The following essay is Willow’s official submission with her application materials. She wrote many other drafts (at least 4 others), but this was the one that proofreaders liked best.
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Hello there, application essay reader! My name is Willow. Just Willow, no surname, although my siblings and I have often dreamed about choosing one for ourselves. But there are eleven of us in all and total consensus is sort of a rarity. So Willow no-family-name it is, for now.
For the greater part of my early upbringing, my world was very small. I had nothing but a holographic caregiver and my ten foster siblings aboard a tiny satellite starbase on which we couldn’t even roam freely. These four walls of bulkhead and a couple of tiny porthole windows were all we knew and though it wasn’t exactly an unhappy childhood, it was limited and quiet and contained. And then one day, in my eleventh year of age, Starfleet came and as if our home was a simple nutshell, they cracked it wide open.
My world grew infinitely bigger in those days. My understanding of the universe we live in became magnified by my increasing exposure of the rules and principles of physics, biology, and engineering, and my curiosity compounded. People, cultures, books, holo-films, food, and games became the chapters of an ever-unfolding adventure! At times it could be overwhelming, and some other days could be so boring. But more often than not, I was just excited to be trying and seeing something new and different.
I have never been afraid of the unknown. When the station counseling staff brought my siblings and I to see a swimming pool for the first time, I was the first to jump in, despite not exactly knowing how to swim. If I have any faults, it might be this: my enthusiasm and open-mindedness can sometimes outweigh my sense of caution. Though I’m confident my time at the Academy will hone my ability to keep this balance, I hope I will never entirely lose my appreciation for experiencing new things.
As I try to plan for my future, I’ve learned of the myriad career paths and possibilities before me and remain ultimately unsure about what it is I want to do. But the one truth I do hold dear is that my adolescent years on a frontier Federation starbase have bestowed upon me priceless experiences and exposure to diverse ways of thinking, and Starfleet Academy is one of the few ways that I can continue to find that.
I know that when your application assessors review my application, they will note that one of the unique attributes I bring is that I am the first applicant from my species, an Echomet and irreo at that. Though this is true on paper, in my heart, I consider myself more a child of the Federation than of the home world I have never seen. Echomet Prime’s refusal of Federation membership underscores their ignorance and though I might share their DNA, I could never share their values.
The path ahead of me in the Academy and hopefully Starfleet beyond it is only one among many. I know my achievements may not even stand out compared to some. But like le petit prince, it will be my path and the journey will be dear to me, whatever happens along the way. I look forward to the day where I may officially represent Starfleet with pride.