College Essay
I'm trying to think ahead about my essay for next year but I'm completely stumped. People in my life have told me I can write about things that I've struggled with in my life but I'm finding it hard to figure out how I'd write about them. I've struggled with learning disabilities (ADHD and autism), the death of my dad at 13, and mental health problems. The issue is I feel like I got over all these struggles fairly easily. My dads death for example, sure it was tragic but I got over it within a few months. Or my disabilities, I've had lots of help throughout my life both at school and at home in order to succeed despite them. So how could I write about how these things affected me if they didn't affect me in the typical way? Maybe I don't write about them at all?
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3 answers
Even if you feel like you got through your dad’s death fairly quickly, you could still write about how you experienced those months and how you processed grief in your own way. The same goes for your ADHD and autism—you’ve had a lot of support, and that could actually be part of the story: how having structure and help shaped your independence and self-advocacy. You don’t necessarily need a story where something completely changed you in a dramatic way. It could also be about how your life has been shaped by learning to adapt and work within change and support systems. Colleges want to hear about what affected you and what makes you, you and this would be something you should write about
Maybe write about something or someone that was with you through it all.
Just write what you think they want to hear, and tie in your personal experiences and how they built you and how they make you who you are.
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