Admitted UChicago ED Admissions Essay Creative Prompt Sarah ONeill

 The apple that fell from a Malus pumila tree and bonked Newton on the head inspired him to study gravity. What is something that bonked you on the head and caused you to explore and reach new growths? (around 650 words)

  He never looked like that before. Bryan, my English tutor, had been to our house many times...but not like that. Ogling at his hair, the sparkles of his shirt penetrated through my eyes and into my soul. It made for an interesting conversation piece, anyway. Before this spectacle, Bryan wore regular clothes, trousers, and a golf shirt, clean-cut. Now, standing before us, he had morphed into a bushy-bearded man in sparkly pink clothing and a rainbow for hair. When I was ten, a twisted idea of masculinity emerged. I say “twisted” with the best possible connotation. 

That same year, in a life-changing move, I immigrated to America with my mom from China and suddenly adapting became ever-present–adapting to the language, adapting to the social cues, adapting to the culture. What it meant to be a man, in particular, was never more tested than when my tutor, Bryan, sparkled. “What happened to you?” I asked as he chuckled, passing over our threshold. “I went to a “My Little Pony” convention.” He said, stepping in, taking his books from his bag. What the heck was My Little Pony? I thought. All my questions were answered soon enough. The recounting of this tale is not necessarily an endorsement for My Little Pony. It is, however, the first time my gender norms were challenged. 

I come from a conservative Chinese upbringing, so the thought of a “Brony”, an adult MLP fan, was a shock to my system. Men are to be strong, wear suits, thick-skinned, and stoic. Then there was Bryan, enthusiastically fanning through his photos from the convention, where everyone rocked rainbows and ponies and sparkles, with even more egregious attire and make-up. Speechless, I felt all my assumptions about masculinity shaken by a pink shirt and rainbow hair. As I grew older, and without his knowledge, I began to understand the influence that Bryan had on me.

MLP is a “little girls” show about friendship, love, and happy endings. At first, even with its title my mind instantly thought about children's  lunchboxes. But my curiosity propelled me to watch one episode to see just what the hype was all about. Finding a cushy spot on the couch, I found a revival of the show on TBS. I watched my first episode Friendship is Magic Part 1. About ten minutes in, amidst the bright colors, cute little ponies, its light and catchy songs, simple, heartwarming plots, utopian forests, mythical rainbows… I was captivated. There were no social pressures that were not quelled in Equestria, a magical land filled with friends and benevolence. By the end, I was hooked. 

Subsequently,I started watching episodes regularly, at first catching up, eventually following the series until it ended in 2019. For a long time, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why I watched MLP. It wasn’t until the realization that I watched the show whenever school and life was at its most stressful that I concluded it was for their softness, the way ponies freely expressed their feelings, the sincerity in their apologies, and the show’s fuzzy main theme of friendship. I once exuded a tough exterior at school, misguidedly trying to be what society considered a man; not expressing myself simply because I’m prescribed a boy. I felt like I was trying to subdue part of what makes me, me. 

MLP, weirdly, taught me it was okay to embrace my feelings. When I’m stressed, I express it. When I’m with friends, I genuinely let myself go. Once I started opening up and dropped the aloof and cold front, I met people with whom I bonded and eventually became best friends, people I can count on. As cheesy as it sounds, I learned the “magic of friendship”. Today, although I am not a full-fledged “Brony” like Bryan, I no longer prescribe to gender labels, especially in something we all deserve: happiness and friendship. 

Sarah ONeill

Supreme Editing