I can still recall the overwhelming feeling of breathless panic when I first decided to sit down and write my college essay drafts. I would look at the prompts and hundreds of small ideas would instantly pop into my head, but when my fingers touched the keys of my laptop no word felt right. My sentences sounded artificial, my experiences came across as superficial and vague, and my voice got lost among the cliches of high school writing. How could I distill who I was, what drove me and defined me, what made me an ideal candidate, an interesting scholar and a curious mind? I tried for days to crack this code, but I quickly found I couldn’t do it alone. That was the moment I decided to work with Upgrade Education It wasn’t an instant change. I didn’t suddenly become a wordsmith, but after each session with my mentor, my ideas and what I wanted to say about myself became clearer and clearer, not only for the unattached and unfamiliar readers but also for myself. I had difficulties with brevity, each draft coming out 1000 words over the limit, but after my discussions with my mentor, I would always come out knowing how to separate the meaningful content from the fluff in my writing. We didn’t stop at what my essays should be like, but instead, we explored what they could be. Introspection may sound like a simple buzzword, but it truly was the name of the game and what I believe truly separated my applications from all the others. I was encouraged to experiment with my writing and apply absolute honesty, to not be afraid to delve into topics deemed “off-limits” by popular admissions websites, to express myself in the same ways that make me who I am. The sessions not only helped me prepare for the unpredictable admissions cycle in the US, but they pushed me into creating applications that I was truly proud of, which represented me together with all of my experiences. For me, Upgrade Education isn’t just a service: it’s a community perfectly equipped to help with and to ease the overwhelming nature of applying to college, a community willing to provide words of encouragement and constructive criticism and capable of inspiring students to be more thoughtful and introspective. I would have never thought that my dream of studying at MIT would come true. Nevertheless, through my collaboration with Upgrade Education, the panic and fear I once felt towards college were gradually replaced by newfound confidence. My profound gratitude towards them is a feeling that is impossible to express. I wholeheartedly believe that the work we’ve done together, all the hours we spent deliberating over my essays, their content and structure, and even my choice of words, were crucial to my success.