Tommy Pico’s IRL Saved my Personal Statement

I wish I could say I discovered Tommy Pico’s IRL in a dusty library basement, a spotlight shining down on his debut book, a light of hope in an otherwise dreary and bleak world. In reality, I heard about the Native American poet infiltrating classrooms on NPR, interviews, reviews, etc. Then I stumbled across his Instagram and quickly followed his fun, lovable persona. After admiring from afar for about a year, I finally bought IRL. Hearing so much about this book, I expected to be impressed, but that was it. I like to play Devil’s Advocate, particularly the kind that is a skeptic on everything that high-brow critics define as art or revolutionary. I braced myself for hot air stylistically delivered. And now, I’m here to tell you, the real-life Pawnee Public Radio’s hosts —those guys, well, they’re right. IRL is incredible.