The dreaded adversity question

[straubest]

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The question is to describe a situation where you overcame adversity, lessons you learned, and how they might help you as a physician.

I was considering writing about a time in Colombia where I was the victim of a scam between a cop and a local. the local would find tourists and talk to them. the cop would then stop and search the both and find cocaine. he would then demand a bribe from the tourist or threaten jail. I was going to talk about how i was flustered with all sorts of emotions and temporarily lost my abilities to speak spanish. then was able to regain composure and settle the situation (by paying the bribe). I was going to talk about how the ability to remain calm and act rationally in even the most stressful situations is imperative for a physician who often needs to make quick, rational decisions with lives at risk.

I was wondering first, if this is a good topic for the question?

Also, given the limited characters it is difficult to convey the complete situation to show that i truly had no relation with the cocaine at all. All i can really fit in is that it was a scam and i was victim. Should i worry about bringing up the topic of cocaine?

Thanks in advance

 

[scattun]

I don't know, this seems kind of risky to mention. While the lesson you learned part is good, I can see how this could be viewed negatively, both because of the drugs and because you paid the bribe. Keeping my personal opinion out of it, I can see how people could take an ethical stance against your actions.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

i don't think talking about bribing anyone is ever a great idea...

 

[austinap]

i don't think talking about bribing anyone is ever a great idea...

I'm just going to go ahead and assume that you haven't spent much time in that part of the world (or similar areas).

However, OP: if you have any other stories I might lean towards using one of them. I think the situation you mentioned is a great example of overcoming adversity (and being realistic, etc), but people can take it the wrong way. Choose something that has less potential to be read incorrectly.

 

[Trexate]

The question is to describe a situation where you overcame adversity, lessons you learned, and how they might help you as a physician.

I was considering writing about a time in Colombia where I was the victim of a scam between a cop and a local. the local would find tourists and talk to them. the cop would then stop and search the both and find cocaine. he would then demand a bribe from the tourist or threaten jail. I was going to talk about how i was flustered with all sorts of emotions and temporarily lost my abilities to speak spanish. then was able to regain composure and settle the situation (by paying the bribe). I was going to talk about how the ability to remain calm and act rationally in even the most stressful situations is imperative for a physician who often needs to make quick, rational decisions with lives at risk.

I was wondering first, if this is a good topic for the question?

Also, given the limited characters it is difficult to convey the complete situation to show that i truly had no relation with the cocaine at all. All i can really fit in is that it was a scam and i was victim. Should i worry about bringing up the topic of cocaine?

Thanks in advance

Bribery, corrupt officials, thieves and drugs. Sounds like a winner to me.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

I'm just going to go ahead and assume that you haven't spent much time in that part of the world (or similar areas).

However, OP: if you have any other stories I might lean towards using one of them. I think the situation you mentioned is a great example of overcoming adversity (and being realistic, etc), but people can take it the wrong way. Choose something that has less potential to be read incorrectly.

thanks for the condescension but i lived in latin america my whole life previous to college. but you assume whatever you want big guy.

 

[straubest]

ehh. if only i could add 200 more characters i could clarify the story much better. when i think of adverse situations this is all that comes to my mind. i have been pretty lucky so far.

i never even thought of the negative potential of mentioning bribing but as both of you seem to know, there really is no way of getting around it. i cant count how many times i had to bribe people in some countries.

im really stuck at a crossroads. im thinking of writing it as best i can and if the reader reads it correctly then great if not, well it wasnt one of my top choices anyway.

i dont know if id rather have a somewhat interesting yet more controversial response or a much more lackluster response talking about how i had to struggle through one of my pchem exams or something lame like that.

 

[Narmerguy]

Irregardless of the content, I'm not entirely sure how much adversity you overcame. It appears that your options were fairly limited and you did not do much (no offense) but pay the bribe that they asked anyway.

I think the purpose of the prompt is more to get an understanding of how you solve serious problems. While this is indeed very serious, there wasn't much of a process of solving. It would probably be better to show something where you had to work over time or do something where odds were against you. Kudos for handling the situation though.

When you first wrote this I thought you meant Columbia the school 😛

 

[straubest]

It would probably be better to show something where you had to work over time or do something where odds were against you.

that is exactly how i approached the question at first. however, the first question asks for your accomplishment of which you are most proud. for me these two questions are in fact the same. the accomplishment which i am most proud of is indeed the one that i had to struggle through, presented the most challenges, yet produced the greatest result and reward.

given certain earlier experiences i thought it prudent to learn spanish given my future aspirations. jumping two feet in, i booked a flight to go study in latin america with almost no prior training. needless to say, classes were extremely difficult. (they were in spanish and i was taking difficult classes) I had to work hard, seek others help, i was happy, i was depressed, yada yada. after struggling through the tough parts my grades improved my experiences were more fulfilling, etc. now having struggled through this particularly tough situation i reached my goal and am a much more skilled and better person.

How much adversity i faced in this im not sure as it was all self inflicted much like if i shot myself and said i overcame being shot. this is why i havent decided if i want to switch this to my adversity essay and write something else for my accomplishment. maybe that im the first in my family to go to college or finally to have my research work after thousands of hours or something along those lines.

(btw im talking about the hopkins secondary)

 

[ReptarBar]

i personally think thats an awesome subject, but you shouldnt use it. you didnt do anything any exceptional...you just paid the bribe. its your fault for getting all flustered for no reason. the situation was not perplexing at all...only an idiot wouldnt have paid the bribe.

perhaps if you had a crazy story where you didnt pay and ran to a US embassy or something like that, it would work, but not in this case.