<p>Your essay should only be about overcoming this obstacle if you really overcame it, rather than simply learning to deal with it. Your Sophomore year was lousy because you were dealing with a death in the family. What did you learn from the experience? If you learned that you needed time to process what happened, don’t write that essay. If you learned HOW to manage your time and keep “living” while dealing with such stress in your life, it might make for a good essay. If you get into Stanford, and there is another death in your immediate family while you are there, will this experience have made you better prepared to deal with it, or will you have another bad year? If you learned new stills that would help you cope with such a situation, that might make a good essay. </p>
<p>Otherwise, leave it to the those writing your recommendations to mention it.</p>