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The Student Newspaper of Hopkins School

Class of 2018 Shares College Essay Openings

Each year, Hopkins seniors submit a personal essay to their potential next homes. Included here are a selection of the first lines of college essays for the Class of 2018. 
“America’s favorite anchorman Ron Burgundy once said, “Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago.”” - Jonah Norwitt

"I am stubbornly passionate about my interests and beliefs, but struggle knowing when to stand firm and when to concede." - Jason Alfandre

"Around my neck hangs a small piece of wood, suspended by a purple string." - Lionel Louis

“When I was young, my dad smoked Newport cigarettes.” - Kiarra Lavache

“To set the scene: it’s the evening of May 31, 2017.” - Emily Calderone

“I was only one week into my Spring Break and I had done nothing but lie static in various places in my house, counting down the days until my seventeenth birthday.” - Unique Parker

“The sun beaming through his slightly open curtains woke him.” - Andrew Roberge

“Sitting in the window of a coffee shop in New York City and people watching is one of my favorite things to do.” - Karyn Bartosic

“The oven is set to 350, a greased and filled baking pan is fully prepped, I’ve got a mitt in my hand, and my great grandma Clara is rolling over in her grave.” - Katrina Tiktinsky

“When I was eight years old, I experienced sailing alone for the first time.”
- Kieran Anderson

“The first time I lost, I found out at a table in the lunchroom.”
- Eli Sabin

“I stood out under the blazing lights, out of place amidst a corps of ten-year-old girls in pink tutus.”
- Dylan Sloan

“The drumming pulse of helicopter blades heralds a blur of orange and white streaking over the crystal blue Atlantic coast of America’s largest territorial possession.”
- Sonoe Fitzsimonds

"There was a man standing on the curbside outside of a 24-hour convenience store."
- Georgia Doolittle 

“I was setting four places at the table for the first time in weeks because my brother was home
from college for Fall Break.” - Zander Blitzer

“Do we add sugar?”
- Gigi Speer

“And that’s how the introduction of cane toads in northeastern Australia led to drastic consequences for the area’s native inhabitants.” - Conal Mueller

“In March of my sophomore year, I temporarily became a balloon.”
- Naomi Roberts

"Huddled around the dim blue glow of my mother's computer, laughing and crying with my parents, all I could think was that this was the best Chanukah present ever."
- Drew Mindell

"In the blue wooden bookshelf in the corner of my room, there sits a book titled “How Things Work”."
- Andrew Treat

"Unlike Taylor Swift, I’ll never feel twenty-two; I joke that I was born thirty-five because I’d
rather have a face to face conversation than text, but I have felt like an adult for as long as I can remember." - Josh Goldstein

“In sixth grade, my parents pulled me out of history class and asked me if I wanted to move to Spain.”
- Samantha Dies

“Parents can’t fool me with the “child-lock” on vitamin bottles.”
- Madison Reynertson

“My love for math comes up at seemingly odd moments." - Jennifer Horkovich

“Nina Simone once said, “Freedom is no fear.” - Mike Lazarre

“1. Play fair.” - Erin Knox

“Scavenging at Saver’s, Plato’s Closet, and a myriad of other thrift stores or consignment shops used to be a guilty pleasure of mine.”
- Donasia Gray

“In Selianitika, a small coastal village along the Corinthian Sea, a dead language came to life.”
Mack Reiferson

“I’ve never been a fan of happy endings.”
- Leigh Melillo 
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Anjali van Bladel

Managing Editor 
Mary Winter Szarabajka 

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The Razor's Edge reflects the opinion of 4/5 of the editorial board and will not be signed. The Razor welcomes letters to the editor but reserves the right to decide which letters to publish, and to edit letters for space reasons. Unsigned letters will not be published, but names may be withheld on request. Letters are subject to the same libel laws as articles. The views expressed in letters are not necessarily those of the editorial board.
     
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