So the topic I think I’m gonna do is this one:
Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
I wanted to talk about the time in 9th grade when my brother was admitted to a mental hospital for a few weeks after hitting my dad and hurting himself and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
I wanted to discuss how because of this situation how I’ve matured because as a result, my dad focused a lot on my brother (who was like 24 at the time) and I had to grow very independent and start cooking for myself and taking care of the house etc. I learned to start looking over my grades by myself and not relying on my parents. I’ve also learned life lessons like how to be patient with people (like my brother) and other stuff.
Is this an iffy thing to write about? I’m going to write mostly about what I learned from the situation not about the situation.
Is it worth mentioning that my brother has abused me and the entire situation has resulted in me having general anxiety and panic attacks or no?
and by the way my mom moved out in 9th grade as well so that also resulted in me growing very independent since my dad works pretty much from 7 am to 7 pm.
I am sorry that you grew up with an abusive, mentally ill sibling. I think that you could write a very good essay about learning to be empathetic and how to handle difficult situations with grace. I wouldn’t talk about being abused or traumatized because your brother is a victim here, too, of mental illness. I am certain that he did not choose to develop schizophrenia. On a lesser scale, my daughter wrote about how growing up with a dyslexic father, one brother with Asperger’s, one with ODD/anxiety and 2 with dyslexia led her to want to become a special ed teacher. The subject is slightly different but the context is the same - how did the situation in which you found yourself help you grow and give you focus.
I think it could make a great topic for your essay as long as you focus on you and not your brother or your dad. Make sure the bulk of your essay discusses how the experience has affected you and how it continues to shape your outlook on life (and your post certainly sounds like you plan to do this already).
The general advice of posters on this website is that you shouldn’t mention mental illness because colleges don’t want to accept students who are considered “at risk.” I’m not sure how true this advice is, but it is something to consider. Although the stigma surround mental illness sucks, you unfortunately do need to show colleges that you are ready for the stress/rigor of college. Again, I’m not sure how true this all is, but it does seem like you could craft a great essay without mentioning the resulting mental illness of your family’s situation.
This is the key if you choose to write about something like that. The facts of the story should be the smallest part of the essay: not what it was like then, but specifically what you bring to how you shape your future.
I agree with other posters – that the topic would be fine as long as you keep the focus on how your brother’s illness and your family dynamics in general impacted you.
What did you learn from this about yourself ? How did it make you who you are and how has it influenced who you want to be? The adcoms are admitting you and want to know about you as a person. If your essay helps them with that, you’ve done a good job.