California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Undergraduate College Application Essays

St. Augustine tells us, "It is not true to say that a thing rightly done once should not be changed." I know this is true because of my experience with my grandfather's failing health. My grandfather, Sinclair Adam, is a gentleman farmer in...

I'm sure I have the visiting team's attention by the time I finish my first lap around the soccer field. Standing in a circle, contemplating my presence, they venture guesses quietly, "Cross country? Lost? Girl's soccer?" Finishing my second lap,...

For most of high school, I felt lost. While I was the brain in my elementary school classes, I no longer did well in school. My thoughts and self-image faded away, I lacked all ambition, and everything felt like a burden. I couldn’t stand the...

I’m a surfer, which means I spend many hours a week in the vast Pacific Ocean that meets the San Francisco County shoreline. I know my coastline like the back of my hand. I know the texture of the smooth, slimy kelp that flourishes in our frigid...

The external reflections of my admiration are subtle. A red and blue toothbrush, its handle laced with white plastic webbing, stands among bottles of makeup remover by my sink. A boyish PVC and polyester wallet depicting an agile hero as he swings...

It was a humid and tense night. My dad flipped a table full of china plates and beer cans, because my mom refused to make a dish for his guests. She said she was tired from a full shift that day at her job. When I came downstairs, he was already...

Dairy products crushed my dreams. My pediatrician delivered the terrible news: she said that my constant stomach aches had been caused by a dairy allergy that had, until recently, lain dormant. This development would be a tough pill for any...

“Are you sure you want to make that move?” Grandpa asks.

I take yet another look at the board in front of me and walk myself through it one more time, step-by-step. He’ll take my rook―he has to―with his last bishop, which’ll allow me to corner his...