<p>so im working on an essay to apply for Amherst College. could someone help me with interpreting this quote??
"Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted." - by William Hastie</p>
<p>helping me out would be great..</p>
<p>Just because something is difficult does not mean it will be impossible. Doing something difficult much more satisfying when completed because of the things you had to do to get there.</p>
<p>^^not that hard to interpret. Pick something that was hard for you to do, but was really satisfying in the end because you worked hard doing it.</p>
<p>Don't forget the essay is supposed to be about YOU not really a critique of the prompt.</p>
<p>this is a little silly. The essay is suppose to come from you, not from help you got from complete strangers on a college website. If you're applying to Amherst, you should be able to interpret that quote.</p>
<p>ok sorry. i got my own interpretation . i think i meant to ask how i could write a lot on it. i was planning on writing on what i think it means and connecting it with one of my experiences. should i write something else in the essay?</p>
<p>Use the essay prompt as a way to show the committee something about who you are, what inspires you, what makes you tick. They are reading it to get to know you and see how you think. They don't do in-person interviews at Amherst College, so they really spend all their time reading these, hoping to "meet" you this way. </p>
<p>Imagine that the reader is trying to get to know you a bit better by reading your essay. By the end of your essay, have you revealed something about yourself? Will they know you a bit better; what inspires you, challenges you, and how you solve problems that come your way in life? If not, keep working on the essay so it does that. </p>
<p>It's your chance to show them who you are. Open up and don't be afraid to be personal. Start by writing in your own voice and sound like yourself; then polish it for excellent grammar and spelling. </p>
<p>Bad: "My greatest challenge was when I broke my leg. It hurt a lot, but I toughed it out."</p>
<p>Better: "Before I broke my leg, I believed that healing was only a physical process of tissues knitting back together. I am an avid student of biology, so I could imagine the healing at a cellular level. </p>
<p>A year later, following two surgeries and months of tedious physical therapy, I discovered the importance of human encouragement, psychology, and motivation to heal the human body. There was a particular physical therapist who..." </p>
<p>It sounds as though you are not sure how to extend your personal experiences into longer paragraphs. Some people just tell a story very simply, but if you reach inside and try to get the deeper meaning from your personal incident, it will work and tell something about you to the committee.</p>
<p>Also remember that a good story has an "arc" in which you are not the same in the beginning as at the end of your story. The reader will follow that arc with you, but you have to make sure your perosnal story has a beginning, middle and end. If it's about a challenge, you are not the same person by the end of the story. Make sure the reader can follow how you changed. Take them with you on the journey as you retell it.</p>
<p>Good luck</p>