Secondary failure essay - car accident?

[lentilto]

I'm currently working on the classic "describe a non-academic personal failure and what you learned from it" secondary essay. I'm a little torn about what to write about since my experiences that I can think of at the top of my head seem potentially trivial to me (getting lost, not being able to change a tire on the side of the road, etc) or possibly too personal/not appropriate for secondaries (being in an unhealthy relationship, for example). The only ones that feel fitting to me are:
1) I got into a car accident a few years ago that totaled my car. It was terrifying and really did impact my perspective on a lot of things. It was my fault; I made a bad judgement call and have definitely learned from it (i.e. patience and don't make important decisions without having all the information). I think I could write this pretty well but I'm worried that this might make me seem irresponsible or paint me in a negative light.
or
2) I helped teach a 'science club' consisting of elementary school kids. There was a student in my group who was pretty quiet and didn't participate much, no matter how hard I tried to engage him. I kinda just let him be for while since I assumed he was shy (aka failed at my job?). But I later found out he was scared of messing up/being wrong and helped him work through this. I learned about tailoring lessons and teaching methods to the individual.

I realize I'm probably being a bit neurotic about this, but I'd really appreciate any advice or insight. Thanks so much!

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[Goro]

1> 2

 

[trobinsonmd]

Also agree that 1 is better and more unique... option 1 is the result of literally a split second decision and you are being asked to write several hundred characters on this event... I think it would be advantageous to spend as many characters as possible on what you actually learned from this event and what came out of it... do not spend a lot of room physically describing the accident

 

[Catalystik]

I'm currently working on the classic "describe a non-academic personal failure and what you learned from it" secondary essay. I'm a little torn about what to write about since my experiences that I can think of at the top of my head seem potentially trivial to me (getting lost, not being able to change a tire on the side of the road, etc) or possibly too personal/not appropriate for secondaries (being in an unhealthy relationship, for example). The only ones that feel fitting to me are:
1) I got into a car accident a few years ago that totaled my car. It was terrifying and really did impact my perspective on a lot of things. It was my fault; I made a bad judgement call and have definitely learned from it (i.e. patience and don't make important decisions without having all the information). I think I could write this pretty well but I'm worried that this might make me seem irresponsible or paint me in a negative light.
or
2) I helped teach a 'science club' consisting of elementary school kids. There was a student in my group who was pretty quiet and didn't participate much, no matter how hard I tried to engage him. I kinda just let him be for while since I assumed he was shy (aka failed at my job?). But I later found out he was scared of messing up/being wrong and helped him work through this. I learned about tailoring lessons and teaching methods to the individual.

I realize I'm probably being a bit neurotic about this, but I'd really appreciate any advice or insight.

#2 wasn't much of a failure. But #1 would be good. Especially as you've had a clean record since then (presumably).

 

[lentilto]

Thanks so much for the input! I will be going with option #1. And yes, I've had a clean record since then!

 

[Catalystik]

Thanks so much for the input! I will be going with option #1. And yes, I've had a clean record since then!

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