芝加哥大学本科申请Common Application Supplement Essay要求：

prompt : "A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies." -Oscar Wilde.
Othello and Iago. Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. The Autobots and the Decepticons. History and art are full of heroes and their enemies. Tell us about the relationship between you and your arch-nemesis (either real or imagined). 

芝加哥大学本科申请Common Application Supplement Essay范文：

Me versus Myself – Battle of My Mind

Me vs. Myself – It sounds like the title of a science fiction movie. But it isn’t. It is the state of my mind that dominates every aspect of my life. Sarthak Jain at any given instant of time comes in two varieties. Firstly there is me, a shy, compromising boy of seventeen (let’s call me “The Diffident”) who fears the future and deliberates of every action he takes. He wants to keep a friendly relationship with everyone and has a strict aversion to taking risks. On the other side of the battlefield is myself, a bold, outgoing man of seventeen (let’s call him “The Confident”) who is always optimistic and whose actions are based on what is happening right now. He is completely resolute in his actions and unswerving in his words. You will find me in the first state sometimes, in second at others. Most of the time, I am in a state of superposition of the two, as expounded by Schrodinger and Heisenberg in 19th century. This essay is written by Sarthak The Diffident, who under the influence of The Confident, has decided to explore the nemeses in his mind and deliberate over the relationship they share.

The battle between me and my enemy has dominated every aspect of my life. From the time I gained enough consciousness and caliber to make my own decisions, a raging debate had ensued over every action. Two battles are especially prominent. One in which Confident was victorious and other in which I was. The former was ensued three years back, as Sarthak was preparing for his biology project. He had various options to consider – take a simple, already completed project and modify it to suit his own requirements or conceive a whole new idea and work on it from scratch. He searched for few days on a new idea and finally got one. But there was a hiccup – it involved huge commitment of time and energy, which will come at cost of his recreation activities. The conundrum was passed on to us, the pair of Confident and Diffident, for us to fight and debate over each path. Obviously, I, The Diffident, felt going on the easy path would be better. Pursuing this new idea would be risky, maybe Sarthak won’t get the desired results, maybe he won’t be able to bear the stress of working hours in laboratory, or he would have to spend too much time away from his family and friends. But The Confident had a different opinion. The Confident firmly believed the end of this less travelled path contained huge reward and it was risk worth taking. Sarthak will earn a great amount of respect and a chance to be a part of scientific community of the country. He would get a chance to stand in line of the innovators, people who have brought a change in the world. Debate raged on for two weeks, at the end of which the time came to present a decision to the high judge – Sarthak’s Biology Teacher. That’s when The Confident took out his ace of spades. Bold as Confident is, he coaxed Sarthak to approach his friends and asking them to assist him in his project. This way Sarthak won’t have to bear up the complete burden and also doesn’t have to sacrifice his time for social interaction. It was an action of killing two bird with one stone, shattering all my views in one clean strike. The decision was taken, the idea was pursued and results were amazing. Though I, The Diffident was defeated, Sarthak as a human had gained a lot more than what he could have, had I been victorious.

But The Confident is not always correct, for some situations require playing safe. Sometimes, you cannot express yourself at the cost of hurting your loved ones. Sometimes, you have to compromise. This was the battle I, the Diffident, won. It was the time when Sarthak had to choose to print an article in school magazine, during his tenure as President of Editorial Board. The article contained information regarding some of the malpractices his teachers indulged in. It was an ethical issue – to allow his peers and juniors to look at true nature of their teachers or protect his teachers from defamation. It was a tough choice and a strict deadline was hanging like sword on his head. With just a day to think, We, the pair of Diffident and Confident took over the charge. It was one of the worst battles of our lives. At the stake was the faith students had in their teachers – should that be broken? The risk was great and as always I, The Diffident wanted to play safe. For me, the conviction Sarthak’s friends had in their teachers were of paramount importance. The article would not only have created an uproar in student community but also demeaned our school’s reputation. But The Confident was angry over such misconducts, he couldn’t imagine the devastation the article could have caused in the school’s environment. For him, the Justice delivered had the greatest weight. As the night approached, I only had one question: Was the risk worth taking? Then, I remembered a saying in my religion – “it takes a lifetime to build reputation, but a second to shatter it. What you say cannot be reverted, it can make or break a person in a moment.” I knew what to do. I had to take up the stand and defeat The Confident. In those moments of final battle, I had no fear or hesitation for I knew I was doing the right thing. The article was rejected and the topic was only opened up in private conversation with the school’s authorities. The student’s faith was left intact. So, now as I am writing this essay, I ask myself: what would have happened if I hadn’t taken up the stand before.

These are just two of the many combats I, the Diffident had with the Confident. We are one of a kind, we fight with each other over every single petty issue, and spend a large fraction of time debating, but we never regret this. Each battle yields for Sarthak, who is the superposition of me and myself, a stronger person who is Confident of his movements but Diffident in dealing with sensitive issues. He can take complex task head on while tenderly swerving around delicate ones. I, the Diffident can only say one thing – like “Tom and Jerry” we hate each other, yet at the same time cannot live without each other. So maybe, 50 years from now, when I am sitting on my front porch, I will write a book on my crusades against the Confident, so we can become a part of the history.