Does this topic work for this prompt?

College Essays
1

What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?

This is one of the UVA school specific prompts, and I want to write about a song that my mother used to play on the piano all the time when I was a kid (she still does now too). I want to mention how the song helped to bring me out of my shell, and it fostered the more free spirited, creative side of myself. In addition, it sparked my interest in music and inspired me to start playing the piano.

However, I don’t know if these things qualify as surprising, unsettling, or challenging me… I think challenge or possibly surprise would be the closest but is this too far of a stretch?

2

“how the song helped to bring me out of my shell, and it fostered the more free spirited, creative side of myself.”

Not bad. Remember, “Show, not just tell.” That partly means how this led you to take on new experiences or challenges, have more impact, engage more. Not just a statement that you changed. This should really be about high school, usually the last few years, not a much younger age. They’re looking at you now. And not so much about Mom.

Doesn’t have to be unsettling. Imo, this is a form of a Why Us. They want to see that what you show reflects what they like to see in candidates, the attributes. Think about it as “growth” and expansion, not literally “upset.”