essay without the letter s

• lol Badge Feed
• win Badge Feed
• trending Badge Feed

Browse links

• © 2024 BuzzFeed, Inc
• Consent Preferences
• Accessibility Statement

This Girl's Harvard University Admissions Essay Is Going Viral, And It's Inspiring For Anyone Who Has Lost A Parent

"As I write this essay, there is a blue line under the word 'parent' telling me to check my grammar; even Grammarly assumes that I should have parents, but cancer doesn't listen to edit suggestions."

BuzzFeed Staff

This is Abigail Mack , an 18-year-old student who was recently accepted into Harvard University's class of 2025. And though getting into an Ivy League school with a record-breaking low admissions rate of 3.43% is quite the feat, her journey there is what has caught the internet's attention.

View this photo on Instagram

When Abigail shared her college admissions essay on TikTok, over 19 million people tuned in for the heartfelt series that illustrated the life of a teen who tries to escape the reality of losing a parent by filling her time with extracurriculars:

@a_vmack ♬ original sound - Abigail Mack

"I hate the letter 'S,'" Abigail's college admission essay begins. "Of the 164,777 words with 'S,' I only grapple with one. To condemn an entire letter because of its use .0006 percent of the time sounds statistically absurd, but that one case changed 100 percent of my life. I used to have two parents, but now I have one, and the 'S' in 'parents' isn't going anywhere."

"'S' follows me," she continued. "I can't get through a day without being reminded that while my friends went out to dinner with their parents, I ate with my parent. As I write this essay, there is a blue line under the word 'parent' telling me to check my grammar; even Grammarly assumes that I should have parents, but cancer doesn't listen to edit suggestions. I won't claim that my situation is as unique as one in 164,777, but it is still an exception to the rule — an outlier. The world isn't meant for this special case."

Abigail's essay, which also earned her admission to top schools like Northwestern and Notre Dame, goes on to explain how she attempted to distract herself from the letter "S" — or the thought of being without her mother — by taking up sports, clubs, and other school activities. "You can't have dinner with your parent ...if you're too busy to have family dinner," she said. "I couldn't fill the loss that 'S' left in my life, but I could at least make sure I didn't have to think about it. There were so many things in my life I couldn't control, so I controlled what I could — my schedule."

Eventually, abigail stopped picking up an assortment of roles and began noticing she favored three: theater, academics, and politics. soon, she was no longer running away from "s," but chased a double "s" instead – passion. abigail had found her callings and paths that would motivate her, instead of busywork that simply kept her distracted., "'s' got me moving, but it hasn't kept me going," abigail concluded in her essay. "i don't seek out sadness, so 's' must stay on the sidelines, and until i am completely ready, motivation is more than enough for me.".

Then, three weeks prior to decision deadlines, Abigail noticed a status update on her application and filmed her candid reaction upon opening it. "I received a Likely Letter, which informs an applicant that they’ve been admitted prior to the official decision release date in the hopes that the applicant will make the school their first choice," Abigail told BuzzFeed. "Likely Letters are really rare, and I’m so fortunate to have received one! My reaction was…interesting. There was a lot of screaming — I didn’t have a voice for about a week afterwards — and I was on the verge of tears."

@a_vmack I didn’t have a voice for a week after this 🥰 #harvard #college #accepted #fyp #foryou #xyzbca #MakeMomEpic ♬ original sound - Abigail Mack

The teen's video series touched the hearts of many who were either inspired by her diction or who related to her story of navigating loss:

In addition to her affinity for academics, Abigail spoke to BuzzFeed about the other passions she found through her grieving process, as well as the impact they've had on her life: "I grew up in a very artistic family — my mother opened a dance studio that my father still runs, and my father is a piano teacher — so theater has always been part of my life," she said. "There [is] something cathartic in escaping to a new world and being someone else for even just a few hours on stage."

"politics is a newer passion," the 18-year-old continued. "when the black lives matter demonstrations were occurring this past summer, i realized how passionately i felt about politics. i knew that i could no longer stand idly by and watch as the world made leaps forward without me. i became a fellow on senator ed markey’s re-election campaign and also taught volunteers how to phone bank for joe biden ’s campaign. it was extremely gratifying to feel like my voice was being heard.".

Though she’s entering freshman year with an undecided major, Abigail plans to pursue humanities and social sciences with a possible focus in foreign policy and French. Maybe she’ll be an actor, maybe she’ll work for the government, or maybe she’ll become a speechwriter or author. Right now, Abigail doesn’t have a definitive career path. She wants to try it all. She’s still chasing paSSion, her motivating double "S."

"pour your passion, whatever it is, into every fiber of your application," abigail advises future college applicants inspired by her story. "your college application is a culmination of everything you’ve done in high school. you’ve already put in the work, so the hardest part is done. now, you just have to put pen to paper, share what you’ve accomplished, and, most importantly, illustrate how you plan to make a difference going forward in your own, unique way.", if you want to keep up with abigail through her harvard journey, you can follow her on tiktok and instagram . and you can listen to abigail read her full admissions essay by viewing her series, starting here ., share this article.

To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.

0, text: error()">

Let's fight boredom together!

Become a member

0, text: error(), css: errorCssClass">

Password reminder

Please provide your email address and we will send your password shortly.

If there's a Bored Panda account associated with , you'll receive an email with instructions.

If you don't receive an email, please check your spam inbox, or enter your email address again .

Please enter your email to complete registration

Activate to continue

Your account is not active. We have sent an email to the address you provided with an activation link. Check your inbox, and click on the link to activate your account.

• Relationships

The Bored Panda iOS app is live! Fight boredom with iPhones and iPads here .

• Partnership
• Success stories
• --> --> ® and Priority Mail Express ® envelopes.
• Post Office ™ Locations --> ® such as grocery and drug stores.

Step 4: Send Your Mail

Once your envelope or postcard has the correct addresses and postage, you can send it several ways, including putting it in your mailbox or dropping it in a blue collection box or at a Post Office ™ location.

• Put your letter inside your mailbox and raise the flag (if you have one).
• If you have a cluster mailbox, drop it in the outgoing mail slot.
• Drop it off in a blue collection box.
• Take it to a Post Office lobby drop.

Important Note: If your envelope has postage stamps and weighs more than 10 oz or is thicker than 1/2", you can't put it in a collection box; you have to give it to an employee at a Post Office location. See more details on What Can and Cannot be Deposited in a Collection Box?

Bonus: Sending Mail Pro Tips

The Postal Service uses high-speed sorting machines to help process and deliver 425.3 million mail pieces each day. Here are some extra tips to improve your mail sending experience:

• Stay flexible : Don't send rigid (hard) objects in paper envelopes.
• Sending embellished invitations (for weddings, graduations, etc.)? Get them hand-canceled or put them inside another envelope.
• Need tracking? Learn about your options.

Stay Flexible

Postcards, letter envelopes, and large envelopes (flats) all need to bend to fit through USPS ® high-speed sorting machines.

• OK: Flexible, flat things like stickers, photos, trading cards, etc. should be okay—as long as your envelope stays flat, not lumpy, and less than 1/4" thick.
• Not OK: Don't put rigid objects (like flash drives, coins, keys, hard plastic card cases, etc.) loose in unpadded paper envelopes: They could get torn out of the envelope, jam the sorting machines, cause a delay, or even get lost.

Instead, for rigid and odd-shaped objects (or things you don't want to get bent), we recommend using a padded envelope or small box and sending it as a package .

Sending Embellished Invitations (for Weddings, Graduations, etc.)

If you want to send a specially decorated envelope (like some wedding invitations):

• You can pay the extra fee for nonmachinable First-Class Mail ® items, bring your mail to the Post Office™ counter, and ask the retail associate to hand-cancel your embellished invitations.
• For externally decorated invitations: If you use wax seals, strings, ribbons, etc. on your envelopes, don't try to send them exposed. Instead, to make sure your envelopes arrive looking the way your designer intended, put them inside another envelope .

Need Tracking?

Tracking is not available for First-Class Mail items. If you'd like to get tracking information for your letter:

• You can pay extra to send your letter using Priority Mail Express ® or Priority Mail ® service.
• You can get delivery confirmation by adding Certified Mail ® or Registered Mail ® service. (You can even combine it with Return Receipt if you want the recipient's signature.)

Herald, Foster's, News-Letter, Union and York Weekly mail delivery starts April 1

Starting April 1, the U.S. Postal Service will begin delivering the Portsmouth Herald, Foster's Daily Democrat, Hampton Union, Exeter News-Letter and York Weekly newspapers.

"The move from driver delivery to postal service delivery is another step in Seacoast Media Group's evolution from a print-first to a digital-first news and marketing source," said Executive Editor Howard Altschiller. "Our unwavering commitment to the Seacoast communities and readers we serve remains rock solid. Readers looking for the latest Seacoast news, sports and advertising can count on Seacoastonline , Fosters.com and our printed newspapers to deliver."

Like many other newspaper publishers, Gannett Co. Inc., which operates more than 200 daily newspapers, including Seacoast Media Group's papers in New Hampshire and Maine, has already successfully introduced the switch from driver delivery to mail in dozens of markets across the country, and is expanding the initiative.

The markets which have switched to mail delivery report high customer satisfaction rates. While the paper will arrive later in the day with the mail, it will arrive consistently in the same place at the same time. In recent years it has been a challenge to adequately staff the delivery force needed to hand deliver papers across the Seacoast region of New Hampshire and Maine.

Papers will be delivered to local post offices early enough each morning to allow same-day delivery. Because there is no mail delivery on Sunday, Seacoast Sunday will arrive in mailboxes on Saturday. The digital replica of the Sunday paper, the eNewspaper , will post to Seacoastonline and Fosters.com on Sunday morning.

Delivery of non-Seacoast newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, previously handled by Seacoast Media Group drivers, has been taken over by a new company. Questions regarding delivery of non-Seacoast papers should be directed to those other newspapers.

The change to postal delivery will not impact subscription rates.

“For many years now, the printed newspaper has served as a culmination of the stories that will become our collective history, while our websites and mobile apps deliver the news of the day,” said Michael A. Anastasi, vice president of local news for Gannett. “We know that by the time our informed readers pick up the paper, they know what happened yesterday — the print newspaper should provide additional context, to help readers better understand their community and the world around them.”

Readers can also visit Seacoastonline.com and Fosters.com to access the eNewspaper at seacoastonline.com/enewspaper and fosters.com/enewspaper .

Subscribers with questions or concerns can visit help.seacoastonline.com/contact-us and help.fosters.com/contact-us.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

Putin’s Next Escalation Is Coming

By Hanna Notte

Ms. Notte, an expert on Russian foreign and security policy, wrote from Berlin.

In the wake of the terrorist attack at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall last Friday, which killed at least 143 people, Russia is in mourning. The country’s leaders, on the other hand, are doing something else: They’re plotting.

The target is clear. Despite ISIS claiming responsibility for the attack, the Russian leadership has repeatedly blamed Ukraine and its Western backers. Even when President Vladimir Putin grudgingly acknowledged on Monday that the attack was carried out by “radical Islamists,” he suggested they were operating at somebody else’s behest. For now, the Kremlin is keeping its options open: Its spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said that it was “ too early ” to discuss Russia’s response. Yet the cacophony of unsubstantiated Kyiv-blaming, accompanied by fresh strikes on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, is a clear sign of intent.

From Mr. Putin’s perspective, escalation in Ukraine — involving an intensification of attacks on Ukrainian troops across the front lines with the aim of claiming as much territory as possible, along with increased aerial bombardment on Ukraine’s cities to wear down the population — makes a lot of sense. It would show ordinary Russians that those who harm them will be punished, divert attention from the security establishment’s failure to prevent the attack and perhaps even generate greater support for the war.

But even without the Crocus City Hall attack, Mr. Putin was primed to step up his assault on Ukraine. After his landslide victory in this month’s rubber-stamp presidential election, Mr. Putin is more secure than ever in his position and free to focus fully on the war effort. Militarily, Russian forces now hold material and manpower advantages over Ukraine. The timing is good, too: With Western military support for Kyiv mired in uncertainty, the next few months offer Moscow a window of opportunity for new offensives.

Perhaps most important, the geopolitical conditions are strikingly in Mr. Putin’s favor. Since invading Ukraine two years ago, Russia has reoriented its entire foreign policy to serve its war aims. It has put its economy on a solid non-Western foundation and secured sanction-proof supply chains, largely insulating itself from future Western pressure. It has also ensured a steady provision of weapons from Iran and North Korea. These dictatorships, unlike Western states, can send substantial amounts of arms abroad without having to worry about bureaucratic impediments and public opinion.

Russian officials have worked tirelessly to integrate non-Western states into structures of allegiance, reducing the risk that these partners might pressure Moscow to scale back the war. At the center of these diplomatically ambitious efforts is the club of emerging nations known as BRICS, which recently expanded its ranks. Russia has busily lobbied an ever-growing cohort of countries belonging to what it likes to call the “global majority” — from Algeria to Zimbabwe — to collaborate with the bloc. As chair of the group this year, a politically hyperactive Russia is convening around 250 events , culminating in a summit in October.

After February 2022, Russia was quick to convince non-Western audiences that in Ukraine it is fighting a proxy war with the United States. If the view that the West drove Russia to war was already popular in the developing world two years ago, every piece of Western military equipment sent to Ukraine has only entrenched it further. The hope that heavyweights like Brazil, China or India might urge Mr. Putin to back down in Ukraine has long since dissipated, given the continued friendly relations between them. War in Ukraine, which will never be normal to the people of Ukraine, has been normalized in much of the world.

What’s more, Mr. Putin has paired his non-Western charm offensive with heightened confrontation with the West. Under his watch, Russia has cultivated problems and pressure points for Western countries that make it harder for them to stay laser-focused in their support of Ukraine. The Kremlin has rebuffed U.S. offers to resume nuclear arms-control talks, for example, and reduced efforts to help prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Moscow’s categorical unwillingness to address shared dangers, from the risk of nuclear war to climate change , places yet more stress on an already frail international order.

The Russian government has also become more brazen in inciting anti-Western forces across the globe. It has cozied up to North Korea, supported the military dictatorships in Africa’s Sahel region south of the Sahara and encouraged Iran and its network of proxies. Wherever there’s a threat to Western interests, Russian military support or political patronage is not far behind. Taken together, Moscow’s machinations fuel a feeling of growing instability worldwide. In this atmosphere, war in Ukraine registers as just one among many problems.

Ukraine’s Western backers are hardly blameless for this state of affairs. Support for Israel’s unconscionable military campaign in Gaza, for one, has tarnished the West’s image and destroyed any remaining chance, however small, that it could muster more backing for Ukraine’s defense in the rest of the world. The West has not been deaf to the accusations of hypocrisy and double standards over Gaza and immense suffering elsewhere. It simply, through a combination of inertia and impassivity, does not wish to change course.

Two years into the largest attack on a European country since World War II, European capitals are still struggling to respond decisively. They are too sluggish in sending ammunition to Ukraine and continue to be divided on how to hold the line against Russia. In the United States, Donald Trump’s coronation as Republican presidential nominee threatens to weigh down the Biden administration as the November election approaches and partisan deadlock is preventing Congress from passing sorely needed funding for Ukraine. The West’s ability to get its act together has never looked more tenuous.

Difficult months lie ahead for Ukraine. If anything, the Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow — which brutally upended Mr. Putin’s claims to provide for Russia’s security — is likely to make matters worse. With the initiative on the battlefield and much of the world looking elsewhere, Russia may soon start to make good on its advantage. On Wednesday, Russia struck the northeastern city of Kharkiv with aerial bombs for the first time since 2022. It could be a premonition of things to come.

Hanna Notte ( @HannaNotte ) is the director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .