Volunteering Abroad. Good or bad?

College Essays
1

<p>Hey I know that writing a college essay about a trip or vacation is cliche and has been used by many students. Colleges also see volunteering abroad as privileges that only wealthy people can afford.</p>

<p>However, I volunteered for Red Cross this summer overseas in another country, all expenses paid except for the plane ticket. Over the course of two weeks, I taught children English, worked with autistic patients and experienced new cultures. This trip made me realize that the world has so much to offer and how little I've experienced.</p>

<p>Would this be a good essay topic to write about?</p>

<p>The prompt is: Please write a concise narrative in which you describe a meaningful event, experience or accomplishment in your life and how it will affect your college experience or your contribution. Reflect on your ideas about student responsibility, academic integrity, campus citizenship or a call to service.</p>

2

<p>To me this is similar to the “big win” topic…should you write about the time you won some big event/honor/trophy, or is that just bragging about an EC that is already documented?</p>

<p>I think as long as the trip is just the setting its ok. In other words, the essay isnt about your trip, its about some specific event or thing you learned. It just happened to take place in a foreign country. </p>

<p>I have a similar experience in a volunteer trip to Ecuador. What I would really avoid is something I call the summer vacation syndrome. In 7th grade the first assignment was to write about something you did over the summer, and inevitably these became some boring narrative of your summer vacation, with well to do kids bragging about where they got to go. In the end they were all just boring stories. The place you go isnt what is interesting, its how you describe it that makes it a story worth reading.</p>