College: A Poem

They ask for it all: your life and your friends,

But do they honestly care?

You spend so much time crumpling drafts into balls

So that your resumé might compare

With the hundreds of thousands of talented kids

Applying all over the world

To the same universities you want to go to…

The best of the best, so you’re told.

Holistic review is a “genuine thing.”

It’s how they consider your fate.

Writing from home about leadership roles,

You’re unsure what to throw them as bait.