In a message dated 98-01-02 02:12:10 EST, you write: << sorry this is long, but i feel your pain. bethany >> Thanks Bethany. :) The experience of writing a college entrance essay has to overall be a good one, but I just hate writing about myself when I'm not really myself! Frustrating? Yes. Worth doing? Also yes, so I guess we just have to mo on through them while holding our breath. <<or example, the essay i wrote about my Experience running on the cross-country team came out a hell of a lot better than the one i tried to do on the Fat Lady. which i really did try to do and failed miserably.>> I've had the same experience. Its hard to write on something so close to the heart as the Fat Lady is to us Salanger fan(atic)s. I spent more than an hour in English for an in-class essay on Zooey and I KNOW I was the most knowledgable (or one of the most knowledgeable...don't want to sound cocky) in the class on the subject, but my essay was terrible. I spent half the period staring into space pulling my hair out before I basically said "screw it" and wrote a piece of junk. That killed me. Still does. Eric