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(Erica Sinclair and Will Byerss essays are from the final versions.)
Ive had a chance to grow on my own, away from my family.
I needed to take care of him and my mother.
My friends have played an important role in my life.
Friendships can teach us lots of new things about ourselves.
My friends and I have overcome many obstacles.
I grew up in Indiana, in a town called Hawkins.
Its exciting to be in the middle of important events.
Teens can have a lot of power, and we can see things adults sometimes cannot.
But my experiences in high school were also scary, and they were very character-building.
El Hopper Byers, Indiana University Bloomington
My name is El Hopper Byers.
I would like to attend Indiana University Bloomington.
My life has had many challenges.
My mother died when I was little.
I was a subject in a mind-reading experiment that tried to turn me into a spy against bad people.
I have saved the town of Hawkins from a monster many, many times.
I have lost many people I love.
I have also learned about family and about friends.
I have also learned to harness my powers so that I can be stronger in battles.
I have a 4.0 GPA, and a combined SAT score of 1400.
I am confident that I will be a strong voice in the incoming Berkeley class.
When I have been called upon to rise to the occasion, I do not fail.
I was wielding an axe.
My radio tower is still there today!
Like all great heroes, my friends and I were presented with many quests during our youth.
Destroying this monster was the work of many people, some of whom have since been lost.
Will Byers, Oberlin College
I grew up in Hawkins, Indiana.
Monsters I once could only have imagined began to take shape before my eyes.
Nightmares turned to living flesh.
But Hawkins is still with me because of the friends I made there.
I have always enjoyed expressing myself through my art, something my friends no longer do.
I have a lot to bring to any well-rounded freshman class.
