Essay by SAGE TZAMOURANIS admitted into Hamilton College

Source: https://www.hamilton.edu/admission/apply/college-essays-that-worked

There is nothing more irrepressibly badass than the old women of southern Greece. They have never seen a dentist. They can clean their own teeth, thank you very much, all two of them. They are familiar with loss.

Waking up every morning before the unforgiving sun can shine through the window, they dress from head to toe in thick, black clothing that doesn’t let in the light — of the day or of the spirit. The black attire signifies the status of a widow, of a stoic; mourning is only displayed through the color of clothing, never through emotion.

The women are like the olive trees, which reside in soil so dry that it crunches under you...