Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

(This is an application I wrote to a group home during my transition into foster care. At the time, it was seemingly my only hope. Since then I have encountered better avenues in my life. I have been placed with a very nice family and for the first time in a long time, I can say that feel secure in a place. I have made connections that are a close second to that which I had with my mother. This following application, although unpolished, was written in a very stressful couple of hours in my life. It was my only way out of a possibly very bad trajectory. I send this as my college essay because it contains an emotional core that even the most well-crafted prose could not contain. I send this application as it was when I sent to Independence House because it is genuine. )

Independence House, to me, is a beacon of hope.

With the passing of my mother and sole parent, I lost the most meaningful and important connection in my life. I, however, do not like to look at the negatives of any bad circumstance and instead like to keep an optimistic view.

I like to think of my mother’s passing as not a setback but as an experience handed down to me so that I can be tested. In my stepping into the world, I have made lasting friendships and connections with good people who would have never crossed my path otherwise.

Given all the bad that this calamity has brought, it has ingrained in me one thing, one piece of worldly wisdom that cannot be taught. I have realized that as humans, we need to rely on each other. To learn through not just experience but by using the experience of others to improve ourselves. I like to take this lesson and apply it to my stay in Independence House.

I would like to learn from my future companions at the residence; I would like to learn how to be more resilient, to be stronger, and to achieve greater things. I want to learn their approach for going against the greatest odds of failure and beating them. I would like to impart my thoughts in a manner that can be constructive to them. I would like to impart the lessons that I learned in trying to improve my chances of becoming a respectable member of society.


My need for stable and regimented housing is dire in that only under the protective umbrella of Independence House, will I meet not only my own expectations but also those, which weigh more heavily on me, those of the community at large. The community that now more vividly can consist of the residents of Independence House.

Residence at Independence Hall will allow me to reach my goals because of the safety, security, and guidance I will be afforded under your care. I have over the past months had a shift in my beliefs and opinions due to the effects of my experiences. My priorities have shifted for the better, towards positive growth and improvement.

(I would like to transfer the same sense of community that I felt the need to bring to Independence to my education and stay at Caldwell University.)