<li><p>Does the essay have to be the most important thing that happened to you? For me, the most important thing that happened is kind of cliched and kinda hard to truly express. Could the essay be about something that wasn’t as significant but equally interesting?</p></li>
<li><p>Could I use this year’s UVA essay topic as a “topic of your choice” for freshman application to college for next year? Would admissions officers recognize the topic and assume that I was just skirting having to write one of the suggested topics?</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>No. Yes.</p></li>
<li><p>If you are allowed "topic of choice" then you can choose the topic. No one will hold your choice against you.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>For useful advice from UVa about writing college essays, see </p>