LEAKED

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ADMISSION ESSAY

ESSAY QUESTION: Have you changed your life, or has your life changed you?

Written by Skylar Mackenzie

Best known as Sky Mackenzie, award-winning* actress and star of the critically acclaimed series, Family Affair, in which she played popular twin sister Sara Buchanan. She is also well known for her groundbreaking work on the buzzed about new TV show, Small Fries. (*Teen Choice Award)

I should get one thing straight before I start: I don’t do essays. If anything, I’ve always paid other people to do my grunt work. You know the dark and dirty deeds I’m talking about: things like picking the marshmallows out of my Lucky Charms, fetching my Michael Kors pants from the dry cleaner in two hours instead of the usual twenty-four, or running to Whole Foods twice in one day to get me more organic veggie sticks. For a while, even my homework was done by committee. Most teen stars do, and if they say they don’t, they’re lying. I know someone who gave Bill Gates’ Harvard-educated nephew two tickets to the after-party for Clooney’s latest flick in exchange for writing their English literature final paper.

My point is this: I’ve always been the type to let my life rule me. Why wouldn’t I? I have a pretty fabulous life. My clothes get hand-delivered to my house without those annoying price tags. My best friends have names like Kaitlin, Kim, Kourtney, and Fergie, and the people worth knowing on Wilshire Boulevard all know my name (as do the paparazzi that are always willing to pay my parking tickets in exchange for flashing them a brilliant smile). Unlike some of my friends (cough, Kaitlin), I don’t question my choices. When my team makes a decision for me, I stick with it and never look back. That’s how I got some of my favorite roles. It’s also how I met some of my favorite ex-boyfriends. I like taking a backseat to life and I don’t feel a smidge guilty. It’s liberating.

I know, I know. Speaking your mind is a powerful thing, blah, blah, blah. But if you’re not careful, it can also bite you in your pilates-toned butt. My manager Nadine says I shouldn’t use my college admissions essay to write about things like free Louboutins or my run-in with Ke$ha or how whiny my friend Kaitlin can be. (You should see her when she’s cramming for a final and studying lines for a taping of our TV show and she’s missed a date with her boyfriend Austin. Geez, it’s enough to make me want to lock her in her dressing room and leave her there till the sobbing stops, but even I’m not that mean. Instead I just bring her Oreos and that usually calms her down.) I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t open my mouth and tell the world what I thought about everything from Charlie Sheen to those scary “As Seen on TV” pajants. I can cut you down to size in ten seconds if I want to, but I’m also smart enough to know when to let the world spin like a top around me. When it comes to the important stuff in my life, I let my well-paid team do the heavy lifting. That’s just who I am, and I think that’s what the universe wants me to be. And if it turns out the universe doesn’t?

Too bad.