<p>I wrote a rough draft of my essay and focused it about my heritage and how it made me a more tolerant person because I was exposed to a diverse range of foods, activities, etc. Example: Scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding when she got made fun of for having ethnic food at lunch. LOL. However, there is no tension or struggle present in my essay. I didn't overcome any sort of adversity (or at least I didn't play it up in my essay), and someone who recently edited my essay said that there should be some sort of struggle that I overcome or more tension present in my essay. Do you agree that there needs to be tension in the application essay? Should I change my essay topic?</p>
<p>No, there does not have to be any adversity! I think the point of the essay is to reveal to the college who you are. I believe that a good approach would be to show who you were, and tell the story of how you became who you are, whether that be through something big such as trials and tribulations, doing community service, or finding your passion or something small.
So, regarding your essay, I suppose it would be about what moment or event exactly made you a more tolerant person, not just your heritage as a whole. Just like the scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.</p>
<p>There needs to be change of some kind.
This can come in the form of conflict, a personal discovery, etc. Interpret it as liberally as you want, but I don’t want to read a static essay that’s purely descriptive.</p>