Prompt is "Describe a time or situation where you have been unsuccessful or failed. What did you learn from this experience, and how have you applied this learning to your work and/or life?".
Was thinking either one of these:
Working as a researh assistant full-time and struggling to meet initial expectations of PI. One of my main jobs was cryosectioning and one day I managed to cut my hand using the machine. The injury motivated me to bounce back and seek advice from my mentor and let me focus more on time management in the lab. Only downside is that I briefly mentioned that I got injured in my activity description already.
In high school, band was a big part of my life and lot of my friends revolved around it. My senior year, I did not make it into regionals which dissapointed me because I thought I had the skills to do so and felt behind from my friends who did make it in. This pushed me to set aside this failure to focus on the next big event whicch was solo/ensemble, which I did qualify for. Hesistant because this took place in high school
After graduating college, I started to learn how to cook and started off pretty basic. However, I messed up a lot each time, like burning garlic, burning the sauce, and overseasoning etc. These failures helped me be more patient when learning. I am currently leaning towards this but wondering if it is too casual.
Working on McGovern's first prompt : "A challenging situation or obstacle you have faced in the past". Was thinking possibly:
Feeling isolated sophomore year of college due to stress, where I became a recluse in my dorm room and skipping meals.
experiencing racism as an asian in a middle school with a small asian population on top of it and how it shaped me interacting with others and making friends with others.
During college where I was an upperclassman advisor for freshmen. After two years, the underclassmen that I advised also became an advisor and we were placed on the...
Can you be more specific with #3? We make cooking mistakes all the time, but I need to know what your goal is and how you fell short. You can make the same mistakes on "Worst Cooks in America" (RIP Ann Burrell), but don't just mention the mistakes you made for entertainment (like many on that series tend to do). I'm sure I would be unsuccessful if I put in 1 tablespoon of salt rather than 1 teaspoon... but that's not the failure I'm looking for in such essays. In short, the essay is not looking for "bloopers." I'm also not that impressed with "when I'm learning, I have to learn to slow down."
For #2: Yeah, it took place in high school, but how did you apply that lesson to your life?
