College applications have a unique genre. The applications include one large essay that will be sent to all the universities that one is applying to and maybe some supplemental essays if applicable. This big essay is written with the intent to impress and set you apart from all the other applicants. The universities are looking for someone unique who they can relate to. The rhetorical situation is to impress the universities in order for one to stand out among many applicants. There must be a level of formality involved, but it is supposed to be about the student and their interests.

While writing my essay, I wrote with the rhetorical location in mind. I wrote because I wanted to go to college and I knew I had to make my writing formal, yet engaging. I had to write in a unique way that impressed the schools I wanted to attend.  With this in mind, I told a story about me walking into my house and listening to Ed Sheeran songs. I related every song I “listened” to back to a story in my life and talked about why these stories were so important to me. I described sports I was involved in, activities I loved to do with my friends, how much Colorado meant to me, all the retreats I went on in high school as well as my service trip to Nicaragua, and most importantly, I wrote about my family. I talked about Sunday family dinners and my sister and I playing guitar at these dinners for my grandma. I talked about my moms cooking and my dad’s jokes. Throughout my essay, I brought up every aspect of my life that made me me. Talking about my struggles and accomplishments, I responded to the rhetorical situation by writing in a way that provoked an emotional response from the reader. I wanted them to feel connected to me without knowing me. Throughout my essay, I wrote about every part of my life that I had an emotional connection to in order to provoke this emotion in the reader.