<p>I'm in the process of figuring out just what to say for my Amherst supplemental, and the last option ("Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted.") is the only one that brings to mind something I would consider college-essay worthy. The only problem is that at first glance it sounds quite negative and I'm afraid it would make the admissions person reject me outright.</p>
<p>The basic gist of it is as follows:</p>
<p><strong>Begin Gist</strong></p>
<p>I had a horrible time in elementary school. Picked on, excluded and ostracized from my peers (in particular by two boys), I became socially deficient. When I came to my current school in the sixth grade, the vastly different environment, the activities I participated in and the people I befrended allowed me to grow within myself and expand to the point where I am now a fully integrated part of the fabric of the community. What's more, when one of the two boys joined my school in seventh grade, I at first receeded, but have now progressed such that, while I wouldn't call us friends, I have been able to forgive him and we often work together to advance each other's interests in our shared debate event. </p>
<p>I once dreaded going to school in the morning. It is now something I look foreward to. The joy I feel when in the company of my friends is difficult to articulate, but nonetheless profound. Given where I have come from, I know the value of friendship, the value of acceptance by one's community, perhaps better than those who have not been through what I have. My school has helped me change myself forever, and given my perspective I will carry it with me, in some form, for the rest of my life.</p>
<p><strong>End Gist</strong></p>
<p>While of course I will have to trim a good deal off in order to make it 500 words, I am still afraid that my descriptions of what I went through while in elementary school will turn the reader off to my application. I actually tried to write something similar to this for my Middlebury supplement, but when I read it to my parents it became clear that it was far too negative and would hurt my chances of acceptance. In that essay, the negative back story took up about a page and a half. For the Amherst essay, I would try to cut it down to two paragraphs or so.</p>
<p>The question still remains: is it OK to be negative in order to expose a larger positive? Or is any negativity a turn off to be avoided at all costs?</p>