Medical Which challenge secondary topic should I move forward with?

[Goro]

Thank you for taking the time to read my questions, I appreciate all the guidance.

I have two topics that I am considering talking about in my challenge secondary essay

1) I struggled with being overweight for most my adolescents. I want to talk about how I tried to make a change and followed these glamorized diets that led to initial weight loss and then gain. I also want to talk about how it was difficult to lose weight because of my culture. I can talk about the lessons I learned and how I coped with multiple failures and the stigma around it in my culture. I have actually applied a lot of these lessons in my journey toward medical school

2) My dad had a back injury and was prescribed pain meds. He was taking multiple a day then told to immediately stop by a doctor without any taper, this led to a major injury and then depression. I can talk about how difficult it was for me as he was my biggest role model and the head of our household. I can talk about how I learned to cope with it and how it will affect my outlook for my own future patients

Number one is a very good subject.

Number two is interesting, but I'm worried that it will come off as more about your dad than you.

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[Goro]

Thank you for your response.
When talking about weight, do you find it insensitive or immature to say that being overweight affected my confidence and when I lost weight I found myself to be a very confident person? I can steer away from this, as confidence linked with weight loss can be stigmatized, but it was an important part of my journey. I don't want to come across as someone who found confidence when conforming to body "ideals".

Of course not! We Americans stigmatize the overweight, despite the fact that 1/3 of us are in that category. This is something that you personally have dealt with and it will help you in dealing with future patients.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Number 1 would be unique and interesting and I wouldn't steer away from the confidence part. That is your story and this application is about YOU. Your second idea is interesting as well, but as @Goro stated, I think it's more about your father than you. If this was about you, it would be a much stronger choice.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Yes, I vote for one. I had a former advisee who did get to dental school and discussed his weight challenges. I liked his rationale and motivation to stick to his goals, not just resting on "I'm fat" as an excuse for anything.