Instead, I poured myself into other work, disregarding the essay questions that would change the trajectory of my life: Who are you? What do you want? Why should we choose you? "I'm a 17-year-old ...

In his own essay, Martin detailed a moment during the summer of 2022 when he knew he needed help, writing, “‘I wasn’t myself.” “On some level, I knew the source of my tailspin,” he wrote.