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How to Write the “Overcoming Challenges” Essay + Examples

What’s covered:.

What is the Overcoming Challenges Essay?
Real Overcoming Challenges Essay Prompts
How to Choose a Topic
Writing Tips

Overcoming Challenges Essay Examples

Where to Get Your Essay Edited

While any college essay can be intimidating, the Overcoming Challenges prompt often worries students the most. Those students who’ve been lucky enough not to experience trauma tend to assume they have nothing worth saying. On the other hand, students who’ve overcome larger obstacles may be hesitant to talk about them.

Regardless of your particular circumstances, there are steps you can take to make the essay writing process simpler. Here are our top tips for writing the overcoming challenges essay successfully.

What is the “Overcoming Challenges” Essay?

The overcoming challenges prompt shows up frequently in both main application essays (like the Common App) and supplemental essays. Because supplemental essays allow students to provide schools with additional information, applicants should be sure that the subject matter they choose to write about differs from what’s in their main essay.

Students often assume the overcoming challenges essay requires them to detail past traumas. While you can certainly write about an experience that’s had a profound effect on your life, it’s important to remember that colleges aren’t evaluating students based on the seriousness of the obstacle they overcame.

On the contrary, the goal of this essay is to show admissions officers that you have the intelligence and fortitude to handle any challenges that come your way. After all, college serves as an introduction to adult life, and schools want to know that the students they admit are up to the task.

Real “Overcoming Challenges” Essay Prompts

To help you understand what the “Overcoming Challenges” essay looks like, here are a couple sample prompts.

Currently, the Common Application asks students to answer the following prompt in 650 words or less:

“The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?”

For the past several years, MIT has prompted students to write 200 to 250 words on the following:

“Tell us about the most significant challenge you’ve faced or something important that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?”

In both cases, the prompts explicitly ask for your response to the challenge. The event itself isn’t as important as how it pushed you to grow.

How to Choose a Topic for an Essay on Overcoming Challenges

When it comes to finding the best topic for your overcoming challenges essays, there’s no right answer. The word “challenge” is ambiguous and could be used to reference a wide range of situations from prevailing over a bully to getting over your lifelong stage fright to appear in a school musical. Here are some suggestions to keep in mind when selecting an essay subject.

1. Avoid trivial or common topics

While there aren’t many hard-and-fast rules for choosing an essay topic, students should avoid overdone topics.

These include:

Working hard in a challenging class
Overcoming a sports injury
Moving schools or immigrating to the US
Tragedy (divorce, death, abuse)

Admissions officers have read numerous essays on the subject, so it’s harder for you to stand out (see our full list of cliché college essay topics to avoid ). If events like these were truly formative to you, you can still choose to write about them, but you’ll need to be as personal as possible.

It’s also ideal if you have a less traditional storyline for a cliché topic; for example, if your sports injury led you to discover a new passion, that would be a more unique story than detailing how you overcame your injury and got back in the game.

Similarly, students may not want to write about an obstacle that admissions committees could perceive as low stakes, such as getting a B on a test, or getting into a small fight with a friend. The goal of this essay is to illustrate how you respond to adversity, so the topic you pick should’ve been at least impactful on your personal growth.

2. Pick challenges that demonstrate qualities you want to highlight

Students often mistakenly assume they need to have experienced exceptional circumstances like poverty, an abusive parent, or cancer to write a good essay. The truth is that the best topics will allow you to highlight specific personal qualities and share more about who you are. The essay should be less about the challenge itself, and more about how you responded to it.

Ask yourself what personality traits you want to emphasize, and see what’s missing in your application. Maybe you want to highlight your adaptability, for example, but that isn’t clearly expressed in your application. In this case, you might write about a challenge that put your adaptability to the test, or shaped you to become more adaptable.

Here are some examples of good topics we’ve seen over the years:

Not having a coach for a sports team and becoming one yourself
Helping a parent through a serious health issue
Trying to get the school track dedicated to a coach
Having to switch your Model UN position last-minute

Tips for Writing an Essay About Overcoming Challenges

Once you’ve selected a topic for your essays, it’s time to sit down and write. For best results, make sure your essay focuses on your efforts to tackle an obstacle rather than the problem itself. Additionally, you could avoid essay writing pitfalls by doing the following:

1. Choose an original essay structure

If you want your overcoming challenges essay to attract attention, aim to break away from more traditional structures. Most of these essays start by describing an unsuccessful attempt at a goal and then explain the steps the writer took to master the challenge.

You can stand out by choosing a challenge you’re still working on overcoming, or focus on a mental or emotional challenge that spans multiple activities or events. For example, you might discuss your fear of public speaking and how that impacted your ability to coach your brother’s Little League team and run for Student Council.

You can also choose a challenge that can be narrated in the moment, such as being put on the spot to teach a yoga class. These challenges can make particularly engaging essays, as you get to experience the writer’s thoughts and emotions as they unfold.

Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need to have succeeded in your goal for this essay. Maybe you ran for an election and lost, or maybe you proposed a measure to the school board that wasn’t passed. It’s still possible to write a strong essay about topics like these as long as you focus on your personal growth. In fact, these may make for even stronger essays since they are more unconventional topics.

2. Focus on the internal

When writing about past experiences, you may be tempted to spend too much time describing specific people and events. With an Overcoming Challenges essay though, the goal is to focus on your thoughts and feelings.

For example, rather than detail all the steps you took to become a better public speaker, use the majority of your essay to describe your mental state as you embarked on the journey to achieving your goals. Were you excited, scared, anxious, or hopeful? Don’t be afraid to let the reader in on your innermost emotions and thoughts during this process.

3. Share what you learned

An Overcoming Challenges essay should leave the reader with a clear understanding of what you learned on your journey, be it physical, mental, or emotional. There’s no need to explicitly say “this experience taught me X,” but your essay should at least implicitly share any lessons you learned. This can be done through your actions and in-the-moment reflections. Remember that the goal is to show admissions committees why your experiences make you a great candidate for admission.

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the g arb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire.

Furiously I rubbed the twigs together—rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers. No smoke. The twigs were too young, too sticky-green; I tossed them away with a shower of curses, and began tearing through the underbrush in search of a more flammable collection. My efforts were fruitless. Livid, I bit a rejected twig, determined to prove that the forest had spurned me, offering only young, wet bones that would never burn. But the wood cracked like carrots between my teeth—old, brittle, and bitter. Roaring and nursing my aching palms, I retreated to the tent, where I sulked and awaited the jeers of my family.

Rattling their empty worm cans and reeking of fat fish, my brother and cousins swaggered into the campsite. Immediately, they noticed the minor stick massacre by the fire pit and called to me, their deep voices already sharp with contempt.

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame.

In the tent, I pondered my failure. Was I so dainty? Was I that incapable? I thought of my hands, how calloused and capable they had been, how tender and smooth they had become. It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive. And I’d gotten glasses, having grown horrifically nearsighted; long nights of dim lighting and thick books had done this. I couldn’t remember the last time I had lain down on a hill, barefaced, and seen the stars without having to squint. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to squash him.

Yet, I realized I hadn’t really changed—I had only shifted perspective. I still eagerly explored new worlds, but through poems and prose rather than pastures and puddles. I’d grown to prefer the boom of a bass over that of a bullfrog, learned to coax a different kind of fire from wood, having developed a burn for writing rhymes and scrawling hypotheses.

That night, I stayed up late with my journal and wrote about the spider I had decided not to kill. I had tolerated him just barely, only shrieking when he jumped—it helped to watch him decorate the corners of the tent with his delicate webs, knowing that he couldn’t start fires, either. When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.

This essay is an excellent example because the writer turns an everyday challenge—starting a fire—into an exploration of her identity. The writer was once “a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes,” but has since traded her love of the outdoors for a love of music, writing, and reading.

The story begins in media res , or in the middle of the action, allowing readers to feel as if we’re there with the writer. One of the essay’s biggest strengths is its use of imagery. We can easily visualize the writer’s childhood and the present day. For instance, she states that she “rubbed and rubbed [the twigs] until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers.”

The writing has an extremely literary quality, particularly with its wordplay. The writer reappropriates words and meanings, and even appeals to the senses: “My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame.” She later uses a parallelism to cleverly juxtapose her changed interests: “instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano.”

One of the essay’s main areas of improvement is its overemphasis on the “story” and lack of emphasis on the reflection. The second to last paragraph about changing perspective is crucial to the essay, as it ties the anecdote to larger lessons in the writer’s life. She states that she hasn’t changed, but has only shifted perspective. Yet, we don’t get a good sense of where this realization comes from and how it impacts her life going forward.

The end of the essay offers a satisfying return to the fire imagery, and highlights the writer’s passion—the one thing that has remained constant in her life.

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite.

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin.

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

While the writer didn’t succeed in getting the track dedicated to Coach Stark, their essay is certainly successful in showing their willingness to push themselves and take initiative.

The essay opens with a quote from Coach Stark that later comes full circle at the end of the essay. We learn about Stark’s impact and the motivation for trying to get the track dedicated to him.

One of the biggest areas of improvement in the intro, however, is how the essay tells us Stark’s impact rather than showing us: His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The writer could’ve helped us feel a stronger emotional connection to Stark if they had included examples of Stark’s qualities, rather than explicitly stating them. For example, they could’ve written something like: Stark was the kind of person who would give you gas money if you told him your parents couldn’t afford to pick you up from practice. And he actually did that—several times. At track meets, alumni regularly would come talk to him and tell him how he’d changed their lives. Before Stark, I was ambivalent about running and was on the JV team, but his encouragement motivated me to run longer and harder and eventually make varsity. Because of him, I approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The essay goes on to explain how the writer overcame their apprehension of public speaking, and likens the process of submitting an appeal to the school board to running a race. This metaphor makes the writing more engaging and allows us to feel the student’s emotions.

While the student didn’t ultimately succeed in getting the track dedicated, we learn about their resilience and initiative: I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Overall, this essay is well-done. It demonstrates growth despite failing to meet a goal, which is a unique essay structure. The running metaphor and full-circle intro/ending also elevate the writing in this essay.

Where to Get Your Overcoming Challenges Essay Edited

The Overcoming Challenges essay is one of the trickier supplemental prompts, so it’s important to get feedback on your drafts. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example

April 17, 2023

At some point, most college-bound students are tasked with writing an overcoming challenges essay. The prompt crops up in various forms, as a supplemental short essay about overcoming a challenge, and in as the main essay itself.

Some students may feel inclined to write about a dramatic experience (say, spotting a grizzly bear outside the kitchen window), mistaking the drama of the moment for a significant challenge. Others may get to work, only to realize they don’t have much to say about the time they got a C in P.E. (that dreaded frisbee unit). Students who’ve overcome unspeakable difficulties, like a death in the family, may find that reducing the tragedy to 650 words feels insufficient, or worse—as if they’re attempting to profit from suffering. One or two students may stare down the blank computer screen as their entire existence shrinks to the size of a 12-point font. Should they write about the challenge of writing about the challenge of writing an overcoming challenges essay??

Don’t worry. Focusing first on how to tackle the essay will help any student decide what they should write about. In fact, how the essay is written will also prove more influential than the challenge itself in determining the strength of the essay.

Decoding the Prompt

Let’s take a look at the overcoming challenges essay question included among the seven 2023-24 Common App Essay Prompts :

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Notice how the prompt places an immediate emphasis on the “lessons we take,” rather than on the obstacles themselves, or any potential success. This is because the challenge itself often says less about the student than the way the student chose to tackle it, or the way they now reflect on it. In other words, obstacles often come at us randomly; it’s our personal response to the circumstances which reveals something of who we are.

While studying a prompt for clues, it’s helpful to think from the perspective of the admissions officer (the essay reader). What can they glean from an overcoming challenges essay? A lot, actually. A thoughtfully written essay may tell them about the student’s personality, as well as things like problem-solving techniques, rigor, persistence, creativity, and courage. These insights can work to prove to the admissions officers that the student has what it takes to overcome challenges in college, too. These future challenges may range from the inevitable academic obstacles that occur with heavy courseloads, to social and moral challenges that arise as college students form their adult identities.

Picking Your Topic: A Brainstorming Activity

With the question of identity in mind, let’s now approach the overcoming challenges essay backwards, by brainstorming the final message the student wants it to contain.

For this three-part exercise, the student will first set a five-minute timer. With the clock ticking, they’ll jot down character traits, values, and any descriptive words or terms that say something about who they are. If stumped, change perspective. The student may imagine what their best friends, parents, coaches and siblings would say. (For example, tenacious , logical , scientific , peacemaker .) Even mild criticism can be helpful, as long as it’s not cruel. While a student’s brother may call him a “perfectionist,” perhaps this word will trigger other relevant words, like persistent and detail-oriented.

Next, the student will set the timer for another five minutes, pull out a second sheet of paper, and jot down any challenges, obstacles, setbacks, failures, and achievements that come to mind. Don’t hold back here or overanalyze. (For example: underdog at state swim meet , getting lost on the family hike , petitioning for a school compost system …)

Lastly, the student will place the two pages side by side, and draw lines between the items on the list wherever connections occur. One student may draw lines between persistent , curious , gamer , passionate about electronics , and saved the day during the power outage. Another set of lines might connect caring, observant, creative thinker , and helped sister leave abusive cult . Whatever ideas are sparked here, the goal is to identify which challenges will demonstrate something essential about the student to an admissions officer.

Topics to Avoid

The internet is rife with advice on what not to write when writing an overcoming challenges essay. Yet this advice can be confusing, or downright hypocritical. For instance, some may advise against writing about death. Yet a student who lost their father at an early age may be capable of writing a poignant essay about their search for an alternative father figure, and how they found one in their soccer coach.

I suggest avoiding guides on what not to write until after the student has done a thorough round of brainstorming. Otherwise, they risk censoring themselves too early, and may reject a promising idea. Once they’ve narrowed down their list to three ideas or less, they may want to check our guide on College Application Essay Topics to Avoid .

The reason why certain types of overcoming challenges essays miss the mark is that they emphasize the wrong aspect of the experience, which turns the topic into a cliché. While it’s generally a good idea to avoid trivial topics (again, that C in P.E.), any topic has the potential to be compelling, if it’s animated through personal opinions, insight, and description. Details bring an experience to life. Structure and reflection make an essay convincing. In other words, how the story is told will determine whether or not the topic is worth writing about.

So, rather than avoid specific topics, consider avoiding these scenarios: if you can’t show the essay to your best friend or grandmother, it’s probably not ready to show a college admissions officer. If you must write a clichéd topic, don’t choose a typical structure.

Techniques to Hone

Techniques that animate an overcoming challenges essay are the same ones used in storytelling. Think setting, visuals, sounds, dialogue, physical sensations, and feelings. “Showing” instead of “telling.” Crafting the essay with these inner and external details will bring the challenge to life, and catch the reader’s attention.

Another technique which works well when trying to avoid the trappings of cliché involve subverting the reader’s expectations. In storytelling terms, this is a plot twist. The student who got a C in P.E. may actually have a stellar essay on their hands, if they can break away from the “bad grade” trope (working harder to improve their grade). Perhaps this student’s story is actually about how, while sitting on the bleachers and not participating in the game, they found themselves watching the frisbee spin through the air, and realized they had a deep interest in the movement of astronomical bodies.

Some of the strongest overcoming challenges essays demonstrate what students have learned about themselves, rather than what they’ve learned about the obstacle they confronted. These essays may show how the student has come to see themselves differently, or how they’ve decided to change, thanks to the challenge they faced. These essays work because the reflection is natural and even profound, based on the student’s self-awareness.

Writing the Overcoming Challenges Essay, or Drafts, Drafts, Drafts

Everyone writes differently, some by outlining (never a bad idea), some by free-styling (good for capturing sensations and memories), some by lighting a candle—but don’t procrastinate too much. The only “must” is to revise. After a first draft, the student should begin to look for several things:

1) Clarity and Detail. Is the challenge recounted with precision? Is it personal?

2) Structure. Consider mapping the structure, to visualize it better. Does the structure suit the story? Can it be changed for clarity, or to keep the reader more engaged?

3) Cliché. Identify words, sentences, and ideas that are dull or repetitive. Mark them up, and in the next draft, find ways to rewrite, subvert, condense, and delete.

4) Lesson Learned. Has the student reflected adequately on the lesson they learned from overcoming a challenge? To add more reflection, students might ask themselves what they have felt and thought about the experience since. Would they do something differently, if faced with the same challenge? Has their understanding of the experience evolved over time?

By the final draft, the experience and the reflection should feel equally weighted. To get there, it may take five or six drafts.

Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample

The Happiness Hotline

First there were reports. Then we were told to stop socializing, go inside, wait. Covid struck. Everyone knows what ensued. It probably looked different from where we were all (separately) standing, even though we faced the same thing. Those first weeks, I stood at my bedroom window. It was dark by early evening in Oregon. The weirdest part—after the fact that we were collectively sharing the loneliest experience of our lives—was the silence.

… it was really quiet.

So quiet, I could hear my mom sigh downstairs. (So quiet, I couldn’t remember if I’d hummed aloud, or if I’d just heard myself in my head.) When I looked out the window, I could hear the stoplight at the end of our street. Green to yellow. Click.

Before going on, you should know three things. First, this is not a Covid essay. This is about melancholy, and the “sadness that has taken on lightness,” to quote Italo Calvino. Second, from my bedroom window, I can see down a row of oak trees, past the hospital, to my friend Carlo’s house. Third, Carlo is a jazz singer. Maybe that sounds pretentious, a freshman kid being a jazz singer, but that’s Carlo, and I wouldn’t be me without Carlo being Carlo. He’s someone who appreciates the unhinged rhythm of a Charlie Parker tune. He’s an extrovert who can bring introverts like me out of my shell. He convinced me to learn trombone, and together we riff in the after-school jazz club.

In the first month of the pandemic, we called each other nightly to talk rap albums, school stuff. At Carlo’s house, he could hear a white-crowned sparrow. He could also hear his parents talking numbers behind the bathroom door. The death toll was mounting. The cost of living was going up too. As the month wore on, I began to hear something else in our calls, in the way Carlo paused, or forgot what he was saying. Carlo was scared. He felt sad, isolated, and without his bright energy, I too, felt utterly alone.

Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample (Continued)

After some dark days, I realized that to help ourselves we needed to help others. It was pretty obvious the more I thought about it. People are social creatures, supposedly, even introverts. Maybe our neighbors needed to remember the noisiness of life.

We built a happiness hotline. That sounds fancy, though essentially, we provided three-way calls on my parents’ landline. The harder part involved making flyers and putting them up around town, in places people were still going. Grocery stores, the post office. We made a TikTok account, and then—the phone rang. Our first caller.

For months, if you called in, you could talk to us about your days in lockdown. People went really deep about the meaning of life, and we had to learn on the spot how to respond. I’d become a journalist and a therapist before becoming a sophomore. After chatting, the caller would request a song, and if we knew how to play it, we would. If not, we improvised.

Now we’re seniors in high school. Carlo visits the hospital with band members. As for myself, I’ve been working on a community music book, compiling our callers’ favorite tunes. I don’t want to forget how important it felt to make these connections. Our callers taught me that loneliness is a bit like a virus, a bit like a song. Even when it stops it can come back to haunt you, as a new variant or an old refrain. Still, sadness can take on lightness when voices call through the dark: sparrows, friends, strangers. I learned I’m good at listening into the silence. Listening isn’t only a passive stance, but an open line of receiving.

Analysis of the Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample

This student uses their musical passion to infuse the essay with vivid detail. There’s a focus on sound throughout, from the bird to the stoplight. Then there are the callers, and the clever way the student conceived of breaking through the silence. The narrator’s voice sharpens the piece further, elevating a clichéd Covid essay to a personal story of self-discovery.

In fact, the essay briefly breaks with structure to tell the reader that this is not a Covid essay. Although techniques like this should be used sparingly, it works here by grabbing the reader’s attention. It also allows the student to organize their thoughts on the page, before moving the plot along.

Outwardly, the student is overcoming the challenge of loneliness in a time of quarantine. Yet there seems to be an inner, unspoken challenge as well, that of coming to terms with the student’s introverted personality. The essay’s reflection occurs in the final paragraph, making the essay experience-heavy. However, clues woven throughout point to the reflection that will come. Details like the Italo Calvino quote hint at the later understanding of how to alleviate loneliness. While some readers might prefer more development, the various themes are threaded throughout, which makes for a satisfying ending.

A Last Word on the Short Essay About Overcoming Challenges

The short essay about overcoming a challenge requires the same steps as a longer one. To write it, follow the same brainstorming activity, then focus more on condensing and summarizing the experience. Students who’ve already written a longer overcoming challenges essay can approach the short essay about overcoming a challenge by streamlining. Instead of deleting all the extra bits, keep two interesting details that will flavor the essay with something memorable and unique.

College Essay

Kaylen Baker

With a BA in Literary Studies from Middlebury College, an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University, and a Master’s in Translation from Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Kaylen has been working with students on their writing for over five years. Previously, Kaylen taught a fiction course for high school students as part of Columbia Artists/Teachers, and served as an English Language Assistant for the French National Department of Education. Kaylen is an experienced writer/translator whose work has been featured in Los Angeles Review, Hybrid, San Francisco Bay Guardian, France Today, and Honolulu Weekly, among others.

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One Expert's Advice to Help You Write a Strong Overcoming Adversity Essay

Leslie Tucker PhD, Jun 07, 2021

Learn how to pick the right adversity story and write an impressive overcoming adversity essay

Whether you’re working on college or scholarship applications, you’re bound to come across the overcoming adversity essay sooner or later. While every type of college application essay is unique, the overcoming adversity essay presents particular challenges for students.

What’s the best way to talk about the adversity in your life? What if you come off as too whiny? What if you don’t have any significant obstacles to write about? Will you be at a disadvantage?

Every year, my students ask me how to tackle this tricky part of their college applications. Luckily for you, I’ve developed a fool-proof approach for writing the overcoming adversity essay , and I’m eager to share it.

Keep reading to learn why the adversity essay is important, how to choose the best topic, and how to write an impactful overcoming adversity essay.

Why the overcoming adversity essay is important

When colleges ask you to write a personal hardship essay, what are they trying to learn? Many students think they’re trying to find and admit the applicants who have faced the most adversity. Not true! Trust me, the adversity essay is NOT a competition to see who has it worse.

The purpose of the overcoming adversity essay is to reveal how you respond to difficult situations. Think about it. College is hard—not everyone has what it takes to succeed. Colleges want to accept students who have the skills and resilience to persevere through the adversity they’re bound to face.

So when an admissions officer reads your adversity essay, they’re trying to answer these questions:

● How do you manage stress?

● How do you attempt to resolve adversity?

● How do you reflect on the challenges you face?

● How do you apply lessons to your life?

If you can successfully answer these questions, you’ll write a stand-out overcoming adversity essay.

Not sure how to recognize an overcoming adversity essay prompt? Here are a few examples.

The Common App

The University of Miami

Considering your ability to control your own motivation and behavior, how have past experiences helped build your courage and resilience to persist in the face of academic and life challenges so that, once these storms pass, you can emerge in continued pursuit of your goals?

The University of California

Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

How to select the best story for your overcoming adversity essay

Choosing what to write your overcoming adversity essay about can be a challenge. The hardest things you’ve faced in life might not actually be the best topics. So I always encourage students to brainstorm lots of ideas before committing to one.

Here’s what I suggest. Sit down with a family member or close friend. Write a list of all the adversity you’ve faced—big and small. From challenging school projects to your parents divorce to the death of a family member, add everything you can think of to your list.

Next, you’ll want to remember and record how you reacted to each of the obstacles on your list. What were you thinking? What actions did you take?

To choose your adversity essay story, you’ll actually focus on your reactions list. Search for the instances when you showed impressive grit, strength, resilience, and problem-solving skills. These are the best stories to use for your overcoming adversity essay.

Weak topics for your adversity essay

As you’re selecting which topic to write about, beware of choosing a story that falls into one of these categories.

● Adversity you faced due to COVID or virtual learning—everyone dealt with these circumstances, so it’s not a unique topic and won’t help you stand out.

● Obstacles you dealt with in elementary or middle school—it’s a bit too outdated. Find a more recent instance of your grit and resilience.

● Interpersonal struggles you had with a teacher or coach—these essays can come off like you don’t get along well with adults, which isn’t the impression you want to give.

Strong topics for your adversity essay

Any story that shows your maturity and problem-solving skills is a good choice for your overcoming adversity essay. Even so, there are few topics that might be better options for you than others, depending on your circumstances.

● Ongoing obstacles you’re still facing but you’re handling well—important if this obstacle will carry on into college.

● Adversity that interfered with your academic achievement—important if you had a GPA dip you’d like to explain.

● Something that will resonate with the school you’re applying to or the career you’re pursuing—important if adversity drove you to choose a specific type of school or major.

How to write an impressive overcoming adversity essay

Now we’ve arrived at my fool-proof overcoming adversity essay formula. Once you’ve chosen the right story that demonstrates your resilience, just apply this formula to create a memorable adversity essay.

This formula is simple. It’s all about crafting a narrative. Remember, you’re telling the story of when you faced an obstacle. So you want it to sound like a real story, not a school report.

Here is the five-step formula to writing the perfect overcoming adversity essay.

Introduce the obstacle or adversity
Describe your emotional response
Discuss the actions you took to face the problem
Share the outcome of the situation
Reveal what you learned from the experience

See? It’s a piece of cake. Now let’s see how it looks applied to an adversity story.

The adversity: My family moved across the country between my sophomore and junior year.
Emotional response: I was devastated to lose my friends and scared to start over in a new place.
Actions taken: I scheduled regular talks and virtual hang outs with my old friends to ensure we’d stay in touch. Then I pushed myself to join two clubs at the beginning of the school year.
Outcome: I stayed connected with friends from home. And even though it was intimidating to make new friends, putting myself out there helped me quickly meet people who shared my interests. I felt less alone and adjusted to my new environment sooner than I expected.
Lessons learned: I am stronger and more adaptable than I thought I was. I am capable of thriving in new places and creating a new community for myself wherever I go.

With extremely little effort, I made a strong outline for an adversity essay using this formula. You can do the same!

Dos and don’ts for your overcoming adversity essay

The formula will take you a long way in structuring your adversity essay, but here are a few additional tips and tricks to make sure your writing is outstanding.

● Don’t try to garner sympathy or pity —be honest about what happened, but remember your purpose isn’t to make the reader feel bad for you.

● Do maintain a positive and upbeat tone throughout your adversity essay.

● Don’t spend too much time describing the problem —keep it brief and to the point.

● Do focus the majority of the essay on how you responded to and resolved the obstacle.

● Don’t forget to include the outcome and the lessons you learned —self reflection is impressive to application readers.

● Do connect what you learned with your future in college or in your chosen career.

Remember, one of the great things about the overcoming adversity essay is that you’re telling a story. You’re not making an argument or delivering an informational report. Once you have your story and the structure in place, have fun with the rest!

Final thoughts about the overcoming adversity essay

I’ll never say writing a college application essay is easy. But hopefully I’ve convinced you that the overcoming adversity essay isn’t as intimidating as it seems. In fact, I hope you have an enjoyable time writing your adversity essay and celebrating your resilience. Be proud of yourself. You are amazing!

I want to hear from you! What are your thoughts and concerns about the overcoming adversity essay? Drop a comment below, and I’ll be happy to address them.

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One Expert’s Advice to Help You Write a Strong Overcoming Adversity Essay

Learn how to pick the right adversity story and write an impressive overcoming adversity essay

What’s the best way to talk about the adversity in your life? What if you come off as too whiny? What if you don’t have any significant obstacles to write about? Will you be at a disadvantage?

Keep reading to learn why the adversity essay is important, how to choose the best topic, and how to write an impactful overcoming adversity essay.

Why the overcoming adversity essay is important

So when an admissions officer reads your adversity essay, they’re trying to answer these questions:

How do you manage stress?
How do you attempt to resolve adversity?
How do you reflect on the challenges you face?
How do you apply lessons to your life?

If you can successfully answer these questions, you’ll write a stand-out overcoming adversity essay.

Not sure how to recognize an overcoming adversity essay prompt? Here are a few examples.

The Common App

The University of Miami

The University of California

Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

How to select the best story for your overcoming adversity essay

Next, you’ll want to remember and record how you reacted to each of the obstacles on your list. What were you thinking? What actions did you take?

Weak topics for your adversity essay

As you’re selecting which topic to write about, beware of choosing a story that falls into one of these categories.

Adversity you faced due to COVID or virtual learning—everyone dealt with these circumstances, so it’s not a unique topic and won’t help you stand out.
Obstacles you dealt with in elementary or middle school—it’s a bit too outdated. Find a more recent instance of your grit and resilience.
Interpersonal struggles you had with a teacher or coach—these essays can come off like you don’t get along well with adults, which isn’t the impression you want to give.

Strong topics for your adversity essay

Ongoing obstacles you’re still facing but you’re handling well—important if this obstacle will carry on into college.
Adversity that interfered with your academic achievement—important if you had a GPA dip you’d like to explain.
Something that will resonate with the school you’re applying to or the career you’re pursuing—important if adversity drove you to choose a specific type of school or major.

How to write an impressive overcoming adversity essay

This formula is simple. It’s all about crafting a narrative. Remember, you’re telling the story of when you faced an obstacle. So you want it to sound like a real story, not a school report.

Here is the five-step formula to writing the perfect overcoming adversity essay.

Introduce the obstacle or adversity
Describe your emotional response
Discuss the actions you took to face the problem
Share the outcome of the situation
Reveal what you learned from the experience

See? It’s a piece of cake. Now let’s see how it looks applied to an adversity story.

The adversity: My family moved across the country between my sophomore and junior year.
Emotional response: I was devastated to lose my friends and scared to start over in a new place.
Actions taken: I scheduled regular talks and virtual hang outs with my old friends to ensure we’d stay in touch. Then I pushed myself to join two clubs at the beginning of the school year.
Outcome: I stayed connected with friends from home. And even though it was intimidating to make new friends, putting myself out there helped me quickly meet people who shared my interests. I felt less alone and adjusted to my new environment sooner than I expected.
Lessons learned: I am stronger and more adaptable than I thought I was. I am capable of thriving in new places and creating a new community for myself wherever I go.

With extremely little effort, I made a strong outline for an adversity essay using this formula. You can do the same!

Dos and don’ts for your overcoming adversity essay

The formula will take you a long way in structuring your adversity essay, but here are a few additional tips and tricks to make sure your writing is outstanding.

Don’t try to garner sympathy or pity —be honest about what happened, but remember your purpose isn’t to make the reader feel bad for you.
Do maintain a positive and upbeat tone throughout your adversity essay.
Don’t spend too much time describing the problem —keep it brief and to the point.
Do focus the majority of the essay on how you responded to and resolved the obstacle.
Don’t forget to include the outcome and the lessons you learned —self reflection is impressive to application readers.
Do connect what you learned with your future in college or in your chosen career.

Final thoughts about the overcoming adversity essay

I want to hear from you! What are your thoughts and concerns about the overcoming adversity essay? Drop a comment below, and I’ll be happy to address them.

Dr. Leslie Tucker College Consultant

How to Answer the Essay Prompt "Describe a Challenge You Overcame"

How To Answer Tough College Essay Prompts

Late fall is officially college admissions season! Some students have already sent in their early decision applications and are working hard on those regular decision deadlines, which means it may be time to work on your essays.

These essays from the Common App , Coalition App , or your prospective school’s specific format can vary in topic, and you may get to choose what you write about. But no matter the school or set of schools to which you’re applying, you will likely come across a version of the “Describe a Challenge You Overcame” or “Overcoming a Challenge” essay prompt.

For some people, the answer to this could be evident. But if you have no idea what to write about, the first rule is:

Don’t panic

So many students are plagued with questions like: What if I’ve never overcome an obstacle? Is my life boring? What if I have nothing to write about, and the admissions officers hate me? What if they judge me for what I've been through?

Deep breath.

All of these fears are normal, but everyone has overcome some sort of challenge or obstacle, whether small or completely overwhelming. By being authentic to yourself, yours will be compelling to readers and help them get to know the kind of student you are now and will be at their college or university.

You will need more than panicking to help you write an essay. Remember that everyone has something valuable to say, and the obstacle you choose will matter less than your ability to write about it and highlight your resilience.

Brainstorm an authentic but impactful challenge

The first thing you'll need to do is think through some challenges you’ve faced .

A challenge can be as seemingly simple as learning to trust yourself after a failure in school or an extracurricular activity or as complicated as overcoming significant discrimination and prejudice.

You had to overcome a specific fear to succeed at an activity you love. You may have had to rebuild your life after losing a relative. Maybe your family moved, which shook up your life. Or, receiving one terrible grade or criticism led you to change your outlook on life and motivated you to work harder than ever.

Whatever the obstacle you face (no inventing, please), it should be impactful.

That means thinking of a challenge that changed something about you. As a result of overcoming this obstacle, you should have learned significant lessons about yourself or the world around you and made changes in your life.

Colleges and universities want to know what traits you possess that will help you succeed in college and your future career, so the obstacle you choose to share should have helped you develop one of your defining traits. They will care more about your reaction to this challenge, how it shaped you, and how you articulate it than what the problem was in the first place.

Generally, the obstacle you choose to share should also be pretty recent or have had a current impact on your life, rather than a challenge that happened when you were very young that doesn’t impact you today.

Begin at the end

The opening sentence of your essay about overcoming a challenge should be compelling and make the reader want to continue. It can be tempting to tell the story chronologically, but it can sometimes be adequate to start with the ending or a positive memory.

So, think about when you overcame your challenge or realized that you had improved after facing an obstacle. You might even share a moment when you realized your chosen barrier significantly. Recount this moment as your introductory hook in some way.

You can even preview the lessons you learned in your introduction. That way, readers already know that you will share what you’ve learned rather than just share a story recounting a terrible moment or difficult challenge in your life. This can also make them want to keep reading to see how you got to that place.

Share context about the situation but make it brief

You want the reader to learn about you and your challenges rather than overdoing it in detail. They don't need to know every step of the process or every player in the story.

Of course, you should share the context behind what happened to you that challenged you and changed your life or perspective, but you should not dwell too much on the details. Provide only the ‘need to know’ moments and how they led to changes in your life.

With this kind of essay, readers want to know less about what happened and more about what you learned due to your experience.

Focus on what you learned

Your reflection about what you learned due to your experience should be your primary focus within your essay. This section will help readers understand how you’ve changed after facing your challenge or obstacle to become the stellar student you are today. It can also show the maturity and self-reflection colleges may seek in a student.

By sharing lessons learned in this type of essay, you also share how you will contribute to any college campus with your newly acquired traits and perspectives.

If you had to move from one city to another, perhaps you learned to be flexible or met new friends who helped you discover your fascination with science and technology. If you faced bullying, maybe you learned how to respect yourself without outside validation and gained resilience. Whatever the challenge, the lessons associated with overcoming it are most important.

Share actions you took as a result of overcoming the challenge

To help readers understand how you overcame the challenge and how the lessons you learned tangibly affected your life, you should also consider your actions after overcoming your obstacle.

For example, if you witnessed discrimination at school, you could have founded an anti-bullying campaign or student organization. If you lost a family member to a specific disease, you may have volunteered with an organization to help fund research for a cure.

Remember, all of this information needs to be authentic to your experience. Even the most minor actions can be impactful. So, truth is always best, even if you just learned to treat your family better or significantly improve your grades after facing this obstacle.

Connect the lessons you learned to your future

Finally, you can strengthen your response even more by connecting the lessons you learned and actions you took with your future goals.

Think about how you will show up in college after facing this challenge. And consider how you are better equipped now to achieve your future goals because of the lessons you learned. You can then tie this into how attending each college will help you reach those goals.

Seek support!

Admissions officers should never be the first people to read your essay. Get help from a teacher or college counselor, your parents or guardians, an online college essay writing site like Prompt , or fellow scholars like other NSHSS members before you hit "submit."

Have them read your essay and provide you with constructive feedback about content and structure. If you're stuck, you can ask for some "overcoming an obstacle" essay examples or ideas from those who know you well.

Then, submit your essay and enjoy that feeling of accomplishment!

Answering the essay prompt "Describe a Challenge You Overcame" offers a unique opportunity to showcase your resilience, growth, and problem-solving skills. By focusing on the specifics of the challenge, the steps you took to overcome it, and the lessons you learned, you'll answer the prompt effectively and make a lasting impression on the admissions team.

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How to Write an Essay on Overcoming Adversity

How to Write College Scholarship Essays

College admission boards and scholarship committees often want applicants to write an essay about how they have overcome adversity in their lives. The key to writing a successful essay about diversity is to stay positive and focus on the outcome rather than the problem itself. Learning how to write a good essay about overcoming diversity has the effect of your story pulling on the heartstrings of the people reading it.

Read successful essays about overcoming adversity. Many college websites and websites with advice about applying to colleges offer examples of successful essays. There is a difference between writing positively about overcoming adversity and whining about your problems. Reading good essays written by other people will help you understand that difference.

Make an outline of your essay before you write it. Writing an outline gives you a starting point for getting what you want to say on paper. It also can help avoid writer's block or stumbling when you don't know where to go next. The standard format for an essay is to start with an introduction that briefly tells the reader what to expect, then the body that goes into greater detail about your adversity and how you overcame it, followed by a conclusion that sums up what your essay is about.

Be positive in your own essay. Talk about your adversity and what you learned from it. Let the reader know how you grew and what impact the adversity and overcoming it had on your life. Also, let admissions and scholarship boards know how overcoming your particular adversity will make you a better student and an asset to their program.

Female student looking through library books

Be honest in your essay. You have overcome your adversity and there is no reason to embellish the details. If you do, chances are the embellishment will stand out to the reader in a way it might not to you. Being caught in a lie or coming across as insincere will almost definitely result in your being denied admission or the scholarship you are applying to.

Use proper grammar and spelling. Most word processing programs have spell and grammar checks. Make sure to run these before submitting your essay. These programs, however, don't pick up every mistake. Read your essay once for grammar and again for spelling, paying attention to every word and punctuation mark. Ask someone who you trust has a good handle on grammar and spelling to proofread your essay for you.

Young female student reading over her essay on a tablet

Read your essay out loud before submitting it. Sometimes when you've read your own work many times your eyes glance over problems. Reading out loud will give your ears a chance to pick up on awkward wording or pacing in your essay. Fix any problems before submitting.

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University of California, Berekley: Getting Started

Shaunta Alburger has been a professional writer for 15 years. She's worked on staff at both major Las Vegas newspapers, as well as a rural Nevada weekly. Her first novel was published in 2014.

Home — Application Essay — Business School — Overcoming Adversity: College Admission Essay Sample

Overcoming Adversity: College Admission Essay Sample

University: University of California, Davis

About this sample

Words: 511 |

Published: Jul 18, 2018

Words: 511 | Pages: 1 | 3 min read

"So, what do you want to do today?"

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'Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned'?

The woman stood in front of me with her clipboard and pen, patiently waiting for my answer. I turned my head to look at my brother-in-law's door down the hallway. My body ached; I had been savagely beaten that morning for no particular reason. Holding back painful tears, I answered, "Ma'am, no charges."

Truthfully, I wanted to have the police arrest my brother-in-law and take him far away from my family. I wanted him gone. Standing before the policewoman, I had silently debated with myself. I thought of my mom, who was being rushed to the hospital by the ambulance; I thought of my three-year-old niece, standing near me and clearly horrified by the crime scene; I thought of the pain my brother-in-law had been causing my entire family throughout the past seven years; I thought about the tremendous power I had been given to change my family's life. My oldest sister looked up at me from the bottom of the stairs. I noticed the yearning in her eyes and knew I could never place her in financial ruin. With one daughter already and another one coming in about a month, it was out of the question for my sister to pay bail for her husband. It seemed to me that my sister's sanity would not survive taking care of two babies and her tax service business. After I reluctantly gave my answer to the officer, I stood facing the wall and cried.

Though his behavior was inexcusable, I cannot completely blame my brother-in-law. My mom truly believed that making my brother-in-law content would prevent all future arguments. The decision to please him everyday--out of fear--had instigated the tension in the family. Because of this decision, his sense of superiority steadily rose until we became his servants, and as was the case that Saturday morning, I became his punching bag.

Initially, I panicked, and in the days immediately following July 24, 2005, my goals and dreams vanished before my eyes. I thought that I had to put aside all my aspirations to fully concentrate on what my family needed most of me. Fortunately, I realized that all I needed was to be strong and determined to survive this incident.

Consequently, I became stronger and wiser. Simply by waking up and starting a new day, I know that I am stronger. Today, I look in the mirror and see that Diane Lu is still alive and doing well; once again, my dreams and goals feel within reach as I continue to pick myself up and prepare for the future. I have long since washed off my scabs and can now say that I have an even greater motivation to succeed in life. Like these scabs, my brother-in-law's ruthless power over my family and me was only temporary. It was merely another obstacle in life to endure, wash off, and put behind me.

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17 Adversity Examples (And How to Overcome Them)

Examples of adversity on a resume could include:

Overcoming a significant personal challenge
Navigating a career change, and
Demonstrating resilience in the face of major project setbacks.

See below for a detailed list of ideas for discussing adversity.

Adversity Examples

1. overcoming a disability.

Success in the face of disability exemplifies overcoming adversity. For example, we look to disabled athletes as inspiration for people who have risen to the top despite their setbacks. In real life, we can look to famous people with disabilities like Whoopi Goldberg ( dyslexia ) and Stephen Hawking (motor neuron disease) who learned to live with and overcome their disabilities to achieve success.

2. Overcoming a Rejection

Many individuals have experienced rejection in various forms, such as being turned down by a university, not receiving a scholarship, missing a promotion, or failing to secure a job. What’s crucial is highlighting the resilience shown in bouncing back from these setbacks. For instance, in an interview, you could discuss how, after not obtaining a sports scholarship for college, you proactively worked a part-time job to support your education.

3. Proving Someone Wrong (Being Underestimated)

There are instances where a teacher, mentor, or colleague doubts our capabilities or potential. Overcoming such negative perceptions and achieving success is a powerful demonstration of resilience in the face of adversity. Notable examples include Thomas Edison, who, despite being deemed cognitively inflexible by his teacher, invented the lightbulb, and Michael Phelps, who was told by a teacher that he would never achieve success, yet triumphed to win 28 Olympic medals.

4. Failing as a Student (Then Bouncing Back)

overcoming failure definition and benefits

Almost everyone has experienced a period of struggle in their academic journey, as it’s uncommon for a student to excel in every subject.

When considering an example of adversity in an educational context, think back to a subject that posed significant challenges for you.

Consider how you responded to this difficulty: perhaps you dedicated more hours to studying, increased the amount of time spent on homework, sought extra help, or even faced the prospect of retaking an exam.

Reflect on the strategies you employed to overcome this hurdle, such as utilizing additional resources, collaborating with peers, or seeking guidance from teachers. This reflection not only highlights your ability to confront and overcome academic challenges but also demonstrates your resilience, adaptability, and commitment to personal growth.

5. Overcoming an Injury

Injuries often lead to difficulties in performing everyday activities that were once effortless. Such experiences can prompt a realization of how much we typically take these routine tasks for granted.

Take, for instance, breaking an arm; this can transform straightforward actions like dressing into complex, thoughtful processes.

Adapting to these new challenges by finding alternative methods to accomplish daily tasks not only showcases resilience but also fosters a sense of flexibility. This adaptability is a testament to one’s ability to overcome adversity and develop crucial life skills in the process.

6. Suffering Discrimination

Facing discrimination is a deeply unfortunate form of adversity, where individuals must surmount biases related to race, gender, disability, social class, or other factors to achieve success.

Jackie Robinson is a prominent example of someone who overcame such challenges; he was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era.

Despite enduring racial taunts from both players and fans, Robinson chose not to react aggressively, understanding that any retaliation could significantly hinder the progress of racial integration in MLB.

His legacy endures today, celebrated not just for his remarkable sporting achievements but also for his role as a peaceful pioneer who broke down barriers of discrimination for the betterment of society.

7. Growing up Poor

Individuals born into poverty often face lower lifetime earnings and a reduced likelihood of graduating from school compared to those from wealthier backgrounds. This adversity stems from limited access to quality education, tutoring, books, and other resources. However, there are inspiring figures who have surmounted the challenges of poverty to achieve remarkable success, such as Jim Carrey, who experienced homelessness during his youth, J.K. Rowling, who rose from the struggles of being a single mother to fame with her Harry Potter series, and Dolly Parton, who overcame her upbringing in a one-room cabin with dirt floors to become a music legend.

8. Being a Refugee

Refugees exemplify remarkable resilience , having fled perilous conditions in their homelands to seek safety, often starting anew in unfamiliar cultures with limited resources. Their ability to navigate and thrive despite such formidable challenges is a testament to their capacity to overcome life’s adversities. Notable individuals who began their journeys as refugees and rose to prominence include Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Madeleine Albright, each overcoming substantial early-life obstacles to achieve significant success.

9. Being an Immigrant

Immigrants and refugees often share parallel narratives of starting over. Refugees typically escape traumatic situations, indicating an added layer of adversity, but both groups face the challenge of acclimatizing to an unfamiliar environment upon arrival in a new country.

Immigrants frequently grapple with cultural adjustments and may find their foreign professional qualifications unrecognized, necessitating a restart from the bottom, often with limited financial resources.

However, the success stories of notable immigrants like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elon Musk, and Mila Kunis highlight the potential for triumph through the immigrant journey, overcoming significant obstacles to achieve remarkable success.

10. Losing your Job or Getting Fired

Losing a job is never a pleasant experience, bringing with it initial feelings of shock and anxiety. However, it also presents an opportunity for introspection and regaining self-assurance.

This experience is far from unique, as evidenced by the significant job losses during the 2008 economic downturn and the 2021 global lockdowns. In the aftermath, many people found themselves pursuing additional education, reassessing their career trajectories to ensure they align with their passions and strengths, or turning to mentors for guidance and support in addressing their areas of improvement.

Real-Life Role Models Who Overcame Adversity

1. stephen hawking.

Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at 21, Hawking was given just a few years to live. Despite losing his ability to walk and speak, he became one of the most renowned theoretical physicists, contributing significantly to our understanding of black holes and the nature of the universe.

2. Malala Yousafzai

As a young girl in Pakistan, Malala advocated for girls’ education, defying the Taliban’s ban. After surviving a gunshot to the head by a Taliban gunman, she became an international symbol of resistance against the suppression of women’s education and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

3. Nelson Mandela

Imprisoned for 27 years for his fight against apartheid in South Africa, Mandela never lost sight of his goal for racial equality. He emerged from prison to become the first black president of South Africa, leading the country towards a more inclusive future.

4. Oprah Winfrey

Born into poverty and faced with numerous challenges, including childhood abuse and racial discrimination, Oprah rose to become a media mogul and influential philanthropist. Her story is one of resilience and determination in overcoming personal and professional obstacles.

5. Nick Vujicic

Born without limbs due to a rare disorder, Nick faced immense challenges and bullying in his youth. He overcame these to become a motivational speaker and author, inspiring millions with his message of hope and perseverance.

6. Helen Keller

Despite becoming blind and deaf at a very young age, Keller broke through the isolation imposed by her condition with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan. She became a prolific author, political activist, and lecturer, advocating for the rights of those with disabilities.

7. Ludwig van Beethoven

One of the greatest composers in history, Beethoven began losing his hearing in his 20s, eventually becoming completely deaf. Nonetheless, he continued to compose, perform, and conduct, producing many of his most admired works during the last 15 years of his life, when he was unable to hear.

Essay Samples on Overcoming Challenges

Navigating life's roller coaster: the ups and downs.

Life is a journey filled with twists and turns, peaks and valleys, moments of triumph and challenges that test our resilience. The ebb and flow of experiences—the ups and downs—shape the tapestry of our lives. This essay delves into the profound significance of embracing both...

Overcoming Challenges

How to Overcome Challenges in Life: Becoming Stronger

Life is a journey filled with ups and downs, triumphs and setbacks. Throughout our lives, we inevitably encounter various challenges that test our resilience and determination. Overcoming these challenges requires a combination of mindset, strategies, and support. This essay explores effective ways how to overcome...

Overcoming Obstacles

Overcoming Obstacles and Challenging Situations on the Way to Passion

July 8, 2013, is a day that I will never forget. At approximately 1:15 p.m., a 911 dispatcher's frantic voice came over my radio: 'Medic 908, emergency response for a one-month-old not breathing.' My partner and I rushed to the ambulance and then to the...

Overcoming Adversity: A Challenge That Makes You Grow as a Person

Adversity is life’s hardships or misfortunes. Almost everyone will face adversity several times in their lives. It will either bring the best out of you or the worst. It is up to us to decide that. There are different types of adversity, such as financial...

Challenges Of Overcoming Bulimia

In the vicinity of the world, 4.7 million females and 1.5 million males have their lives dangered by bulimia, a potentially deadly disorder, which has been distinguished in patients as young as six years old (Ouellette). Bulimia gives a flawed feeling of “self-esteem, competence, and...

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Best topics on Overcoming Challenges

1. Navigating Life’s Roller Coaster: The Ups and Downs

2. How to Overcome Challenges in Life: Becoming Stronger

3. Overcoming Obstacles and Challenging Situations on the Way to Passion

4. Overcoming Adversity: A Challenge That Makes You Grow as a Person

5. Challenges Of Overcoming Bulimia

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How to write about your biggest challenge or adversity

Your adversity statement, often called “the challenge essay,” has the potential to be a major contributor to your medical school application. The goal of the essay is not just to explain the adversities you faced or the challenges you experienced, but rather to demonstrate your ability to overcome them and grow from them. The specific challenge or adversity itself is often times the least important part of the essay! Instead, the majority of your limited word count will be dedicated to demonstrating your preparedness for the many challenges and adversities that you will face in medical school and beyond. Looking at the prompt from this angle may help it seem a bit less intimidating. Now, let’s tackle this essay in three simple steps:

Step One : Reread the prompt, and select the experience you want to talk about

Before you even begin brainstorming, reread the prompt! In your excitement (or nervousness) to get started, you may have missed a helpful detail that will narrow the scope of your essay. Depending on the school, you may be asked to discuss a professional challenge, a personal challenge, or even an academic one. Make sure that you understand which of these, if any, is being asked for. Once you have a sense of what type of experience is being requested, start to brainstorm the adversities you have faced, no matter how big or small. As you make a list, make sure each example fits the following criteria:

You have overcome the obstacle or have made meaningful progress towards the goal of overcoming it
You have completed the emotional processing of the obstacle/experience and are comfortable talking about it in writing and potentially in an interview

Once this is done, take a look at your list and see what experiences you are most confident in. Do those align with the narrative of the application you submitted in your primary application/personal statement? Is this an experience that you’ve discussed extensively in your 15 activities or personal statement already? Asking yourself these questions will help you narrow down the list further until you make a final selection that will complement your application and demonstrate your characteristics well. Examples include: losing a loved one, not succeeding in a class, navigating a health concern or diagnosis, overcoming a language barrier, navigating financial hardship, and more.

Step Two: Map out the essay by talking through exactly how you overcame the adversity/challenge

You have your experience selected, but before writing the essay, you need to be sure of the characteristics you wish to demonstrate. Knowing this before you write will help you frame the story in such a way that these characteristics shine through. Remember, you are only using a small amount of the essay to describe the event itself; most of the essay should focus on your journey overcoming the adversity/challenge, so you need to be direct and clear from the start! You can also use this time to get a sense of how long the essay will be. Do you find yourself taking 5 minutes or more to fully explain your story? You may need to be more succinct in order to condense that into an essay with a limited word count.

Step Three: Write, write, write

Dedicate a brief intro of the essay to describing the circumstances of the challenge/adversity you faced. No need to be too detailed, but give the reader enough information to understand what you were up against. Next, explain your feelings throughout the experience, how you were affected, and how you overcame. The key to this step is alluding to the qualities you are demonstrating without actually stating them. Rather than saying, “I was resilient,” simply explain the steps you took to keep pushing through despite the circumstances. Do this, and the key words and characteristics will leap off the page between the lines of your story! Once you’ve described the actions you took to overcome, close out the essay with a brief statement about how the experience changed you or gave you an opportunity to grow. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate your ability to reflect and use any experience as a learning experience.

When you are finished, be sure to go back to the prompt one last time and make sure that your essay answers it appropriately. Don’t be afraid to make adjustments, and keep in mind that the readers of your essay are looking to recruit their future students, colleagues, and patient care providers. What qualities would you be looking for if you were in their shoes?

Olivia attended the University of Rochester, studying Neuroscience and American Sign Language. She's pursuing her MD at Harvard Medical School, where she’s exploring her interests in pediatrics and neonatology.

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Students find strength and motivation in overcoming adversity.

As part of Beet Week, students and alumni shared experiences that shaped their perceptions of philanthropy, service, and giving.

From the death of a parent to caring for earthquake survivors to breaking down longstanding barriers, six Johns Hopkins Carey Business School students and one alumna recently shared inspirational and emotional stories of overcoming personal challenges and finding ways to help others.

Part of this years Beet Week celebration, the seven talked about how their experiences shaped their perceptions of philanthropy, service, and giving and their commitment to the Carey Business School’s core value of unwavering humanity.

Fayez Ahmed

Fayez Ahmed, MBA ’24 is a nonprofit founder, but the impetus for his organization grew from seeing the impact of crisis for himself. Ahmed grew up in Dhaka, India as part of a middle-class family. He describes his life as “privileged” until his father died as Ahmed was completing high school His father’s death threatened to derail his plans to go to college.

Looking for experience and some extra money, Ahmed joined a flood relief campaign in India and work with the community that had lost everything. That, he says, changed his life.

“I believe working in these 10 days with this nonprofit organization helped me understand how nonprofit works,” he said.

The initial experience set him on a path to pursue nonprofit work, which led to work with the United Nations Development Programme. His own nonprofit, Asun Kichu Kori in Bangladesh, started by cleaning up trash after Eid al-Fitr and has grown into an organization that provides medical consultations, an emergency blood bank, and startup assistance for small businesses. Asun Kichu Kori includes volunteers in that work, which he says helps teach others about leadership and business.

Enrolling at Carey Business School merged his degree pursuit with his values and mission in life. And he challenged others to do the same.

“I invite you to invest your time into volunteerism,” he told event attendees. It's the space where we can apply our learning and learn and do it in the right way in the real world.”

Irene Quarshie

Irene Quarshie, MBA/MPH ’24, began her medical career in Ghana. There, she treated Lucy, an 8-year-old girl with a debilitating bone condition. When Lucy’s family could no longer afford Quarshies care, the physician lost track of the child. Feeling “powerless” and “helpless” Quarshie became involved with microinsurance, which provides coverage for low-income households and is tailored to their specific health needs.

“Here at the Carey Business School, we are taught to think of business as a force for good, a tool to solve societal problems by embracing different perspectives and thinking strategically,” Quarshie told the audience. “Think of the businesses and the problems in the worlds that you really care about, and then think of how you could solve it and help somebody else. My challenge to you is to consider unwavering humanity as a call for you to build a business that is not just the best in the world, but it's the best for the world and the best for yourself. It's not just good practice, it's good business.”

Sneh Sonaiya

Sneh Sonaiya, MPH/MBA ’24, is also a doctor originally from Kambala, India. Growing up, Sonaiya said, he believed philanthropy was something “wealthy people” did for the very poor. That perspective evolved because of his parents' influence.

As a young boy, Sonaiya and his family survived a devastating earthquake. Although his family suffered loss, Sonaiya recalled, his father gave him 100 rupees—the equivalent of $.120—to donate to a local relief fund. His mother also modeled a culture of giving, telling him, “The true measure of generosity or philanthropy is not based on the size of one's wallet but based on the depth of compassion and willingness to make a change in the lives of others.” Years after the earthquake, Sonaiya and his sister traveled to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, where they volunteered to feed thousands of visitors at the temple’s famed community kitchen.

The last missing piece in his evolving understanding of philanthropy was the idea of collective impact, which he says he gained coming to Johns Hopkins.

“As I stand before you today, I have promised myself to redefine philanthropy in my own life, he told the crowd. "I believe that everyone here has the power to make a difference in the lives of others and engage in philanthropy. And it all starts with simple acts of kindness and compassion.”

Omodunni Oloko

Omodunni Oloko, MPH/MBA ’25, called her father her greatest source of inspiration and the one who instilled in her the belief that education could open doors. It isn’t hard to imagine how devastating it was to lose him when she was 20 years old.

Growing up in Nigeria, Oloko was keenly aware that educational opportunities are often unavailable to black people or women. After finding her way to Johns Hopkins, Oloko is on a mission to change longstanding cultural inequities. including the gap in female and Black representation in leadership.

Oloko is trying to make a difference by mentoring young women who need help in pursuing advanced education. She shared the story of Esther, an American teen she helped get into college.

"I saw that she really wanted to go to school. She really wanted to actualize her dreams,” Oloko explained. With Oloko’s guidance and encouragement, Esther is completing her degree in computer science.

“I strongly believe that each of us has a role to play in mentoring the younger generations,” said Oloko. “If you do have the resources, I would employ you to encourage one younger person

in your community, in your circle, help them through their goals, their educational pursuits.”

Jessica Mambula

Jessica Mambula, MPH/MBA ’24, also comes from Nigeria and practiced medicine in Jamaica. She also founded Jessicare, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that reaches the most vulnerable in society by providing health care and economic development for self-sufficiency and education.

In her talk, Mambula equated life’s journey to air travel, filled with arrivals, departures, connecting flights, and turbulence. She did not expect her journey would lead to Carey Business School.

“When I say I'm in the MBA Health Care, Innovation, and Technology [specialization], it means that I am able to translate the words that I have learned and carry them to the business fields in Africa, to be able to use that technology to tell them their businesses are going to increase, to tell them that they can be profitable,” Mambula said. Her aim now is to share the knowledge she has gained to help other achieve their own “successful landing.”

Umme Hanee Answary

Umme Hanee Answary, MBA ’25, grew up in Bangladesh. Before coming to Carey Business School, she worked in the banking industry and was an advocate for women’s wellness and social impact initiatives in her home country.

Answary’s father died of cancer when she was very young, which deeply impacted her studies. Despite her loss, Answary pushed ahead with her mother’s support. Answary encouraged the audience to support others so that they can succeed.

What to Read Next

student experience

Sarah Flammang

Sarah Flammang, MBA ’14, is deputy secretary for the Maryland Department of Service and Civic Innovation. Flammang also helped build and grow Baltimore Core, a nonprofit organization that enlists talent to advance social innovation and establish a citywide agenda for equity and racial justice, and she recently served as interim president and CEO leading the organization's growth to scale nationally through City Corps. Throughout her career, Flammang says, she has focused on bringing people together to solve important issues.

“My story is one of persistence, passion, and purpose, all in the name of service to others,” said Flammang. “Service, as many of you know, has a way of bringing out the best in people, both their skills as they serve others, and the ability to connect people across lines of difference. I know service is important to many of you in this room.”

Celebrating Beet Week

The emotional evening marked the start of Beet Week, Carey Business School’s annual celebration of the philanthropic legacy of Wm. Polk Carey. Wm. Polk Carey is the benefactor of the Carey Business at Johns Hopkins. In 1986, Carey repaid a debt left to beet farmers by his grandfather two decades earlier when his sugar company went bankrupt. Carey was not obligated to repay the debt, but he felt it was the right thing to do. Since 2018, Carey Business School has spent a week each spring commemorating that spirit with fundraising and fellowship events for alumni and students. You can learn more about Beet Week here.

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What I’ve Learned From My Students’ College Essays

The genre is often maligned for being formulaic and melodramatic, but it’s more important than you think.

An illustration of a high school student with blue hair, dreaming of what to write in their college essay.

By Nell Freudenberger

Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either their upbringing hasn’t supplied them with several hundred words of adversity, or worse, they’re afraid that packaging the genuine trauma they’ve experienced is the only way to secure their future. The college counselor at the Brooklyn high school where I’m a writing tutor advises against trauma porn. “Keep it brief , ” she says, “and show how you rose above it.”

I started volunteering in New York City schools in my 20s, before I had kids of my own. At the time, I liked hanging out with teenagers, whom I sometimes had more interesting conversations with than I did my peers. Often I worked with students who spoke English as a second language or who used slang in their writing, and at first I was hung up on grammar. Should I correct any deviation from “standard English” to appeal to some Wizard of Oz behind the curtains of a college admissions office? Or should I encourage students to write the way they speak, in pursuit of an authentic voice, that most elusive of literary qualities?

In fact, I was missing the point. One of many lessons the students have taught me is to let the story dictate the voice of the essay. A few years ago, I worked with a boy who claimed to have nothing to write about. His life had been ordinary, he said; nothing had happened to him. I asked if he wanted to try writing about a family member, his favorite school subject, a summer job? He glanced at his phone, his posture and expression suggesting that he’d rather be anywhere but in front of a computer with me. “Hobbies?” I suggested, without much hope. He gave me a shy glance. “I like to box,” he said.

I’ve had this experience with reluctant writers again and again — when a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously. Of course the primary goal of a college essay is to help its author get an education that leads to a career. Changes in testing policies and financial aid have made applying to college more confusing than ever, but essays have remained basically the same. I would argue that they’re much more than an onerous task or rote exercise, and that unlike standardized tests they are infinitely variable and sometimes beautiful. College essays also provide an opportunity to learn precision, clarity and the process of working toward the truth through multiple revisions.

When a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously.

Even if writing doesn’t end up being fundamental to their future professions, students learn to choose language carefully and to be suspicious of the first words that come to mind. Especially now, as college students shoulder so much of the country’s ethical responsibility for war with their protest movement, essay writing teaches prospective students an increasingly urgent lesson: that choosing their own words over ready-made phrases is the only reliable way to ensure they’re thinking for themselves.

Teenagers are ideal writers for several reasons. They’re usually free of preconceptions about writing, and they tend not to use self-consciously ‘‘literary’’ language. They’re allergic to hypocrisy and are generally unfiltered: They overshare, ask personal questions and call you out for microaggressions as well as less egregious (but still mortifying) verbal errors, such as referring to weed as ‘‘pot.’’ Most important, they have yet to put down their best stories in a finished form.

I can imagine an essay taking a risk and distinguishing itself formally — a poem or a one-act play — but most kids use a more straightforward model: a hook followed by a narrative built around “small moments” that lead to a concluding lesson or aspiration for the future. I never get tired of working with students on these essays because each one is different, and the short, rigid form sometimes makes an emotional story even more powerful. Before I read Javier Zamora’s wrenching “Solito,” I worked with a student who had been transported by a coyote into the U.S. and was reunited with his mother in the parking lot of a big-box store. I don’t remember whether this essay focused on specific skills or coping mechanisms that he gained from his ordeal. I remember only the bliss of the parent-and-child reunion in that uninspiring setting. If I were making a case to an admissions officer, I would suggest that simply being able to convey that experience demonstrates the kind of resilience that any college should admire.

The essays that have stayed with me over the years don’t follow a pattern. There are some narratives on very predictable topics — living up to the expectations of immigrant parents, or suffering from depression in 2020 — that are moving because of the attention with which the student describes the experience. One girl determined to become an engineer while watching her father build furniture from scraps after work; a boy, grieving for his mother during lockdown, began taking pictures of the sky.

If, as Lorrie Moore said, “a short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage,” what is a college essay? Every once in a while I sit down next to a student and start reading, and I have to suppress my excitement, because there on the Google Doc in front of me is a real writer’s voice. One of the first students I ever worked with wrote about falling in love with another girl in dance class, the absolute magic of watching her move and the terror in the conflict between her feelings and the instruction of her religious middle school. She made me think that college essays are less like love than limerence: one-sided, obsessive, idiosyncratic but profound, the first draft of the most personal story their writers will ever tell.

Nell Freudenberger’s novel “The Limits” was published by Knopf last month. She volunteers through the PEN America Writers in the Schools program.

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8 Overcoming Challenges College Essay Examples
The purpose of the Overcoming Challenges essay is for schools to see how you might handle the difficulties of college. They want to know how you grow, evolve, and learn when you face adversity. For this topic, there are many clichés, such as getting a bad grade or losing a sports game, so be sure to steer clear of those and focus on a topic ...
How to Write the "Overcoming Challenges" Essay + Examples
1. Avoid trivial or common topics. While there aren't many hard-and-fast rules for choosing an essay topic, students should avoid overdone topics. These include: Working hard in a challenging class. Overcoming a sports injury. Moving schools or immigrating to the US. Tragedy (divorce, death, abuse)
How to Write an "Overcoming Challenges"
I'd only recommend this if 1) you have lots of time before your essay is due, 2) you consider yourself a moderately-good-to-great writer and, 3) you're able to write about your challenges with distance and objectivity (i.e., you have mostly or completely come through the challenge (s) you're describing).
How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example
A Last Word on the Short Essay About Overcoming Challenges. The short essay about overcoming a challenge requires the same steps as a longer one. To write it, follow the same brainstorming activity, then focus more on condensing and summarizing the experience. Students who've already written a longer overcoming challenges essay can approach ...
How to Nail Your Overcoming a Challenge Essay
tips for writing an essay about overcoming challenges. 1. Stay away from common topics. One of the biggest pitfalls students experience when answering the "overcoming a challenge" essay is choosing a common topic. Considering that admissions officers have to read through hundreds if not thousands of essay responses to the same question ...
How To Write An Overcoming Challenges College Application Essay
One effective way to highlight your resilience is by sharing personal stories that exemplify your ability to rise above obstacles. How To Write An Overcoming Challenges College Application Essay. Sharing personal setbacks in college essays can be a powerful way to stand out. By reflecting on challenges, transforming adversity into inspiration ...
One Expert's Advice to Help You Write a Strong Overcoming Adversity Essay
The purpose of the overcoming adversity essay is to reveal how you respond to difficult situations. Think about it. College is hard—not everyone has what it takes to succeed. Colleges want to accept students who have the skills and resilience to persevere through the adversity they're bound to face. So when an admissions officer reads your ...
One Expert's Advice to Help You Write a Strong Overcoming Adversity Essay
Whether you're working on college or scholarship applications, you're bound to come across the overcoming adversity essay sooner or later. While every type of college application essay is unique, the overcoming adversity essay presents particular challenges for students.
How to Answer the Essay Prompt "Describe a Challenge You Overcame"
A challenge can be as seemingly simple as learning to trust yourself after a failure in school or an extracurricular activity or as complicated as overcoming significant discrimination and prejudice. You had to overcome a specific fear to succeed at an activity you love. You may have had to rebuild your life after losing a relative.
How to Write an Essay on Overcoming Adversity
The standard format for an essay is to start with an introduction that briefly tells the reader what to expect, then the body that goes into greater detail about your adversity and how you overcame it, followed by a conclusion that sums up what your essay is about. •••. Be positive in your own essay. Talk about your adversity and what you ...
Overcoming Adversity: College Admission Essay Sample
After I reluctantly gave my answer to the officer, I stood facing the wall and cried. Though his behavior was inexcusable, I cannot completely blame my brother-in-law. My mom truly believed that making my brother-in-law content would prevent all future arguments. The decision to please him everyday--out of fear--had instigated the tension in ...
17 Adversity Examples (And How to Overcome Them) (2024)
By Chris Drew (PhD) / January 30, 2024. Examples of adversity on a resume could include: Overcoming a significant personal challenge. Navigating a career change, and. Demonstrating resilience in the face of major project setbacks. See below for a detailed list of ideas for discussing adversity.
Overcoming Challenges Essay Examples for College Students
Overcoming Obstacles and Challenging Situations on the Way to Passion. July 8, 2013, is a day that I will never forget. At approximately 1:15 p.m., a 911 dispatcher's frantic voice came over my radio: 'Medic 908, emergency response for a one-month-old not breathing.'. My partner and I rushed to the ambulance and then to the...
How to write about your biggest challenge or adversity
Step Two: Map out the essay by talking through exactly how you overcame the adversity/challenge. You have your experience selected, but before writing the essay, you need to be sure of the characteristics you wish to demonstrate. Knowing this before you write will help you frame the story in such a way that these characteristics shine through.
Students find strength and motivation in overcoming adversity
Sarah Flammang Sarah Flammang, MBA '14, is deputy secretary for the Maryland Department of Service and Civic Innovation. Flammang also helped build and grow Baltimore Core, a nonprofit organization that enlists talent to advance social innovation and establish a citywide agenda for equity and racial justice, and she recently served as interim president and CEO leading the organization's ...
What I've Learned From My Students' College Essays
Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either their upbringing hasn't supplied them with several hundred words of adversity, or worse, they're afraid that packaging ...
Overcoming Adversity Essay
Overcoming Adversity. Adversities Throughout Time In a world full of conflict and struggle, people of all ages must develop certain skills to thrive. At some point in their lives, everyone must adapt to face their own adversities in order to grow as a human. Richard Wright, W. D. Wetherell, and Allen Wheelis all have faced various hardships ...
Scott J. Corwin 2024 "Overcoming Adversity" Scholarship Essay Contest
Sponsored by Scott J. Corwin, A Professional Law Corporation, the third annual scholarship is being offered in 2023-2024 to students attending (or entering) a California college or university. We will begin accepting applications on March 1st, 2024. The winner will receive a $1,000 award for use toward their college tuition and/or fees.
Adversity/overcoming essay topic : r/scholarships
How you tell the story will be crucial. If, for instance, how you overcame the slurs was by ignoring them, but you overcame being poor by finding a job and working hard to prove yourself, that second story would probably be more compelling and interesting. Reply. There are so many options to say what was an obstacle and how you overcame it.

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How to Write the “Overcoming Challenges” Essay + Examples

Overcoming Challenges Essay Examples

What is the “Overcoming Challenges” Essay?

Real “Overcoming Challenges” Essay Prompts

How to Choose a Topic for an Essay on Overcoming Challenges

1. Avoid trivial or common topics

2. Pick challenges that demonstrate qualities you want to highlight

Tips for Writing an Essay About Overcoming Challenges

1. Choose an original essay structure

2. Focus on the internal

3. Share what you learned

Where to Get Your Overcoming Challenges Essay Edited

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How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example

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One Expert's Advice to Help You Write a Strong Overcoming Adversity Essay

Leslie Tucker PhD, Jun 07, 2021

Why the overcoming adversity essay is important

How to select the best story for your overcoming adversity essay

Weak topics for your adversity essay

Strong topics for your adversity essay

How to write an impressive overcoming adversity essay

Dos and don’ts for your overcoming adversity essay

Final thoughts about the overcoming adversity essay

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One Expert’s Advice to Help You Write a Strong Overcoming Adversity Essay

Why the overcoming adversity essay is important

How to select the best story for your overcoming adversity essay

Weak topics for your adversity essay

Strong topics for your adversity essay

How to write an impressive overcoming adversity essay

Dos and don’ts for your overcoming adversity essay

Final thoughts about the overcoming adversity essay

Dr. Leslie Tucker College Consultant

How to Answer the Essay Prompt "Describe a Challenge You Overcame"

Don’t panic

Brainstorm an authentic but impactful challenge

Begin at the end

Share context about the situation but make it brief

Focus on what you learned

Share actions you took as a result of overcoming the challenge

Connect the lessons you learned to your future

Seek support!

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