Hey!
I was wondering if captaining and playing for an intramural basketball team 8 of my closest friends could be considered a significant achievement? We won 1 playoff game before being eliminated, but we were pretty much underdogs in every game. I used it to talk about teamwork, success, and friendship.
Thank you!
I will preface my response with the facts that I am not a med school adcom or even an aspiring med student. Basically, I read this thread so I can understand my kid's stress and know kinda where his schools are in terms if II's without asking him if he's gotten one yet (he has not). However, I will tell you this…
Back when he was applying to undergrad, the independent school he attended asked parents to fill out a questionnaire as a preface to college applications. One of the questions was greatest achievement or what made us most proud (something like that). Well, here's the thing. My son always did well academically. School came easily to him. And I knew that without significant challenge in his life, he might not know the benefit of risk, failure etc if he didn't learn perseverance/persistence to overcome. The only way that was happening was pushing him to do something that did NOT come easily for him, and watching his persevere through the struggle wasn't easy. But we made him play basketball, and I can't tell you how many times he wanted to quit. It just didn't come naturally in the least. He could barely walk and dribble, let alone run. But he did get hooked on being part of a team. The camaraderie, the common goal, teamwork. He went on to play football, basketball and lacrosse in HS. His first touch down, I'll never forget it. And his selection of captain for two varsity sports and a HS all american in lacrosse. Those were real achievements for him… and taught him life lessons that have served him incredibly well. He is a team player when he needs to be and has a real skill at recognizing (and appreciating) the strengths of others.
Now.. is this something worthy of a med school application as biggest achievement? I can't say that for sure, but as someone who is definitely more middle aged than anything that comes before it, I can tell you absolutely that life experiences that give you the opportunity to persevere and/or create empathy and compassion are all good things to learn, no matter how they come to you. And frankly, it would be my opinion that what you are trying to convey on any kind of application is your authentic self in all its facets. Sometimes the biggest life lessons come amid smaller moments. And while I am no adcom, I think that's worthwhile.
