What is the best way to approach this essay prompt?

<p>The prompt is for Emerson's Honors Application:</p>

<p>"Wallace Bacon, a recipient of an honorary doctorate from Emerson College in 1975, wrote that the liberal arts, or humanities, “are concerned with the question of what makes life worth living. And that question concerns not simply oneself but others. The humanities must help us learn who we are; they must help us learn the otherness of others.”</p>

<p>In this light, describe an encounter with someone or something different—an “other” which revealed to you your sense of self and your relation to humanity. This encounter may involve a person, place, culture, or text (book, speech, film, play, etc.)."</p>

<p>My commonapp essay was already about how the diversity in my community has influenced me, so I already used up most of the anecdotes I have about my community. I'm really confused on how to approach this. </p>

<p>I had two ideas:
1. Talk about a trip I took to Alaska, and about how many of the Inuit villages would hunt whales but he whale would belong to the whole village equally, not the person who caught it. Relate it to materialism and the consumer culture that is apparent in other parts of the world.
2. Write it on my experience with a website called Fictionpress, were you post stories that you write for feedback and read others', on how in my school I was a big fish in a small pond and became over-confident, but at the same time I wouldn't show anyone what I would write, etc. </p>

<p>I feel like neither of this are actually responding the question. Any thoughts?</p>

<p>Or I could take about living in a third-world country, the Dominican Republic, in which there are 15-year-old girls that sell their bodies for money and 50-year-old men that don’t know how to read. I’m scared of writing about this because I don’t know how to make it so that it doesn’t sound preachy.</p>

<p>I love the Alaska essay topic! I would definitely pick that over the others.</p>

<p>@becksadoodles
It’s not too typical-travel-essay-that-bores-admission-officers?</p>

<p>No, just make sure to focus on the specific story/lesson, not “oh wow we are so different but alike on the inside” :p</p>