Brainstorming on Secondaries Regarding Advocacy

[TunaSocks]

Hello again!

I am pre-writing some of Duke's questions that have been fairly consistent across the last couple of years and needed some opinions on what may be the best (if any) topic of discussion for the following prompt: Describe a situation in which you chose to advocate for someone who was different from you or for a cause or idea that was different from yours. Define your view of advocacy. What risks, if any, might be associated with your choice to be an advocate?

1. I used to work part-time (during jr/sr year of high school) at a restaurant that heavily employs international students. One in particular was from India, and sometimes with the accent, language barrier, and overall different tones when it comes to speaking, there was a significant conflict between them and a customer. The customer was violent, kicking tables and chairs around and yelling at the employee with explicit language and telling him to go back to his country, for which I stepped in, stood up for the employee, and calmed the situation down and talked to the customer about saying things like that (crudely).

2. There was a student who transitioned from male to female and they received a lot of slack from my friends but had no idea what they were dealing with, and I basically stood up for them in groupchats and in-person settings when appropriate.

3. Is my sister different from me? She had a lot of mental health struggles that I was supporting her through and directing her to resources while keeping it from my parents, who she was not comfortable sharing with.


I did not write about any of this in my PS or OIS, and I have read through the SDN Secondaries webpage. Just thinking ahead here! Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

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[Mr.Smile12]

Good job. Now, the critique:

1) Can you define the cause or idea that was essential in the situations? You point out how you advocate for someone who may be "different" from you.

2) Look at the rest of the prompt. I don't see you acknowledge risks or consequences of your choices.

 

[TunaSocks]

Good job. Now, the critique:

1) Can you define the cause or idea that was essential in the situations? You point out how you advocate for someone who may be "different" from you.

2) Look at the rest of the prompt. I don't see you acknowledge risks or consequences of your choices.

Hello again Mr. Smile, thank you for your response. As for point 1, are you referring to the take home message just to clarify? For example, for my first scenario it could be acknowledging that different parts of their world view communication in different ways and it is important to be considerate of people's backgrounds, or for point 2 that engaging in such discussions contributes to anti-trans viewpoints that can manifest as discrimination? Spitballing here a bit, kind of thinking out loud.

As for the risks, I believe once I have a better idea of what topic I choose, I feel fairly comfortable identifying the risks/consequences of that scenario. I think in customer service you always run the risk of coming off as inconsiderate to the customer, or I could have been physically assaulted in that case. For 2, there is always the ridicule (I played football, so you can guess what the locker room talk consisted of). For 3, betraying the trust of my parents and overall guilt if my sister's condition did deteriorate beyond a point where hospitalization was required.
I'm just stuck on which scenario would be the one to run with.

Is there one that best aligns with the prompts in your opinion?

 

[LizzyM]

Number 2 will resonate with adcoms and if the consequences were being ostracized by your teammates, then you have that covered.

 

[TunaSocks]

Number 2 will resonate with adcoms and if the consequences were being ostracized by your teammates, then you have that covered.

Hi Lizzy! Thanks for chiming in. Sounds like a plan then! Thank you.