Describe an instance where something in your life didn’t go as planned

[rbrown1]

I am completing an application and got this question:
3. Describe an instance where something in your life didn’t go as planned (academic, personal, professional, athletic or other). • How did you meet this challenge? • What resources did you use to overcome the setback? • What would you do differently if faced with a similar situation?

I thought about answering how last year my boyfriend and I planned a vacation to Florida and had very difficult to book tours and he ended up needing an emergency appendectomy 1 week before we left. I rescheduled the trip for 2 weeks later only for hurricane Ian to hit Florida the day our flight was supposed to leave and I had to reschedule and figure things out again. Is this a good thing to write about? It took a lot of planning/flexibility skills and we ended up just going a day later and making the best of our time.

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[Bigjt1420]

That may come off as a little spoiled in my mind. You're basically telling the people who are reading your application that the first thing you can think of when asked "what is an instance where something in your life didn't go according to plan?" is about a time you couldn't go on a vacation. I am sorry your boyfriend needed an emergency appendectomy but how does this pertain to you? I would think of a completely different subject matter than anything related to fun things like travel, purchasing items, etc.

 

[wysdoc]

That may come off as a little spoiled in my mind. You're basically telling the people who are reading your application that the first thing you can think of when asked "what is an instance where something in your life didn't go according to plan?" is about a time you couldn't go on a vacation. I am sorry your boyfriend needed an emergency appendectomy but how does this pertain to you? I would think of a completely different subject matter than anything related to fun things like travel, purchasing items, etc.

I don’t think it’s spoiled to go on a vacation, it’s a normal event. It would be especially upsetting if you saved up for it and it was non refundable.
It takes a calm negotiation style to get travel reservations changed, good for you.

 

[rbrown1]

I don’t think it’s spoiled to go on a vacation, it’s a normal event. It would be especially upsetting if you saved up for it and it was non refundable.
It takes a calm negotiation style to get travel reservations changed, good for you.

This is what I was going for. We were both college students at the time and spent a long time saving up for it and we spent a lot of money to be able to book an exclusive tour that we were very excited for. It took 10+ hours of phone calls with multiple airlines and offices at the parks to be able to reschedule and I was very proud to be able to complete everything even with a time crunch hanging over my head. All of our stuff was non-refundable due to being so close so it was super stressful for me. I didn't want to sound entitled and spoiled, but instead show how I was able to deal with absolute chaos and the stress of losing hard earned money.

 

[Ryxndek]

This is what I was going for. We were both college students at the time and spent a long time saving up for it and we spent a lot of money to be able to book an exclusive tour that we were very excited for. It took 10+ hours of phone calls with multiple airlines and offices at the parks to be able to reschedule and I was very proud to be able to complete everything even with a time crunch hanging over my head. All of our stuff was non-refundable due to being so close so it was super stressful for me. I didn't want to sound entitled and spoiled, but instead show how I was able to deal with absolute chaos and the stress of losing hard earned money.

well said, I don't think anyone will think negatively of it if you explain it as you did here if asked

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Topic sounds appropriate to me.