“You talk different.” “He’s African.” “Oh, so you speak African?” I don’t, but there have been so many instances in which someone has asked me if I speak this nonexistent tongue that I should just make one up. I was born in Nairobi, Kenya. Though I lived there for around six or seven years, I haven’t retained a lot of Swahili—the actual national language. I have always been fluent in English, but my east African accent...

Focus on what makes you a singular person, and develop that well in the writing of the personal statement that...