Writing about a pre-high school accomplishment? Is this too clich

College Essays
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<p>I'm sure many of you are, like me, struggling to finish all of your applications over the next few days. Pitzer's essay has been particularly challenging. I have an "accomplishment" that I think would suit prompt #2: "Tell us about an accomplishment of yours. How did you use one or more of our core values to reach your goal?" (social responsibility, intercultural understanding, interdisciplinary learning, student engagement, environmental sustainability).</p>

<p>But my question is, if this accomplishment was before high school, can I still write about it? In 8th grade, I basically started a community service project (social responsibility) that raised a lot of money to purchase a cow for every family in this village in Kenya, where I later travelled that summer (intercultural understanding). A dual purpose of the project was to get special education students involved in something (student engagement), so when I would go on fundraising trips to other schools, to expos, on the radio, etc., three special education kids were working with me. </p>

<p>In addition to being concerned about the fact that this was before high school, I feel like this is a bit clich</p>

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<p>I think they won’t mind. It’s a mature achievement, and you did it.</p>

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<p>is it an acceptable topic?</p>

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<p>As long as you can justify to your self its worth, meaning, and effectivity at making your point then they will likely “accept” it as well and perhaps, embrace it. However, a word of advice: Try not to allow your achievements to be your argument. It is usually your commentary, the way you present the achievement, and for what purpose your are telling the reader of your achievement that makes the writing galvanizing. </p>

<p>I reeeeaalllly hope that I have not confused you further. good luck, brother</p>

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<p>I think that should be fine, it sounds like a great topic!</p>