Need help choosing a challenge/adversity essay topic

[minnie123]

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Hi! I'm working on my challenge essay and had two possible ideas to go off, and wanted to see if anyone has advice on which one I should choose.

1) Growing up in a homophobic family and realizing I was bisexual. I knew I would lose their support if I came out, but overcame this by forming by own support system through close friends, people who've gone through the same experience, and LGBT+ groups on campus. I wanted to talk about how I learned how to seek support and stay true to myself even in difficult situations which I feel is valuable for med school. (Not sure if not having family support would be a red flag?)

2) I lived in a predominantly white area for most of my life and tried to fit in by changing myself to fit the majority and disregarding my culture. Over time I realized how harmful that mindset was so I started to embrace my culture and appreciate my differences, which has helped me value diversity and self-expression.


Not sure if these would be okay, or if I should go with something more medically relevant like my volunteer experiences? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

What are the specific prompts?

 

[hihihohohaha84]

I think both ideas are fantastic. Mine is very similar to (1). As a gay man, I chose to only write briefly about the homophobic part of my upbringing (1/4-1/3 of the essay) and I spent the rest talking about how I have changed and how that experience helped me contribute to the community as well as approach relationships in life. I think the advice is to not dive to deep into the traumas and negativity but use it as a tool for reflection.

 

[minnie123]

What are the specific prompts?

Describe a significant challenge that has prepared you for the MD career path.

I do have other challenges I can talk about (becoming the VP of a volunteer organization and learning to navigate a leadership role, or becoming a hospice volunteer and being nervous to deal with a new patient demographic) but these don't really feel 'significant' to me, and I already touched on them in other parts of my application so I was hoping to include something new.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Describe a significant challenge that has prepared you for the MD career path.

I do have other challenges I can talk about (becoming the VP of a volunteer organization and learning to navigate a leadership role, or becoming a hospice volunteer and being nervous to deal with a new patient demographic) but these don't really feel 'significant' to me, and I already touched on them in other parts of my application so I was hoping to include something new.

Pay attention to how you connect your answers to preparing you for becoming a physician. See which topic you feel more comfortable sharing after you write them.

 

[minnie123]

I think both ideas are fantastic. Mine is very similar to (1). I chose to only write briefly about the homophobic part (1/4-1/3 of the essay) and I spent the rest talking about how I have changed and how that experience helped me contribute to the community as well as approach relationships in life. I think the advice is to not dive to deep into the traumas and negativity but use it as a tool for reflection.

That's very helpful, thank you! In my draft I definitely kept the 'challenge' part short and used the majority of the word count to talk about how I dealt with the situation and what I learned. I will most likely go with #1 then, thanks again : )