I’m writing about how my mother suffered mental health issues and how this effected my upbringing. I explain how I was not able to attend school or interact with other children due to my mother’s paranoia. This is my reason for wanting to pursue a career where I can ease the suffering of such people.
Is this risky?
It all depends on how you present your challenge. If you blame your mother, for example, “due to my mother’s paranoia, I had no friends”, I don’t think this would be a successful essay. If you talk about how you have overcome challenges-such as struggling with making friends, and then finding ways to overcome that struggle- specifically, then relate them back to your mother’s troubles, that may be more successful.
I would be very careful with this choice, though. Mothers can have a lot of baggage for not only the author, but the person reading the essay.
Thanks for the advice. I make it clear how I felt powerless to my mother’s disease and wished I could help her. I love my mother and wish the best for her. The essay is not entirely focused on her, though. I talk about mental illness in general and how we should educate the public on its treatment. I plan on ending my essay with my career goals and how I will devote my life to help those that suffered such as my mother.
I think it could be well-written. Make sure you focus on you, and how it has affected you, and how you plan to move forward (which it seems like you have a plan for) - instead of focusing on your mom and her actions.
If you’ve done any work/volunteering with relevant organizations, that might be a good thing to mention?
I haven’t volunteered for anything specific to mental health, but I plan on doing so during my undergraduate years. Thank you for your thoughts, though. I make sure to discuss my mother and her health as the stem, the starting point for my aspirations. It is definitely focused on me and my goals to devote my life to mental health.