I'm in the process of prewriting secondaries and was looking for some advice on diversity/challenge essays. I have a couple of ideas and was wondering if any of these were good.
1 (probably diversity, maybe adversity?): I come from a disadvantaged background in that I had an abusive, alcoholic father who left my family when I was young. I was raised by a single mother and she went back to work full time when the divorce happened, so I was essentially raised by au pairs. I had au pairs from Germany, UK, Brazil, Estonia, and France so I was exposed to a lot of different cultures growing up. I also was faced with the struggle of not being able to afford college, so I became a full time summer caddie at age 16 which allowed me to win a scholarship that gave me a full ride to my undergrad university. I was one of few girl caddies in an environment full of many men, so I had to get used working for people much different than me. One of my issues with writing about this is that I wrote briefly about it for my disadvantaged status essay, although I did not mention the au pairs or being the only girl caddie in that essay.
2 (not sure if this could be adversity or diversity): I really love sports/hiking activities, and they have both taught me how to be very coachable and be uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. In 4th grade, I woke up suddenly one Sunday morning and I was unable to walk. It is still a bit of a medical mystery and all we know is the inflammation in my body was extremely high, but nonetheless I had to spend a week in the hospital and then relearn to walk with a walker and PT. Because of this, I had to not participate in sports for many weeks and it happened to be in the middle of soccer season. I used to play midfield (lots of running), but after the incident I was put in as goalie, which turned out to be a hidden talent. I learned the position quickly and actually became pretty good. Once I got to high school, I made varsity as a freshman and did really well. Another activity I love is hiking, and I have gone on back packing trips with my friend where we spend 5 days sleeping out in the woods without showering and cooking over fires. I am terrified of heights, but a few summers ago I climbed and summited the extremely steep Half Dome in Yosemite.
3 (potential adversity): Last summer I worked at a camp for T1Ds. I was in charge of a "little sister" group of 4 girls that I had to pay close attention to to make sure they were emotionally doing okay with nightly tuck-ins and sister time. Session 2 of camp I had a new camper in my little sister group who had happened to be just out of rehab and did not want to be at camp at all. She had a troubled family history and she said camp reminded her of rehab which was awful. She did not like participating in the events, so I had to spend of alone time with her making sure she was okay, which meant I couldn't always give the attention I wanted to to my other little sisters. She cried every night before bed, but 2 weeks into camp she said she would kill herself if she had to stay any longer. I had to make the tough decision to talk to my supervisors about it and we had to unfortunately send her home from camp, which was a heartbreak for me because I knew she needed to learn about diabetic control so badly. However, I knew her mental health was the more immediate issue and sending her home was for the best. I still talk to her over the phone and am happy to know she is doing better with her rehab now, which makes me feel like we made the right decision.
1 (probably diversity, maybe adversity?): I come from a disadvantaged background in that I had an abusive, alcoholic father who left my family when I was young. I was raised by a single mother and she went back to work full time when the divorce happened, so I was essentially raised by au pairs. I had au pairs from Germany, UK, Brazil, Estonia, and France so I was exposed to a lot of different cultures growing up. I also was faced with the struggle of not being able to afford college, so I became a full time summer caddie at age 16 which allowed me to win a scholarship that gave me a full ride to my undergrad university. I was one of few girl caddies in an environment full of many men, so I had to get used working for people much different than me. One of my issues with writing about this is that I wrote briefly about it for my disadvantaged status essay, although I did not mention the au pairs or being the only girl caddie in that essay.
2 (not sure if this could be adversity or diversity): I really love sports/hiking activities, and they have both taught me how to be very coachable and be uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. In 4th grade, I woke up suddenly one Sunday morning and I was unable to walk. It is still a bit of a medical mystery and all we know is the inflammation in my body was extremely high, but nonetheless I had to spend a week in the hospital and then relearn to walk with a walker and PT. Because of this, I had to not participate in sports for many weeks and it happened to be in the middle of soccer season. I used to play midfield (lots of running), but after the incident I was put in as goalie, which turned out to be a hidden talent. I learned the position quickly and actually became pretty good. Once I got to high school, I made varsity as a freshman and did really well. Another activity I love is hiking, and I have gone on back packing trips with my friend where we spend 5 days sleeping out in the woods without showering and cooking over fires. I am terrified of heights, but a few summers ago I climbed and summited the extremely steep Half Dome in Yosemite.
3 (potential adversity): Last summer I worked at a camp for T1Ds. I was in charge of a "little sister" group of 4 girls that I had to pay close attention to to make sure they were emotionally doing okay with nightly tuck-ins and sister time. Session 2 of camp I had a new camper in my little sister group who had happened to be just out of rehab and did not want to be at camp at all. She had a troubled family history and she said camp reminded her of rehab which was awful. She did not like participating in the events, so I had to spend of alone time with her making sure she was okay, which meant I couldn't always give the attention I wanted to to my other little sisters. She cried every night before bed, but 2 weeks into camp she said she would kill herself if she had to stay any longer. I had to make the tough decision to talk to my supervisors about it and we had to unfortunately send her home from camp, which was a heartbreak for me because I knew she needed to learn about diabetic control so badly. However, I knew her mental health was the more immediate issue and sending her home was for the best. I still talk to her over the phone and am happy to know she is doing better with her rehab now, which makes me feel like we made the right decision.
