living in my world. The friends I hung
out with were pretty much similar, with time my circle of friends grow smaller. Everyone was
discovering themselves and more curiosity craved into no more.
The day I knew about Jack’s death was now when it hit me, I started to think seriously
about the life that I was living and my future’s fate. Was I going to be another dumb person who
doesn’t care about anything? What type of legacy would I want to leave people with? I got this
strong conviction to pull myself together and improve more on the worth of my life. I transferred
to GATE as soon as I got the opportunity, which qualified me for AP classes and Honors. Ialso
enrolled in piano classes together with a wood shop. I discovered I had an artistic nature in me. I
was doing well in poetry that my English teacher entered a few of my poems in the writing
competitions. I felt like I had worked towards the betterment of my life since I was ever
preoccupied with something to do.
Jack Fliper remained in my head for as long as I can remember. I see him everywhere I
would go, young hooded men, walking around streets dressed in bandanas mostly black and
white. The thought of this gang and Jack and I feel like maybe it would be me in that position.
Furthermore, my elder brothers act more like Jack and it would easily have been them.
So why not me? I might not be able to have a good answer to the question but I guess I
had the appropriate friends and teachers who surrounded me. Also, the fact that I watched
educative TV shows and distracted myself with video games living no room for some
mischievous conduct. I might not have wanted that lifestyle at that age but that Tuesday morning
as my classmates earnestly went about their daily activities, It dawned on me that I was lucky
and I was not going to waste that chance. More so lucky that I realized this before it was too late.
