Would it be a bad idea to discuss my stage fright in my essay?

[justina11]

<p>This would be a pivotal point in the essay. I want to discuss my fears of public speaking and how I hope to overcome these fears at a particular college (through comedy clubs and the like).</p>

<p>I think this topic would make for a pretty effective essay, but I worry that admissions officers would only frown on applicants who aren't entirely comfortable in their skin. What do you think?</p>

[Yeti_Crab]

<p>You could make it into a bad essay, or into a great essay. Of course admissions officers (good ones, anyway) won’t immediately be turned off simply because you’re talking about your weakness… it’s all about what you’ve done to overcome it. From what you’ve got here, I would advise against it though. You sound as if you’re going to talk about how you HOPE to overcome your fear, instead of what you’ve DONE to overcome your fear. If you really want to impress them, talk about what you’ve already done to overcome your fear instead of what you might do if they maybe accept you.</p>

[digmedia]

<p>^___ Yeti Crab is exactly right. But how do you go about writing it if you HOPE to change? IMAGINE the scenario where it’s overcome, SHOWING how you are (in this vision) a stronger person.</p>

<p>Here is some advice on how to write your essay: Show, don’t tell!!! How do you do that? You create a “scene” like a movie script, to show you at an important point along your path to who you are now (or will be). And, like a movie, it is very important to show a “story arc” (sometimes called character development - and the main character is YOU). Your brief description above of what you want to write about contains that character development. And it is important to show a stronger, more confident YOU at the end of the essay. </p>

<p>You will notice in the best movies that to overcome an external problem, issue, nemesis, etc, the main character must first overcome some character flaw to enable him/her to overcome the bigger problem. What to overcome (the external issue) is the “story” . . . BUT the HEART of the story is the overcoming the internal challenge. This is what gives the story emotion, and leaves the viewer loving the protagonist.</p>

<p>Here is an example from the book Concise Advice: Jump-Starting Your College Applications Essays:

*</p>

<p>It was hot backstage, and we all were a little sweaty. Actors were busy with heavy period costumes and stage make-up, several spraying gray into their hair to make themselves look older than the students they were. The sounds and smells of preparation tinged the air and added to the excitement of the evening. The young woman playing Petra, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Stockman in Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People,” came to me, Already in her long brown dress, she was holding a sizable pillow and some safety pins. She held out the pillow - a lumpy mass with a flowered pillowcase - for me to take. “Quick,” she said, with a conspiratorial grin, “help me pin this under my skirt.” I didn’t at first realize what she wanted me to do…</p>

<p>It was the final dress rehearsal before opening night and the cast had the play down pat. The first full dress had gone so well that a series of pranks and minor line changes had been planned as practical jokes on the director.</p>

<p>Even though I was enlisted as a stagehand, this was also my first acting gig. I was an extra in the crowd scene, the one who throws a stone shattering a glass window pane. How had I been convinced to go onto the stage? I thought every eye would focus on my moment, the rock would miss its mark, and reviewers would surely point out that the play would have been a great success “except for one crowd member who singlehandedly sabotaged the night.”</p>

<p>I watched from just off-stage as Petra, wrapped in a cloak and hat and holding a bundle of books, awaited her initial entrance in Act I. On cue, she walked onto the set as her father said the line, “Good evening, Petra. Come along.”</p>

<p>Petra leaned over to settle her books onto a chair. She stood up, placed her hat on a rack, and began to remove her cloak abd recite her lines. “And you have all been sitting here enjoying yourselves,” she said, “while I have been out being very busy.” The cloak dropped to the floor, revealing a very “pregnant” Petra!</p>

<p>The director’s face froze into place, but no one could continue with the play. Laughter overtook us all, cast and crew. And at that moment, all of my nervousness melted away and was replaced by a sheer sense of fun. In a later scene, throwing the rock through the window went perfectly, just an extension of the joy of the evening. Being on stage wasn’t so bad after all.</p>

<p>I went on to bigger and better roles, each helping reinforce the fact that I was most at home in the theater, but the feeling was fed by the camaraderie of the people who all work together to get from a first reading to opening night.</p>

<p>That dress rehearsal was the igniting of a passion that grew, flame-like, starting with that lumpy pillow in the flower print pillowcase.*

</p>

[phantombrain]

<p>Depends… </p>

<p>Maybe, if you can show how you’ve made efforts to overcome; or how it makes you stronger. </p>

<p>Or how experiences have inspired you. </p>

<p>I.e. want to study psychology to understand stage fright behavior to help both others and myself. </p>

<p>Or, want to study business to gather tools to overcome stage fright and emerge as top-dollar entrepreneur.</p>

[msmith13]

<p>Are you majoring in public speaking or something that will require you to use public speaking a lot in your career? Even if you are, I think that admissions counselors will like that you are trying to improve yourself and get over your fears (particularly public speaking, which is something many people fear).</p>

<p>Make sure that you are clear in your objectives for overcoming the fear. Explain how your college experience will help you overcome this fear, and how all of this will group together to help you achieve success in the career field you want to go into. </p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>