This is so metal.

While I'm on the subject of college entrance essays, I'd like to share with you one of my favorites. By far the best essay question I came across was the following:

You are in the van on the way to the battle of the bands when you find out the world will end after your set. Your performance could change everything. Tell us what happens in 500 words or less.

Read what I said after the jump.



I was riding in a van when I knew the world would end. My band and I were on the way to the biggest show ever, the worldwide Battle of the Bands streaming live to every country. It was our chance to play for the whole world. The uneasy panic before a big show had taken hold of us, so the van was quiet when something came over the radio garbled and broken, an otherworldly prophecy of doom that each of us knew in our hearts to be true. It was our drummer who first broke the deathly silence, suggested we call it off and find shelter. At least we could survive, he said, and eke out an existence afterward. The rest of the band seemed to agree, but I looked around and saw in their faces the fears and hopes of all humanity. Here was its destiny in the aftermath of doomsday.

No, I told them, we can’t abandon our music any more than we could abandon the world. This was our moment of destiny. We had a chance to speak to the whole world through our music, and with it a chance to change the future. We could leave the world with a message of hope, and so it was decided: the show must go on.

The arena watched with enthusiasm as set after set was played. It seemed fitting that we were the last act, the ones who would be bringing down the house. With breathless anticipation, they awaited our performance. The lights dimmed, and I looked out at the sea of faces in the audience. It was all I could do not to weep and tell them to run for shelter while the announcer gave us our introduction. Then there was no time left for thought, all that we had left was the music.

We started off slow, building a world in our song, and as we played, I felt a fiery determination grip me by the spine. Looking out at all the people, and through the cameras, all of the world, I found myself playing more powerfully than I ever had. My hands ached, my voice was dry, but we played on, each note buying the world another heartbeat. The whole band was with me, our hearts and souls poured through our instruments into the world, and we spoke to the people, awakening in them that fiery spirit that refuses to give up, that fights on when all hope has faded.

The world came crashing down as our song ended, but instead of fear, resolve was in the faces of the audience. That’s when I knew that we’d done all we could. I knew we’d given humanity a fighting chance.

--How Rock and Roll Saved the World, a Memoir of the End and Beginning.