Should my application essay topic be passion-focused or leadership-focused?
Would admission officers prefer an essay about one of my passions/skills or an essay about a volunteer experience I had and the lessons I learned from it? I have written two essays based on Common App essay prompts: one about my love of learning languages, a specific encounter with a bilingual that influenced me, and how I plan to put my skills to use in college; and one about a hard experience as a special-needs camp counselor and the lessons I've learned from it that apply to my life. I really prefer the one about my passion for language because I feel like it does a better job of showing readers my true personality and my willingness to learn. I haven't really done much leadership beyond the special needs camp, so I feel like I'm lying when I write about myself in that way. But I've heard that admission officers prefer essays that demonstrate commitment, leadership, overcoming challenges, etc. Do admission officers really want to hear about a character-building experience, or would writing about a passion be just as acceptable?
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Personally I'm biased to the idea about passion. It still showcases many desirable traits about you. What I get from that is that you're self motivated and put your ideas into action. Maybe there's also a character building experience in that passion? A time you were having a hard time with the language but thinking back to that interaction helped you persevere, maybe? Obviously don't write about that if it hasn't happened, but that interaction seems to be very meaningful to you.
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That makes sense, and maybe there could be some content in that topic that shows my character. But it doesn’t talk about a hard time that language got me through or any kind of challenge I’ve overcome, except for that of under appreciating language. I still don’t know whether people (namely in admission) want to hear my language apathy-to-passion-to-action story or the general failure-to-lesson-to-application story.