<p>I have a speech impediment that I've been dealing with all my life. People usually don't believe me when I say I do but I do get called out a lot on the fact that I can't pronounce things right. It hasn't really affected my social life but it has affected the way I feel about myself. How can I write an essay talking about this problem without sounding depressing. </p>
<p><em>SHORTENING</em> how can I write about my speech problem without sounding like a chump </p>
<p>And sorry I post so much, I just my writing to improve.</p>
<p>Is this for the common ap? Do you really want to write about it? Will writing about this make the readers enthusiastic about you as a student? If any of these answers is no, find something else to write about that you are enthusiastic about.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t want to hear about all the depressing things you’ve had to deal with in your life. They want to hear how you have overcome those challenges, they want to know that you’ve become a better person despite all the adversity. I’m stealing this from “Hunt”, who posted the below in another thread today:</p>
<p>Thanks guys!
And @gibby would something along the lines of: “I have a speech impediment but I hold a leadership role which involves a lot of talking” work?</p>
<p>Yes AAA, if you have overcome such an impediment and excelled in spite of it, then that will make an excellent essay.</p>
<p>However, I don’t think it is enough to say that you merely press through whatever you have to say in this position, it would be optimal if you could describe in detail the ways that you have learned to be a far more effective communicator BECAUSE of this impediment.</p>
<p>Ex. You describe how this impediment has given you strong incentive to learn how to make careful selection of your words, simultaneously minimizing the noticeable effects it has on your speech and allowing you to convey your message in a concise and powerful way, commanding the attention of others.</p>
<p>I don’t know your exact situation, but I’m sure you’ll devise something genius. Good luck.</p>
<p>@AAAcollege: Sure, it might work. Along the lines of “Hunt’s” quote in Post #3, I could envision an award winning Speech & Debate team member who rose to the top despite having a speech impediment – sort of like Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech.” That would be a wonderful essay! (It WAS a great movie!)</p>
<p>I don’t know. This still doesn’t sound like an interesting essay topic to me. Overcoming an impediment like this is commendable, but is it really that interesting? Overcoming and winning something – hasn’t this been done again and again? I would dig deeper for a topic, unless you can think of some creative angle you haven’t mentioned.</p>
<p>If I read energia’s example above, I would throw it out as BS talk. Sounds like a resume, not like a personal essay.</p>
<p>It is very difficult for a young person to know how something has affected them. You might hash this over with an adult who cares about you to get some ideas of how to make your idea work. You might be able to make it somewhat humorous by talking about some words you struggle with or about being misunderstood. It is not funny on its face, but there may be some humor looking back. Struggling gives people great compassion in many cases. Good luck. I think it is a workable topic, but you need to pinpoint how it makes you better.</p>
<p>Agree with gibby, could be good, maybe inspirational. But remember, it’s going to need “show, not tell.” Swift and with a good hand. You want the adcoms to get a paragraph in and think, good kid. Not, oh, poor dear.</p>
<p>affected the way I feel about myself<br>
Take some time now to rethink how you feel about yourself. Glass at least half full.</p>
<p>Just a tip: “I have a speech impediment but I hold a leadership role which involves a lot of talking” is “telling.” How can you “show” you don’t hold yourself back?</p>
<p>I think I’m with redpoint. If the prompt is to describe an event or situation that challenged you…or made you a stronger person…I think it would be super. But for an open/free write essay, I think it’s been done. Alot.</p>
<p>Did you consider that that is because it’s a 50 word summary, not a 500 word essay?</p>
<p>The actual essay would provide a narrative that would give insight into not only how the impediment initially brought AAA down, but the specific ways in which he strengthened himself because of it. You can get creative with it, do some internal monologue, some stream of consciousness writing, Faulkner style (maybe a little more intelligible). There are ways to make this an interesting and compelling read, but that won’t happen if you write the essay like everyone else writes their essays about challenges.</p>
<p>Insofar as linguistic thought is a massive part of our cognitive processes, the adaptations made for an impediment could very well change the way that a person thinks about everything.</p>
<p>EDIT: If you’re going to use it, use it for prompt 1, and obviously take the angle that this impediment changed how you think, and therefore, who you are.</p>
<p>AAAcollege will have to examine how he has actually handled his speech impediment. If you don’t have some inspiring life material to work with, it’s not really possible to make the essay inspiring. However, if you have handled it well at all, there are several ways I can think of to make this essay creative and original.</p>
<p>If you think that how you’ve adapted is less than special, then don’t write about it, but a defeatist attitude toward essay writing is not going to result in inspiring work. Good luck with it all.</p>
<p>It’s a college app essay, not a writing assignment of the sort in hs. It should engage the reader, not seek to educate, reveal great life truths, philosophize or get experimental beyond the writer’s abilities.</p>
<p>And, the reason the challenge prompt is popular is because it is a very effective way to communicate how one thinks, acts, reacts and, hopefully, evolves. </p>
<p>There are some kids who can write impressive intellectual pieces, but that requires a high level of skill that isn’t often honed in high school. Or by 17.</p>
<p>You can write a nice tale that reveals the personal qualities and strengths adcoms need to see. Show, not tell.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input everybody! I see how it can be a basic story but I’m going to try and make it sound like happy maybe even inspirational. I’ll start a new thread asking if anyone would like to read the rough draft after I’m finished. </p>
<p>@energia I’m applying to mainly Florida schools like UF FSU UCF</p>