Gemotions

Sarah slumped onto the threadbare couch, the cushions offering little comfort. Another rejection email. Another day of applying for jobs that seemed just out of reach. The dim living room, usually buzzing with the energy of her roommates, felt cavernous tonight. Her shoulders ached, a familiar tightness that settled in the space between her shoulder blades after particularly long days staring at a computer screen. She reached for the remote, the click echoing in the sudden silence as the television flickered to life. A commercial for a university popped up, the polished faces and bright smiles grating on her nerves.

The next morning, bleary-eyed and fueled by lukewarm coffee, she aimlessly scrolled through her phone. A news article caught her eye – "Best College Application Essays of the Decade." Curiosity, or maybe just a desperate need for a distraction, pulled her in. As she scanned the list, her heart leaped into her throat. There it was: her essay, her words, staring back at her. The essay she'd poured her heart into, the essay that had secured her spot at the university she’d dreamed of attending. Now, years later, it felt like a stranger's story.