Eliza, from Scratch

by Sophia Lee

It’s silly that colleges ask for a personal statement as if our characters aren’t constantly changing and evading summarization. Even if I’d written a full essay earlier this semester, I don’t know that it would be an accurate reflection of me now.

know I gave you a hard time about taking this class. But I’m proud of you for doing it. It’s made Eomma really happy and I think it’s made you ask questions you weren’t thinking about before. As a professor and as a dad, that’s the best thing I can ask for in my daughter.”

“The best type of food is one that takes you on a journey.

when I take a moment to think about it, I do want to get used to this. To feel this connected to my mother, to have her look up at me across the table and smile because I have made something I’ve learned from her and her mother. It’s a kind of fulfillment that is both new and intoxicating. I want to believe that I’m finally starting to close the gap that my dad and I have let grow for so long. It’s a reward so sweet, I can’t imagine not chasing it again and again.

The story of my family begins in the kitchen.

Sometimes, you need to let out all the bad writing first, so that the good writing can find its way out. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself so that I can get words on the page.

In the semester that I’ve known him, I don’t know that I’ve seen this Wesley before, with his gleaming eyes and barely contained movement. He’s like lightning in a bottle. I wonder if he knows that about himself.

memories could find new life in someone else.

Focusing too much on the classroom kept me from understanding that some of the most important knowledge is revealed elsewhere.

I realized that creating a mess in the kitchen and finding ways to clean it up were the real moments of growth. I discovered by doing, and the rewards could not have been sweeter.