Adversity essay idea help

[drdoofenshmirtz4ever]

The past couple weeks I've been trying to come up with an adversity essay topic for my secondaries. Could I get some help/critique on this idea?

Last year we lost my grandmother to cancer. She was the head of our family and my moms best friend/confidant. Once she passed, my mom began to rely on me for support and to be the "mother" figure that she had lost. This in the end of things has strengthened our relationship greatly. I had to take on a huge role and be there for her whenever life got rough or she needed a shoulder to cry on. Things like calling her at work and talking when she had a bad day, or giving her advice when she was lost. EDIT: overly simplified what I do for my mom, lol many more roles/things I had to do to attempt to fill the shoes of my grandma.

Is this appropriate for the topic? Thanks!

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[JustaDO]

No.

 

[Rajaredhilu]

No.

why is that bad, im genuinely curious

 

[TheRealCookieMonster]

You gotta think about this question a little differently. You're telling them about someone else. What was adversity for you?

 

[drdoofenshmirtz4ever]

You gotta think about this question a little differently. You're telling them about someone else. What was adversity for you?

my adversity was having to fill the shoes of a parent instead of being her 21 year old daughter. i had to mature and become someone that helped a parent, not vice versa. i'm just having trouble with the topic. i am very very grateful that i can't pinpoint any other time of adversity. i had a ton of support, emotionally and financially going through life, so i am having difficulty. again, very blessed that i can say this, but i truly cannot think of other times of struggle.

 

[JustaDO]

instead of being her 21 year old daughter. i had to mature

Do you think admission staff would perceive a 21 year old, a adult by all means, having to mature and be responsible as overcoming adversity?

 

[drdoofenshmirtz4ever]

Do you think admission staff would perceive a 21 year old, a adult by all means, having to mature and be responsible as overcoming adversity?

you got me there. i could argue that it is hard to go through such a role reversal and learn how to parent the parent. but, i see exactly what you are saying. i just have 0 clue what else i could write about and i don't want this to kill me in my secondaries.

 

[Goro]

The past couple weeks I've been trying to come up with an adversity essay topic for my secondaries. Could I get some help/critique on this idea?

Last year we lost my grandmother to cancer. She was the head of our family and my moms best friend/confidant. Once she passed, my mom began to rely on me for support and to be the "mother" figure that she had lost. This in the end of things has strengthened our relationship greatly. I had to take on a huge role and be there for her whenever life got rough or she needed a shoulder to cry on. Things like calling her at work and talking when she had a bad day, or giving her advice when she was lost. EDIT: overly simplified what I do for my mom, lol many more roles/things I had to do to attempt to fill the shoes of my grandma.

Is this appropriate for the topic? Thanks!

You're supposed to be a good daughter...this isn't something that demonstrates your resilience, which is what schools want to see.

 

[drdoofenshmirtz4ever]

You're supposed to be a good daughter...this isn't something that demonstrates your resilience, which is what schools want to see.

again, not arguing at all. my issue is i don't know what else i could write about and i fully acknowledge that. curse being white and privileged (very much a joke)

 

[Rajaredhilu]

You're supposed to be a good daughter...this isn't something that demonstrates your resilience, which is what schools want to see.

I was gunna do my essay similar to hers now idk. My dad died of cancer when I was Sixteen and he was our primary source of income so during highschool I had to take over our family farm and get a job to support my mom and sister. My dad was also sick for about a year in the half and we pretty much lived in the hospital which is where I realized I wanted to become a doctor after watching all the doctors interact with the patients and their families. Would this be a good adversity essay? It seems similar to hers

 

[that kid]

I disagree with the above commenters. Not everyone will have had to overcome a great catastrophe. Dealing with the death of a close relative at any age is a traumatic experience and caring for one's parents at age 21 is certainly very difficult. I think you can definitely write about this in a way that reflects your resilience and sense of responsibility.

 

[mdphdNYC]

First off, I'm sorry for your loss . I think this is an appropriate essay - I don't understand why so many people are against it. I would avoid focusing too much on how hard it was for your mom (which I'm sure it was) and focus on how you coped with it. You could guide the adcom (without being explicit about it) to the idea that you can cope with a major blow such as a death (which you will face often in the clinic....) in a way that is both human and empathetic, as well as constructive and supportive of the people around you.

 

[Goro]

again, not arguing at all. my issue is i don't know what else i could write about and i fully acknowledge that. curse being white and privileged (very much a joke)

Introspection is a required trait to be a doctor. Nobody leads a charmed life.

 

[Goro]

I was gunna do my essay similar to hers now idk. My dad died of cancer when I was Sixteen and he was our primary source of income so during highschool I had to take over our family farm and get a job to support my mom and sister. My dad was also sick for about a year in the half and we pretty much lived in the hospital which is where I realized I wanted to become a doctor after watching all the doctors interact with the patients and their families. Would this be a good adversity essay? It seems similar to hers

This is different and worthwhile

 

[TheRealCookieMonster]

I think you can definitely write about this in a way that reflects your resilience and sense of responsibility.

This is the truth. When you don't have great content it's all about the delivery. Instead of a story of maturity (a normal process, not adverse) build an argument that says this was difficult on my development, but I was a boss anyway.

Introspection is a required trait to be a doctor.

...and to get a high score on the MCAT, and GPA, and write essays, and get into med school and on and on. LUKE! USE THE FORCE! INTROSPECT!

 

[TheRealCookieMonster]

Nobody leads a charmed life.

Disagree

 

[Goro]

This is the truth. When you don't have great content it's all about the delivery. Instead of a story of maturity (a normal process, not adverse) build an argument that says this was difficult on my development, but I was a boss anyway.


...and to get a high score on the MCAT, and GPA, and write essays, and get into med school and on and on. LUKE! USE THE FORCE! INTROSPECT!

Being flippant isn't helping the OP.

Med schools like seeing evidence of resilience and coping skills. Med school is extremely stressful. I've seen it break even healthy students.

 

[Goro]

I also had a slightly similar idea for my adversity essay in terms of the scenario.

Basically, I graduated college last year and am living at home. My mom has always been this badass amazing single mom, but she went through a really really difficult time this past spring, and I really had to be there for her, coming home right after work, taking phone calls in the middle of the day, having to leave work at times, etc. At the same time, I was working full time in the city in a busy research lab, commuting 1.5hrs each way, taking a class, volunteering on the weekends, and spending any available time writing a manuscript and doing data analysis for this big clinical research project I was involved in from the summer before (~10-15 hrs a week on top of my actual job).

So that's the background of the "adversity," but the actual focus of the essay would be the fact that I've always prided myself on thriving under pressure and being motivated by stress, but for the first I found myself in a situation where simply hitting the grindstone and powering through wasn't going to ct it. But i didn't want to end up dropping the ball or slacking off in one area to accommodate the situation, and although I've always been really independent, I realized that knowing when to seek help and not being too proud to do so was a sign of strength, not weakness. So I turned to my friends for emotional support and various things and reached out to my post doc at work to explain the situation and to work out a way to accommodate me needing extra time at home, and coordinated with the doctor i worked with this past summer to have her MPH student help more with the data analysis and whatever. And then I can relate it to how having a support system is important and as a doctor, I hope to be that for my patients, and that when I find myself confronted with a situation where the task at hand is larger than just myself, I will not hesitate to reach out to other doctors or specialists or whatever and will embrace the opportunity to collaborate on a patient's care. And I'll also elaborate on what i learned from the situation and how it's changed me and how it will change how I approach new challenges going forward.

Is this too contrived? I have other, more long term experiences with adversity, but many of them are from growing up and I don't feel like I had as active a role in actually overcoming them, since I was just a kid or in HS. This experience was honestly a standout moment for me in my life because I had never had to juggle responsibility for so many things at once as an actual responsible adult and not a college kid or younger where I could just rely on the adults to swoop in if necessary. But i definitely don't want to give the impression that i can't handle the hectic lifestyle of a doctor (although I'm fairly confident my app and my LORs will make clear that I can definitely handle having a lot on my plate, and that I demonstrate grace under pressure)

Tldr