Succeeding in the College Application Journey is a book published by five writers of the Class of 2020 who discuss the entire journey of the college application process from essay writing to scholarships. It debuted on Kickstarter and Amazon on August 1, 2020. Inspired by the lack of representation of unconventional backgrounds entering top competitive universities, the writers wanted to not only show diversity, but embrace their first-generation, low-income, people of color, and immigrant backgrounds while providing a universally useful guide for the daunting process.
Throughout my experience leading this project from ideation to fruition, I learned several lessons in entrepreneurship and business: the power of both the internet and word-of-mouth. The internet is an immeasurable resource. Previously, I had no experience in writing, publishing, and designing a book. But with online research, I was able to slowly learn the process. In addition, there was no paid marketing. Within two days, our brand new Instagram had reached 12,000 impressions purely from the support of our friends, mentors, and connections that reposted our content. With the right grit and capitalization of available resources, any project can truly come into reality.