All From Feedback by Zoe

All From Feedback by Zoe - August 2026 Scholarship Essay

Feedback is a term I never listen to lightly. Always thinking in the back of my mind I could be better. Especially when college applications rolled around. I became so scared that what I wrote for my application essay wouldn’t be good enough that I’d take all the feedback I could get. From my mom, from my counselor, from my English teacher. Each comment spiralled in my mind until I found a way to work it in. “That's too many filler words” or “ why do they need to know that?” All the comments shaped my work into something I thought I was proud of. Proud until my counselor said “it’s well written but is this really your story though?”
Was it my story? I had so many changes made by my peers, when I looked back it looked fictional. It was so different from the original, it could’ve been about someone else entirely. That one question was the best feedback I could’ve gotten. I realized I didn’t need others to write my story for me. All I needed to do was trust myself that I was good enough to tell my own story because I know myself best. Was what Richard Bader said to me stereotypical, pen to paper, common feedback? Not really but it was one of the most helpful things I’ve ever been told.
I know my story. I know how I want to tell it. All I needed was someone to give me the small push to trust myself that the story was good enough to be told. I rewrote that essay, submitted it, and got into my dream school. All I got from feedback was that trusting yourself is the best way to get things done and you’ll never know if you don’t try.