<p>I'm done with my essays for the UC application, but my response for question three just isn't satisfying me. I'm having a lot of trouble encapsulating these external circumstances into a 200-word (!!) essay without sounding immature or whiny.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, the circumstances: my grandfather (who lives with us) has Alzheimer's and had several strokes which removed his ability to speak more than a few words very slowly; my mother has a rare form of colitis (I know, aren't all the diseases "rare form"?) that can be life threatening if she's stressed too much -- she's the primary caretaker; my father travels for work and is often gone for months at a time.</p>
<p>None of these are excuses. These are just circumstances that do sometimes complicate my ability to focus on academics/work. Most importantly, they affected my performance last fall in my classes (I earned two B's, a C+ and (oddly) an A) and were a major factor in me leaving UCSC to go to a community college near home.</p>
<p>Any advice on how to approach this subject?</p>