Is this topic too cliche?

I was thinking that I could write about my experience at a summer camp/conference this past summer. It would be about an activity that lasted about 15 mins, but it really opened my eyes to all the different opinions and views people have(especially controversial topics). I wasn’t really sure if it would be too cliche because it is about my experiences at a summer camp. Also, I want to show my personal traits and not explicitly state them in the essay. If anyone has any tips on how I could do this, your help would be appreciated.

Hm, I think it depends on how you portray it. One of the things I wrote about in a supplemental essay was how every morning before orchestra my friends and I would sit around and just bs about different topics – politics, religion, science, social issues, etc. It was one of my favorite things in high school and it was cool to get to hear different perspectives on the same issues from all my friends and hear how their experiences changed their views. I didn’t make it out to be that we were trying to solve the world’s issues, we were just a bunch of teenagers who wanted to have interesting discussions and expand our views.

I am not sure if you could write an entire Common App essay about something as short as a 15 minute activity, but if it was truly eye-opening in a meaningful way and impacted your life in a tangible way, I think it could be a good topic. However, the operative word here is tangible – if you didn’t get some call to action or vocation from this experience, it’s more just about something cool that you learned that changed your view than it is about something that fundamentally shaped who you are. I think the Common App should be about how you developed as a person or something that’s so integral to who you are that your application would simply be incomplete without it. If you have a draft or something though, I’d be willing to read it and tell you what I think.

@micmatt513 Thanks for replying so quickly! I agree that it will be difficult to write about a 15 min period of time. I wouldn’t say that the experience is so integral to me that my application would be incomplete without it, but I was thinking that I would write it to fit the prompt about the transition from childhood to adulthood. As for the tangible part of it, I was thinking that I would connect it to my desire to be around outspoken people(you don’t get a lot of kids like that in high school). Lastly, I’ve just started writing about this topic but I would be happy to share it with you when I’m done. Thanks!

My son has been working on prompt #4. He had an amazing summer job experience that made him face an ethical dilemma. His essay describes what it was and how he solved it in his own mind. One thing you rising Seniors don’t have a lot of are life experiences. It would be much easier for an adult to develop a response to these prompts. I don’t think it matters that it was 15 minutes. There shouldn’t be a time line on something that impacts you in a positive or negative way. The impact is what matters. Best of luck!!!

Any other opinions?