Overcoming a challenge

[smccccc]

Hello, I need to come up with a time i overcame a challenge. I was thinking of talking about how when I worked as a CNA i was constantly judged by patients based on my petit body size, as they thought I would be unable to do the physical aspects of the job. I overcame this challenge by talking the patients through what we were going to do before and during. And ultimately proved to the patients that even though i am small i am able to boost patients, move them ect…i showed them that with proper technique I could do it and that i am stronger than i look, ultimately gaining their trust….is this an okay challenge to overcome? I am having a lot of difficulty coming up with something unique...

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[Komorebi2]

Caveat: I am answering this as an individual who conducts undergraduate student interviews and has been in the workforce for a few years. BUT please keep in mind that I am still a pre-med, so I have no med-based authority.

Although I understand what you are getting at with this example, I think it is weak and would not serve you well. As the reader, I find this example off-putting because, if this is truly one of the most significant challenges you've had to overcome, I am worried that you don't really know what a challenge is or what it is like to fail at something. And if that is the case, then I don't think you have the resilience it takes to get through eight+ more years of arduous training.



A couple ideas of how to think about this question:

Try to think of a time when you failed. Really failed (not just failed a test). Why did you fail? It what ways did overcoming that failure challenge you? What did you not know then that you do now? How has that failure changed you?

Or, try to remember a time when you were thrown way outside your comfort-zone and asked to do something that MANY people would find difficult. Describe the way you approached the situation and in what ways it challenged you. How have you grown from this experience?



And a quick tidbit:

Be honest and show some vulnerability as well as strength, introspection, and growth

EDIT: And don't worry too much about having the "perfect" story that's "unique" enough. Far more important to write something that shows true growth and maturity, even if the example is bland.

 

[NickNaylor]

Agree with the post above. I wouldn't be particularly impressed if I saw that in an applicant's file (and my school uses a very similar question in its secondary). The anecdote you provide doesn't necessarily need to be unique. It simply needs to be meaningful, and you need to demonstrate that you took something substantive away from the experience. Adcoms want to know that you can engage in self-reflection and aren't cluelessly bumming through life in asking this kind of question. The example you provide doesn't really give that sort of picture to me.

 

[Darth Doc]

As a CNA, who was your most difficult patient and how did you overcome that? Did you have a nursing supervisor or colleague who gave you a really hard time one day (or in general was impossible to get along with) and how did you overcome that? Did you make a significant mistake and how did you overcome that? The idea of working in the medical field and overcoming something related to what you hope to do in the future could help you make your anecdote unique and pertinent, but it doesn't have to be related to your work as a CNA. The struggle or difficulty though, should be emotional and personal, not logistical. With this question Adcoms want to see how you deal emotionally with difficult challenges, not how well you problem solve.

 

[Marine to MD]

Forget about "unique" for this question. Focus on something you've experienced that has produced a change in the way you approach life. Chances are there is a time you faced a situation where you had no idea what to do. Perhaps it was even an internal struggle that no one else knew about. What decisions did you make that worked? Which decisions didn't work? How did you learn from them? How have you applied those lessons in your life since then?

Whatever you decide, just make sure it is honest. Speak from the heart and be sincere. I used to interview Marines for meritorious promotion and this has always been one of my favorite questions.

 

[Doctor Dream]

Thanks for the responses everyone, I was in a similar situation as OP. I think I understand what adcoms are looking for with type of question now though.