<p>Prompt: Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below (1000 character maximum)</p>
<p>Response: It's 7:00 p.m. on a Thursday night, and every staff member is at production, working furiously to finish the pages of the school newspaper. It's times like these, when people are yelling at the defective printer or muttering headline ideas under their breaths, that I wonder why I joined the newspaper in the first place. However, in the back of my mind I know that, despite the chaos, being a part of the newspaper has given me skills that I will use for the rest of my life. Not only have I become a better writer, but I have also learned how to speak up for my ideas and work with a diverse set of people. I know how to deal with people who stubbornly resist any change in their article, and I have learned how to get the best out of people through encouragement and trust. That's why, after every production, I always reflect on how lucky I am to be a part of the newspaper, especially since it is the very craziness and challenge of production that has made me the person that I am today.</p>
<p>It's 997 characters out of 1000.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>