<p>I'm having difficulty deciding how I should answer prompt #2: "Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?"
I wanted to write about an abusive relationship I was in from the beginning of my sophomore year to the middle of junior year. It took a toll on my GPA and mental health, and I want to show how this experience has helped me overcome a lot and made me a stronger person. I'm second guessing this idea because I think it may be too dark, but it's also something I'm very proud of overcoming. I have other topics in mind that would be more "light" but I don't think they'd do as good a job of describing my situation. So do you guys think I should stick with my original idea or try something not so depressing?</p>
<p>I’d personally be a bit wary about putting anything that reflects on any mental stability downfalls in my life. While this experience has undoubtedly changed you, it may gave the admission department second guesses, you know? Afterall, you’re trying to “sell” yourself to the universities.
Though, if you truly want to stick to that topic, it’s fine, as it seems like it did have a certain impact on your life. I would just advise you to leave out the mental health part and really focus on how this relationship changed some of your perspectives about trust/independence/etc…
Admittedly, I’m not too creative with these kinds of ideas, so I can’t be too much of use. Maybe you can write a rough draft, and see how it comes out?</p>
<p>It’s very easy to bog the essay down in the dark stuff and then have a very brief, generalized “I’m all better now” section that isn’t really convincing. Choose this topic only if you can put a big emphasis (half the essay or so) on the way you overcame the dark stuff.</p>
<p>I’d say choose the thing you genuinely feel most strongly about, and which is also distinctive, which this is. Do bear in mind that this is a personal essay for a quasi-professional context, which means boundaries are a tricky thing to navigate. Admissions officers might feel uncomfortable reading very graphic depictions of abuse of a minor, especially if any of the abuse was sexual in nature. I do not at all mean to imply that abuse is something shameful that should be hidden, just that you should try to imagine that your normal daily routine was: get up, go to work, and read about the worst things that ever happened to a probably-underage stranger. But I think you have absolutely every right to be proud of yourself and that this has the potential to be a very strong essay. </p>