Here’s an essay I wrote as a high school senior, around the time the college process was in full swing.  Re-reading it, I cringe at some of the stuffy phrasing and the let’s-include-the-dictionary-definition cliche, but it was the piece I was proudest of at the time.   I didn’t see myself as much of a writer, anyway, more as a dabbler in philosophy when I wasn’t doing science and math and D&D.  And those early D&D manuals sure liked to use fancy words.  Anyway, it has its redeeming qualities, and I thought you might get a kick out of comparing then and now.