Life

I spent 10 hours on the perfect Common App intro

Dylan Lu

• 9 min read
I spent 10 hours on the perfect Common App intro

Wanna see me slowly lose my mind over 10 hours of writing? I copied all of my drafts for my new Common App intro on rap, with the newest edition on top.

It’s 4 AM, just a few hours away from the hackathon deadline, and our sugar rush isn’t going to last much longer; my teammates and I are exhausted after writing code all night. It’s time to change that, so I shut the door, grab my speaker, and play a fast-paced rap beat on YouTube. Before my friends realize what’s happening, I’ve already begun a freestyle about our hackathon project: it’s clear from the laughter and excitement that no one is sleepy anymore. With just a couple of hours left before our presentation to the judges, I know this rap is how we’ll stand out. Building a great product isn’t how you win a hackathon or capture the attention of others; it’s how you tell the story. I rap to make mine come alive.

It’s 4 AM, just a few hours away from the hackathon deadline, and our sugar rush isn’t going to last much longer; my teammates and I are exhausted after writing code all night. It’s time to change that, so I shut the door, grab my speaker, and play a fast-paced rap beat on YouTube. Before my friends realize what’s happening, I’ve already begun a freestyle about our hackathon project: from the laughter and excitement that erupts, it’s clear that no one is sleepy anymore. It’s with this same energy that I can describe anything I’ve built, and I know it’s we’ll stand out when we present to the judges. Building a good product isn’t how you win a hackathon; it’s how you tell the story. I rap to make mine come alive.

It’s 4 AM, just a few hours away from the hackathon deadline, and my teammates are clearly exhausted from coding all night. Not for long. I shut the door, grab my speaker, and I think hard about what we’ve just built—I play a rap beat and start freestyling. Before I’ve even reached the second verse, I know I’ve captured my friends’ attention; everyone is confused at first, but quickly get up from their seats to join in. Soon, we’re all laughing as we create new lyrics to describe our hackathon project, and it’s clear that I’ve shifted the room’s atmosphere. It’s with that same energy that I can describe anything I’ve built, and it’s how I know we’ll stand out when we present to the judges a couple of hours later. This rap wasn’t just an excuse to stop coding; It’s my own way of expressing ideas in a new format, and it’s how I remind myself to always bring passion into whatever I build.

It’s with this same energy that I can describe anything I’ve built, and I know it’s how we’ll stand out to the judges. Creating this rap wasn’t just to take a break from being a programmer; it’s how I communicate my ideas in a concise, exciting format.

  • Engaging intro, capturing the scene, not revealing too much about what I’m going to do next
  • Sudden shift: something isn’t right, or not for long, etc
  • Ease our way into the rapping part
  • Show that the rapping changed the environment from a dull scene to an exciting place to be
  • Explain that I can be like that for anything I build, and it’s how we present ourselves
  • Bold statement about what rap means to me

It’s 4 AM, just a few hours before the hackathon deadline, and the room is dead silent. Something isn’t right. I shut the door, grab my speaker, and I think hard about what we’ve built in the last 15 hours—it’s time to bring some energy back into the room. I play a face-paced rap beat and start freestyling, stringing together ideas about the AI livestreaming technology that we’ve developed. Before I even reach my second verse, my teammates eagerly join in.

Even John, who was the most excited about building new AI livestream technology, is fast asleep (in my sleeping bag nonetheless). Not for long. I shut the door, grab my speaker, and I think hard about what we’ve built in the last 15 hours. I play the beat and start freestyling.

, and the room is silent. Something isn’t right. I shut the door, grab my speaker, and I think hard about what we’ve built in the last 15 hours.

It’s 4 AM, just a few hours before the hackathon deadline, and John is still snoring in my sleeping bag. Not for long. I shut the door, grab my speaker, and I think hard about what we've built in the last 15 hours—I think it’s time we make a rap about it. John doesn’t notice as I play a beat and start freestyling, but my other teammates are eager to join in. As we come up with new lyrics to boast about our AI livestream technology, I go all out on the beat. It’s with that same passion that I can explain anything I build, and I know it’s how we’ll stand out during our product pitch to the judges. At that moment, I’m not just a high school programmer; I’m a storyteller who loves rapping about new ideas.

It’s 4 AM, just a few hours before the hackathon deadline, and John is still snoring in my sleeping bag. Not for long. I shut the door, grab my speaker, and I think hard about what we've built in the last 15 hours—I think it’s time we make a rap about it. John doesn’t notice as I play the beat and start freestyling, but my other friends do; everyone’s ready to contribute some rap lyrics about our project. As we crowd together and come up with some amazing lyrics, the perfect presentation of our AI livestream project comes to life. It’s with this same energy that I can explain anything I build, and it’s how we’ll make our product pitch stand out. In that moment, I’m not just a programmer; I’m a storyteller about to win some awesome prizes.

John doesn’t seem to notice as I play the beat and start freestyling, but my other teammates’ eyes light up as they join in. And this isn’t an ordinary rap; each verse captures a specific feature about our new AI livestream technology that sets us apart from the industry, and

As I rap about the amazing features that set our AI livestream technology apart, I feel at home. It’s with that same energy that I can explain anything I build, and it’s the same enthusiasm that we’ll pitch to our judges. In that moment, I’m not just a programmer; I’m a passionate storyteller about to win some awesome hackathon prizes.

Before my cousin left for China, I made a rap with him. Making raps with other people is one of the most fulfilling things I can do with someone else, and I hope to bring that with me when I go to college.

I rap all sorts of things about the AI video streaming technology we’ve just developed, but I don’t care anymore; I’m in the zone and everyone around me is excited.

John doesn’t seem to notice as I rap all sorts of things about the project we just built, but I don’t really care anymore. My other teammates

As I proceed to blast the beat and spit some bars, John doesn’t seem fazed, but it doesn’t matter. I think I just created the ultimate product pitch to present to our judges, one that will capture the judges attention.

I go get my speaker, find a beat on Youtube, and blast it—I think it’s time we shake things up with a freestyle session.

Not only do I successfully wake John in time to finish our coding, I also come up with the craziest way to pitch our AI video streaming platform:

My goal is to not only wake up John in time to polish the code, but to also have some fun crafting a unique product pitch that will grab the judges attention.

But I don’t just rap to wake John in time for our presentation, I do it for the chance to create a unique product pitch to show the judges. When we present our project a few hours later, I brought that same energy and passion that I have when I explain anything I build. In that moment, I remember to be more than just a programmer; I’m a storyteller, and I have the most unique product pitch to win the hackathon.

that I’m more than just a programmer; I’m a storyteller, and I’m ready to win the hackathon.

I do it to discover new, exciting ways that we can pitch our product to the judges, exploiting rhyme and rhythm to make it stick. It’s with this same energy and creativity that I can explain anything that I build, even to a judge. In that moment, I’m not just a programmer; I’m a storyteller ready to win the judges over.

I speak loudly enough for John to hear as I rap about the product we’ve just developed together, finding new ways to rhyme about our inspiration, technology, and impact that we would need to present to the judges.

My raps always have a purpose, and this one was to tell the story of the product that we’ve spent the last 12 hours developing.

In my rap, I discuss the best details about our AI streaming platform that we’ve developed, and my teammates all look up with awe. It’s with that same energy that I can explain anything that I build, whether to a judge, investor, or even a friend. In that moment

I close my computer, turn on the speaker, and break into a freestyle about the AI video streaming platform that we’ve just developed. Suddenly,

. I don’t just rap about our hackathon project, I delve into


  • Filled with excitement
  • Terrible: “essentially”, “turn off my code”,

It’s 4 AM at the hackathon and my friend is snoring in my sleeping bag. Not for long. I turn off my code, open a beat on my computer, and break out into a freestyle about the AI streaming technology that we’ve developed. The room is suddenly filled with excitement as my friends watch my product pitch rap. It’s with this same energy and confidence that I can explain anything I create, whether to a judge, investor, or even a friend. In that moment, I’m not just a programmer; I’m storyteller, and I’m ready to win.

As I delve into the details about our inspiration, the implementation, the impact it will have in the industry, my teammates all watch with awe. It’s with this same energy that I can explain anything I build, whether its to a judge, an investor, or even a friend. In that moment, I’m not just a programmer; I’m a storyteller ready to win.

  • New topic about having energy and creativity and passion when explaining my projects.

It’s with that same energy that I can explain anything, whether it's to a judge or friend. In that moment, I’m not just a programmer; I’m a storyteller, and I’m ready to win. And yeah, I won that hackathon in 11th grade.

I grab microphone on the table, turn on a beat on my computer, and then break out into a freestyle. The room comes alive as I rap about every feature of the VTuber platform that we had just created for the hackathon. It’s with this same energy that I can explain anything, whether a business, project, or video game. In that moment, I’m not just a coder; I’m a storyteller, and I’m ready to win.

It's a wild, fun way to explain our project, and we're all caught up in the rhythm of creativity. As I stumble over the next line, I realize that this isn't just a late-night diversion; it's a powerful tool for communication. We'll use this same pitch, this same energy, to capture the judges' attention. We know our content, we know our value, and through our rap, we'll make them see it too. In that moment, I'm not just a coder or a rapper; I'm a storyteller, and I'm ready to win.

The boom of the beat doesn’t seem to wake up my friend, who is still snoring in my sleeping bag.

It’s 4 AM at the hackathon and I’m speechless, but not because my teammate is snoring in my sleeping bag. The freestyle beat is still playing and I don’t know what else I could rap about.

  • Describe how John was fast asleep after chugging hella coke
  • Switch that because I was actually speechless because I ran out of words in my freestyle
  • Continue on how my friends were hyped about what we had. It was a pretty fun way to explain the project
  • We used the same pitch from our rap to the judges. We knew the content very well and why we were valuable, and through our rap, we captured the judges attention
  • We won 2nd place
  • The beat was still going but no words came out of my mouth
  • I was at a hackathon and it was 4 AM. One of my teammates was on sleeping shift while the others witnessed my newest freestyle rap, about our hackathon project
  • VTuber rap during GunnHacks at 3 AM
  • Connected to DisCheney at 3 AM
  • Ending is connected to “3 AM”, or something like view count or raps or something
  • Study Gang?
  • Mole Bamba?
  • I realized something: I knew the content so much better