That’s what I keep hearing. Express ‘passion’. But how? You could just say you love something, but that could be a total lie. Sure, you can show it in the number of volunteer hours or spending a lot of time on it, but isn’t that done every day by people solely for the sake of showing ‘passion’, to the point that it’s dismissed by admissions officers every time they see it?
So that leaves the essay to show your love of a certain activity. But really, what do you say when trying to express this?
I think this whole idea of showing passion is over rated. Adcoms can see your passion in your list of ECs and courses. Your don’t need to repeat what is already obvious. Instead a great essay can be a small moment in time. If you have a passion (piano, swimming, coaching 6 year olds) think of a story from your years of participating. Avoid cliches like winning the big meet or the super music award. Instead concentrate on…
That time when your piano teacher got mad at you.
That time when you organized a fundraiser to help a swim teammate who lost their house in a fire.
That time when one of your 6 year old got into fight with another 6 year old and how you had to hold them apart and then deal with their parents.
If you can complete the sentence, “Remember that time when…” You might find a way of showing passion rather than telling about it. Little events make great essays.
i thought of it as finding reasons why I enjoyed doing a particular activity. what particular aspects do you like about the activity?