<p>Hi everyone. I'm starting to get to work on my common app essay and I think I have a good idea for one of the prompts, but friends have been telling me not to do it. The prompt I'm going with is "Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?". </p>
<p>There is a story from my junior year when two kids in my class decided to draw on the windows of one of the teacher's car on her birthday (she is a young and relaxed teacher who wouldn't have cared too much). One of my friends decided to be in a picture of them standing next to the car, although he didn't participate in the crime. The principal that year was new, and she decided to suspend all three of them after seeing the picture on Facebook (how she found it, I have no clue). I decided that I would go to talk to the principal because I thought it was unfair to ruin my friends record and throw him off track at school for something he didn't do. I was basically challenging the belief that students can be punished without being heard out. After a long conversation with my principal she told me she would reconsider and later I found out she decided to not suspend my friend. After this event, me and the new principal became "friends" in a way and she jokingly refers to me as "the lawyer" sometimes.</p>
<p>So that is basically it. I can make it sound A LOT better in an essay (TRUST ME, I have good writing skills). The problem is that some friends have told me that an admissions office might think that I associate with "bad people". Do you guys think it's a bad idea for this prompt or bad idea in general? Thanks in advance.</p>