Last March I wrote a post called “Don’t write a Coronavirus essay, but act like you will.” I made the pretty naive prediction that people would be back to “normal” school by fall at the latest. That was, obviously, wrong. I also said that students should not write an admissions essay about their pandemic experience “unless asked.” And now the Common Application does indeed have a short, optional prompt about Covid-19. But I stand by my main idea, that perhaps the best way to make it through this—or any other—really difficult period is to think about how you would hope to describe the experience once it’s passed. So my advice for 9th and 10th graders, high school students that are not yet in the thick of admissions season, remains to focus on being the best high school student possible, given your circumstances and limitations. Below is that original post from March, with all its bad assumptions about the time frame. “Month” and “months” should be changed to “year” and “years.” You may be out of the house more than you were last March, or possibly less. But a focus on actions and activities that make you feel like your most successful self is still what you should be doing right now.

You’re probably not at school right now. You’re probably not going back to school, at least physically, for at least two weeks. You may not go back to school until the next school year this fall. We’re in the middle of a global crisis, all of us.

And so the next month—months?—may be really difficult for you. Even given the best-case scenario—that your family is insulated from job loss, doesn’t need extra medical care, and has plenty of supplies—being together all day as you work and study with Social Distancing may reveal things about yourself or your family that you didn’t realize before. It may significantly change the way you think about school, about your place in the world, about what your future may look like.

If you’re a high school student planning to go to college, you’ll be tempted to write about this for an admissions essay. And that makes sense—it’s probably going to be one of the major events in your life so far. But don’t do it. It’s likely to be a major event in everyone’s life. As extraordinary as this is, its universality will make it difficult to write anything that stands out. It will be like other major life events that almost nobody writes about because they’re so common: starting high school, the difficulties of puberty, realizing that all families have weirdness in them. You should just decide right now that you’re not going to write about this unless asked.

But something that may make the month go better for you and the people around you is to act as though you are going to write an admissions essay about it.

I always advise students to begin the essay process not with the prompts or some story they think will be good, but to begin with thinking about their defining characteristics. Curiosity. Persistence. Kindness. Boundless energy. A talent for planning. Charisma. Those kinds of qualities. What are your defining characteristics? What do people praise you for? What kinds of actions or activities make you feel most successful at being yourself? Start there.

And then think about how you can best apply those qualities to this situation and the people you’re with. And I mean the people you are physically with, day after day. How can you practice, in ways that are meaningful even if they’re small, your best qualities? How can you best put your talents to use as you hunker down with your family and those around you? Once you’ve practiced that, very intentionally, for several days, then think about how you can use the same qualities to help the greater community around you. The answer may very well be that you can’t right now, that social distancing means you won’t interact with many people and definitely not strangers. But think about it and plan as much as possible.

Extreme situations and changes of routine can bring out the worst in us, but it can also bring out the best. Decide right now that you’re going to make sure it brings out your best by practicing your best each day.

Work to make this month as essay-worthy as possible. You don’t have to cure the sick or single handedly re-organize society or publicly criticize each mistake you see other people making. You just have to make this ordeal a way to keep doing the things you’re best at with those around you. Doing this won’t make a better essay, because you’re not going to actually write the essay. But it will help you make the most of this horrible situation. It will help you be an active and useful part of your suddenly much smaller community, and it will help you know yourself much better. Surely that’s more important than a single-use essay?

Be careful out there. Wash your hands. Be the best you can.

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Photo by Angela Elisabeth.