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How to Write a Personal Challenge Essay (with Examples)

A personal challenge essay offers a singular chance for introspection and personal development. It gives you a chance to consider your past, face difficulties, and demonstrate your tenacity. This essay structure enables you to communicate your ideas and experiences with others, regardless of whether you’ve overcome hardship, dealt with a tricky circumstance, or chased an audacious goal. You’ll walk you through the phases of writing an engaging personal challenge essay in this in-depth guide, complete with samples that demonstrate the procedure.

Understanding the Personal Challenge Essay

The Personal challenges in life as a student essay asks you to describe an instance or time in your life when you had to overcome challenges, setbacks, or barriers. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate your resilience, your capacity to face adversity, and the lessons you’ve picked up along the road. This kind of article necessitates reflection, sincerity, and skillful narrative.

Selecting a Meaningful Challenge

It’s important to pick the correct challenge to write about. Think about Personal challenges in life as a student essay that profoundly influenced your development, principles, or attitude on life. It can have been an obstacle you overcame in your studies, relationships, sense of self, or any other area of your life. The task should have personal significance for you and provide information that your audience can relate to.

Structuring Your Personal Challenge Essay

To effectively portray your experiences, feelings, and growth, writing an engaging personal challenge essay involves careful thought and a well-organized format. The following steps will show you how to organize your essay such that it presents a logical and interesting story:

Introduction:

Beginning your essay with an attention-grabbing hook that draws the reader in and highlights the topic of the difficulty you’ll be exploring is a good idea. This might be a provocative inquiry, a moving saying, a detailed account, or a first-hand account associated with your issue.

Background & Context:

Make sure the reader has all the background knowledge they need to comprehend your dilemma. Describe the context, surroundings, and any other pertinent information that establishes the scene for your narrative. Additionally, you have the choice to ask for assistance from PhD thesis writing help if you run into difficulties when writing the background and context of your thesis or dissertation or if you are unsure owing to a lack of experience. They can offer helpful assistance to improve the caliber of your work.

The Challenge:

Describe the challenge in detail in a portion of your essay. When describing the challenges, difficulties, or setbacks you encountered, be descriptive and in-depth.

Your Reaction and Result:

Write about how you responded to the challenge in this part. What steps have you taken? Did you make crucial decisions, prepare a plan, or ask for assistance? Be sure to emphasize your ability to solve problems, tenacity, and any other traits that may have helped you overcome the obstacle.

Growth and Reflection:

Consider the encounter and share what you took away from it. What effects did the challenge have on your emotions, mind, and possibly even body? What new understandings did you get about who you are, your values, or your outlook on life? Describe how you overcame the obstacle to grow personally, discover yourself, or alter your perspective.

Takeaways & Lessons:

The exact lessons you took away from overcoming the obstacle should be highlighted. What priceless knowledge, abilities, or traits did you acquire as a result? Describe how these teachings have shaped your current behavior, choices, or attitude in life.

Conclusion:

Writing a compelling conclusion that connects everything can help you to conclude your essay. Write a summary of your shared journey, highlighting your personal development and new perspectives.

Include a Call to Action (Optional):

Depending on the nature of your issue, you might want to include a call to action that prompts the reader to reflect on their own issues, take action, or adopt a particular attitude.

After you’ve finished writing the essay, take some time to review and make any necessary changes. Check that the grammar, spelling, and punctuation in your writing are correct, as well as the flow.

Maintain You’re Authentic Voice Throughout the Essay:

While it’s crucial to follow a structured methodology, don’t forget to preserve your authentic voice. Remain sincere, honest, and personal in your writing. Your unique perspective and emotions will lend greater authenticity to your writing and make it more compelling. By adhering to the instructions outlined in this comprehensive guide, you’ll effectively organize your personal challenge essay. This approach will skillfully lead your readers through your journey, captivating their attention and leaving a memorable impression. Furthermore, if you find it challenging to maintain a systematic approach, consider seeking assistance from master thesis writing help. Their expertise can aid you in completing your work with precision and coherence.

Don’ts and Dos

Be upfront and honest when discussing your experiences. Do emphasize your development and lessons acquired. To keep the reader’s attention, employ colorful language and descriptions. Don’t make up or embellish details. Instead of blaming others for the difficulty, concentrate on your solution. Choose a challenge that had a significant influence rather than one that was inconsequential.

Examples of Personal Challenge Essays

Following are the Personal challenge essay examples:

Overcoming Academic Challenges:

Navigating the challenges we face in life essay can be a transformative journey that leads to personal growth and self-discovery. A prime example of this is when I confronted a series of academic setbacks. I realized that my ingrained fear of failing was standing in the way of my development. I, however, resisted allowing this fear to direct my course. I started a quest for self-improvement with pure tenacity. I reached out for guidance and support, shedding light on the power of seeking assistance when needed.

Overcoming Fear:

For instance, I had always been terrified of public speaking, but I had to face my phobia to present in front of a large crowd. I overcame my anxiety about public speaking over time with practice and confidence, and I also acquired speaking abilities that I still use today.

Dealing with Personal Loss:

Losing a loved one was a difficult emotional experience that altered my outlook on relationships and life. I learned the value of cherishing moments and helping others in need through my grief and contemplation.

Examples of challenges you have overcome as a student essay

I have encountered a range of challenges as a student, which has pushed my perseverance, adaptability, and resilience to the test. Even though they occasionally proved to be challenging, these obstacles ultimately helped me become a better and more capable individual. Here are a few instances of obstacles I overcame in my academic career:

Time Management Challenges:

Juggling schoolwork, assignments, extracurricular activities, and personal obligations can be difficult. There were times when I struggled to adequately manage my time, which resulted in missed deadlines and frustration. To overcome this difficulty, I started adopting time management strategies like making a thorough calendar, establishing priorities, and breaking work down into smaller, more manageable pieces. I became more organized about my obligations over time, which led to increased productivity and decreased stress. Furthermore, many students pursuing careers in the medical field face similarly demanding schedules that make it challenging to meet deadlines. In such cases, they often turn to nursing research paper writing services to ensure the quality and timeliness of their assignments.

Academic Setbacks:

It was demoralizing to experience academic setbacks, such as earning lower grades than expected. I decided to take advantage of these setbacks as chances for improvement rather than giving in to self-doubt. I requested input from my lecturers, made note of my weaknesses, and put focused study techniques into practice. I was able to improve my academic performance and regain my confidence by persevering and being willing to learn from my failures.

Language Barrier:

Navigating English as a second language introduced a unique set of challenges, especially in terms of effective communication and the completion of writing assignments. In essays and presentations, I often encountered hurdles in articulating my thoughts coherently and concisely. To overcome this hurdle, I actively expanded my vocabulary, engaged in consistent reading and writing exercises, and actively sought input from peers and professors. Furthermore, this drive to enhance my linguistic abilities not only improved my communication skills but also bolstered my confidence in expressing myself in academic and professional settings. My determination to conquer these language-related challenges demonstrates my commitment to growth and adaptability, qualities that I believe would make me a strong candidate for the Harvard Scholarship Essay .

Dynamics of Group Projects:

Due to the various work habits, schedules, and perspectives held by the group members, collaborative projects have occasionally proven to be difficult. I adopted efficient communication techniques, such as active listening and open discussion, to handle these circumstances. By praising each team member’s abilities and accomplishments, I helped to create a more effective and pleasant working atmosphere.

Personal Well-Being and Health:

It can be difficult to maintain a good balance between your personal needs and your academic obligations. I have occasionally overlooked my needs, which has resulted in burnout and a decline in drive. I gave exercise, wholesome eating, and regular breaks top priority since I understood how important self-care was. This all-encompassing strategy not only increased my general well-being but also sharpened my attention and increased my output. These examples collectively constitute my challenges in life as a student essay. They serve as valuable lessons that offer insights on how to navigate and overcome various situations.

How to Revise and Improve Your Essay

For instance, if you are given a topic such as “Essay on Environmental Problems and Their Solutions” and you’re not well-versed in it, it’s advisable to invest time in research. This will enable you to create quality content for your essay. After writing your personal challenge essay, it’s essential to engage in the editing and revision process. Ensure that your essay flows logically and that your ideas are well-organized. Edit for clarity, grammar, and punctuation. If you’re seeking a comprehensive perspective, consider seeking feedback from peers, professors, or mentors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final thoughts.

Writing a personal challenge essay offers you the chance to share your unique journey and inspire others through your resilience and progress you can create an engaging tale that engrosses your readers by choosing a pertinent challenge, using a solid essay structure, and remaining honest. It’s crucial to remember that your essay about a personal issue demonstrates both your capacity for self-reflection and personal development in addition to your capacity for overcoming challenges. For those who face challenges in managing their academic tasks, there are online homework writing services available that can provide valuable assistance and support.

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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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The Classroom | Empowering Students in Their College Journey

How to Write an Essay on a Challenge

What Should a Narrative Essay Format Look Like?

University and internship applications often require an essay, which reflects the challenges and obstacles you have overcome in life. An essay based around the challenges in your life can be a fantastic way to illustrate how you have continued to move forward in life despite of, or because of, the challenges which have come across your path. With some preparation and editing, an essay based on a challenge in your life can be a cathartic writing experience.

List challenges which have come into your life on a blank sheet of paper. For each challenge, also list out how that challenge has shaped or inspired you to move forward. Look for a challenge which will create a powerful narrative for your prospective audience. Make sure you choose a challenge that remains authentic to you.

Outline the essay. This step will help keep you focused and clear during the writing process. An outline should consist of headers, which will represent a paragraph or topic. Underneath this heading write out a topic sentence for each paragraph. Continue creating an outline which reflects the structure you would like the essay to take. This structure will often be chronological and will take you from the beginning of the challenge to the present time -- and to the goals you have for the future.

Pull the audience in quickly, with a compelling first sentence. For example, “The teacher stared at me, frustrated, and uncertain of her next move, I still could not read the sentence out loud to the class.” Readers will want to find out what happens next in the story.

Write the challenge essay following the outline you constructed in Step 2. Utilize the topic sentences from the outline as starting points for each new paragraph. Illustrate what the challenge is, how it has changed you throughout life and, most importantly, how you plan to continue striving for more in life.

Use concise sentences to keep the narrative flowing. Stay on topic in each paragraph. You will ideally address one topic in one paragraph. Avoid cliches in the narrative. For example rather than simply saying, “I want to help children,” discuss how you will accomplish this goal and use specifics.

Avoid using contractions. Edit the essay a few times to catch any typos or grammar mistakes. Have a friend or classmate read the essay and give you feedback.

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Avoid using contractions.
Edit the essay a few times to catch any typos or grammar mistakes.
Have a friend or classmate read the essay and give you feedback.

Sarah Vrba has been a writer and editor since 2006. She has contributed to "Seed," "AND Magazine," Care2 Causes and "202 Magazine," among other outlets, focusing on fashion, pop culture, style and identity. Vrba holds an M.A. in history with an emphasis on gender and fashion in the 19th century.

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.

A Guide to Writing a Narrative Essay About Overcoming a Challenge

EssayEdge > Blog > A Guide to Writing a Narrative Essay About Overcoming a Challenge

What do you think of when you think of the word “challenge”? Do you think of a professional project? A class? Do you think of a family situation? A hurdle in your faith? Do you think of a health issue?

If you are an international candidate, perhaps what comes to mind is the “language barrier.” Whatever it is, there is a way to approach writing about challenges that can set you apart.

Table of Contents:

Selection of the Topic and Positioning

What first comes to mind as a possible topic is often the best topic, and one thing to keep in mind is this – how will the topic align with the rest of your packet? Will the challenge you talk about in your essay be something that is reflected in your overall packet? For example, if you are a business applicant, will you be describing a challenge in a professional situation that is referenced on your resume? If you are a Chinese applicant, is your essay about the challenge of learning English? It’s great if your essay helps the reader to understand your overall packet.

Put the Reader in the Picture and Stay Humble

Your reader is in a hurry. Keep it simple. Use your opening paragraph to concisely explain the nature of the challenge and the particular setting. Keep it to four or five sentences. And keep in mind that your reader may not be familiar with the academic or professional setting that you are talking about in your essay, which means that it is a good idea to avoid any type of academic or professional “jargon” in this essay, because this can make you come across as someone who is trying to sound important.

Here is the thing: In your challenge essay, you’re going to have to convince the reader of how you overcame something, which is a form of promoting yourself. But as you have already learned in the process of developing your essays, promoting yourself can backfire very easily because nobody likes someone who toots her or his own horn. So you are walking a razor’s edge. Just stay humble, and you’ll be fine.

No problem. Everybody loves a challenge. No pun intended.

Don’t Overdo It

In fact, “downplaying” the challenge can be another effective strategy in this essay. This conveys to the reader that you realize that the challenge you are talking about is not a big deal in the overall scheme of things, but it is something that has given you some self insight, which is what you want to share with the reader.

Again, this essay almost always has to take the form of self-promotion. So how are you going to stay humble? Just don’t take yourself too seriously in this essay.

The Language Barrier

Let’s say that you want to write about the challenge of overcoming the language barrier. Think of it this way:

Technically the challenge was this:

The language barrier

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The challenge behind the challenge was this:

My pride (the ego’s constraints in a new language)
My fear (of never conquering the new language, if that would be true for you then or even now)
The culture (if the language was not the problem at all, which is often the case)
The timing (if you just were not ready for it)
The setting (I was in the city, I’d been in the country all my life, for example)
I was homesick (this can work but don’t let it get too negative)
I was sick (but did not realize it, another not uncommon scenario)

The thing to do is to take a personal approach to set yourself apart. The way to do this is to consider what the challenge was “behind” or “underlying” your particular challenge with the language. By using this approach you can develop an essay that focuses on a psychological perspective, which works very well in response to this prompt.

We all regularly overcome various challenges. This fact tempts people to think that describing it in an essay is a piece of cake, but this assumption is wrong. If you need someone to assist you in presenting your experience, you can turn to our essay proofreading service .

Another tricky prompt can be “Discuss a time you failed.” Learn how to tackle it!

Blog: How to Write an Overcoming Challenges College Essay

Updated: Dec 29, 2022

As deadlines and deadlines creep up on us this year, you might be thinking to yourself: my biggest challenge is college application season. And you’re not wrong nor alone in that feeling; applying to universities is indeed a massive undertaking. When you’re confronted by a question like, “What is the biggest challenge that you’ve overcome?” it’s easy to start spiraling out—what if my biggest challenge isn’t significant enough? What if I haven’t overcome any challenges?

No fear, Cassandra’s here with 4 tips on how to write this challenging essay.

1. Don’t Look for “Big,” Look for Authentic

Some of the best “challenge” essays I’ve read are about the smaller moments in life, like not landing a dream role in a school musical or conquering stage fright. Your topic doesn’t have to be grandiose or somber or life-altering in order for this to be a good essay. In fact, if you try to force your essay into something that it’s not, your admissions officer will be able to see through that quickly; inauthenticity is the last thing you want in your essays.

Your officers know that everyone’s lives are different; what might be a huge challenge for one person might not be challenging for another, and that’s okay. What’s important here is that you choose a topic or story that you genuinely felt like was challenging to you. Forget about the scope—let’s just make it authentic to you and your voice.

Specificity is key. Even if you’re choosing a “cliche” topic, for example, challenges in the sports world, you can still make this essay sing by putting in details only you could’ve written. Everybody’s point of view is unique. Describe your situation/world in a way that has your fingerprints and lens on it.

2. Show the Struggle AND the Victory

Remember that you are telling a story with a beginning, middle and end. I like to think of it as a classic plot structure for a movie or a book. Take a look at this chart above

. See how much of the struggle or the rising action takes up? Ideally, your essay should aim for 70% struggle, 10% turning point, and 20% celebration/lessons learned. Paint us a picture of the blood, sweat and tears you went through. Let us feel the difficulty of this challenge. You might think that these details are too insignificant but if you spend time showing and not telling us the story, we’re right there in the trenches with you. We’ll empathize with you every step of the way.

A turning point in the essay is important. Often, I find that it might be an epiphany, a realization that something’s not quite working in your initial approach to overcoming a challenge. Once you write that in, this will logically and naturally propel us to the last 20%, which is showcasing the New You: what do you look like after overcoming this challenge? Have you emerged from this difficulty stronger? Braver? More equipped? Don’t tell us that, SHOW us. If you had shaky hands at the beginning before taking your first hang gliding lesson, end on an image of steady hands guiding the glider through the skies. And don’t forget to give us a taste of that sweet victory celebration too. In the same way we feel your struggle, we also want to feel your euphoria and glee at overcoming the struggle.

3. Avoid Summary

The biggest mistake I see students make is including a conclusion paragraph that neatly summarizes all the lessons learned from overcoming this challenge. Why is that a mistake? It’s a waste of real estate. If you did your job correctly, that is, SHOW and not TELL us a story of your struggle, we should implicitly understand the lessons that you’ve absorbed and how you’re a better, different person now.

It’s good that you wrote the summary/conclusion paragraph—now copy and paste it into a new document as a lamppost for your next draft. Make sure your essay reflects it; if you’re struggling to meet a word count, hold up every sentence to this lamppost and ask yourself, “does this help achieve what I want my readers to implicitly take away?”

4. Don’t Forget to Answer The Question

Some essay questions ask for more than just telling us a time where you overcame a challenge. It might ask you to make a connection to your academics and what you hope to study in the future; it might ask you to draw a line between what you overcame and how you plan to contribute to student life on their campus. Whatever it may be, make sure you answer ALL parts of the question!

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Frequently asked questions

How do i write about my challenges and mistakes.

When writing about yourself , including difficult experiences or failures can be a great way to show vulnerability and authenticity, but be careful not to overshare, and focus on showing how you matured from the experience.

Frequently asked questions: College admissions essays

When writing your Common App essay , choose a prompt that sparks your interest and that you can connect to a unique personal story.

No matter which prompt you choose, admissions officers are more interested in your ability to demonstrate personal development , insight, or motivation for a certain area of study.

The Common App essay is your primary writing sample within the Common Application, a college application portal accepted by more than 900 schools. All your prospective schools that accept the Common App will read this essay to understand your character, background, and value as a potential student.

Since this essay is read by many colleges, avoid mentioning any college names or programs; instead, save tailored answers for the supplementary school-specific essays within the Common App.

Most importantly, your essay should be about you , not another person or thing. An insightful college admissions essay requires deep self-reflection, authenticity, and a balance between confidence and vulnerability.

Your essay shouldn’t be a résumé of your experiences but instead should tell a story that demonstrates your most important values and qualities.

When revising your college essay , first check for big-picture issues regarding your message and content. Then, check for flow, tone, style , and clarity. Finally, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors .

If your college essay goes over the word count limit , cut any sentences with tangents or irrelevant details. Delete unnecessary words that clutter your essay.

If you’re struggling to reach the word count for your college essay, add vivid personal stories or share your feelings and insight to give your essay more depth and authenticity.

If you’ve got to write your college essay fast , don’t panic. First, set yourself deadlines: you should spend about 10% of your remaining time on brainstorming, 10% on outlining, 40% writing, 30% revising, and 10% taking breaks in between stages.

Second, brainstorm stories and values based on your essay prompt.

Third, outline your essay based on the montage or narrative essay structure .

Fourth, write specific, personal, and unique stories that would be hard for other students to replicate.

Fifth, revise your essay and make sure it’s clearly written.

Last, if possible, get feedback from an essay coach . Scribbr essay editors can help you revise your essay in 12 hours or less.

Avoid swearing in a college essay , since admissions officers’ opinions of profanity will vary. In some cases, it might be okay to use a vulgar word, such as in dialogue or quotes that make an important point in your essay. However, it’s safest to try to make the same point without swearing.

If you have bad grades on your transcript, you may want to use your college admissions essay to explain the challenging circumstances that led to them. Make sure to avoid dwelling on the negative aspects and highlight how you overcame the situation or learned an important lesson.

However, some college applications offer an additional information section where you can explain your bad grades, allowing you to choose another meaningful topic for your college essay.

Here’s a brief list of college essay topics that may be considered cliché:

Extracurriculars, especially sports
Role models
Dealing with a personal tragedy or death in the family
Struggling with new life situations (immigrant stories, moving homes, parents’ divorce)
Becoming a better person after community service, traveling, or summer camp
Overcoming a difficult class
Using a common object as an extended metaphor

It’s easier to write a standout essay with a unique topic. However, it’s possible to make a common topic compelling with interesting story arcs, uncommon connections, and an advanced writing style.

Yes. The college application essay is less formal than other academic writing —though of course it’s not mandatory to use contractions in your essay.

In a college essay , you can be creative with your language . When writing about the past, you can use the present tense to make the reader feel as if they were there in the moment with you. But make sure to maintain consistency and when in doubt, default to the correct verb tense according to the time you’re writing about.

The college admissions essay gives admissions officers a different perspective on you beyond your academic achievements, test scores, and extracurriculars. It’s your chance to stand out from other applicants with similar academic profiles by telling a unique, personal, and specific story.

Use a standard font such as Times New Roman or Arial to avoid distracting the reader from your college essay’s content.

A college application essay is less formal than most academic writing . Instead of citing sources formally with in-text citations and a reference list, you can cite them informally in your text.

For example, “In her research paper on genetics, Quinn Roberts explores …”

There is no set number of paragraphs in a college admissions essay . College admissions essays can diverge from the traditional five-paragraph essay structure that you learned in English class. Just make sure to stay under the specified word count .

Most topics are acceptable for college essays if you can use them to demonstrate personal growth or a lesson learned. However, there are a few difficult topics for college essays that should be avoided. Avoid topics that are:

Overly personal (e.g. graphic details of illness or injury, romantic or sexual relationships)
Not personal enough (e.g. broad solutions to world problems, inspiring people or things)
Too negative (e.g. an in-depth look at your flaws, put-downs of others, criticizing the need for a college essay)
Too boring (e.g. a resume of your academic achievements and extracurriculars)
Inappropriate for a college essay (e.g. illegal activities, offensive humor, false accounts of yourself, bragging about privilege)

To write an effective diversity essay , include vulnerable, authentic stories about your unique identity, background, or perspective. Provide insight into how your lived experience has influenced your outlook, activities, and goals. If relevant, you should also mention how your background has led you to apply for this university and why you’re a good fit.

Many universities believe a student body composed of different perspectives, beliefs, identities, and backgrounds will enhance the campus learning and community experience.

Admissions officers are interested in hearing about how your unique background, identity, beliefs, culture, or characteristics will enrich the campus community, which is why they assign a diversity essay .

In addition to your main college essay , some schools and scholarships may ask for a supplementary essay focused on an aspect of your identity or background. This is sometimes called a diversity essay .

You can use humor in a college essay , but carefully consider its purpose and use it wisely. An effective use of humor involves unexpected, keen observations of the everyday, or speaks to a deeper theme. Humor shouldn’t be the main focus of the essay, but rather a tool to improve your storytelling.

Get a second opinion from a teacher, counselor, or essay coach on whether your essay’s humor is appropriate.

Though admissions officers are interested in hearing your story, they’re also interested in how you tell it. An exceptionally written essay will differentiate you from other applicants, meaning that admissions officers will spend more time reading it.

You can use literary devices to catch your reader’s attention and enrich your storytelling; however, focus on using just a few devices well, rather than trying to use as many as possible.

To decide on a good college essay topic , spend time thoughtfully answering brainstorming questions. If you still have trouble identifying topics, try the following two strategies:

Identify your qualities → Brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities
Identify memorable stories → Connect your qualities to these stories

You can also ask family, friends, or mentors to help you brainstorm topics, give feedback on your potential essay topics, or recall key stories that showcase your qualities.

Yes—admissions officers don’t expect everyone to have a totally unique college essay topic . But you must differentiate your essay from others by having a surprising story arc, an interesting insight, and/or an advanced writing style .

There are no foolproof college essay topics —whatever your topic, the key is to write about it effectively. However, a good topic

Is meaningful, specific, and personal to you
Focuses on you and your experiences
Reveals something beyond your test scores, grades, and extracurriculars
Is creative and original

Unlike a five-paragraph essay, your admissions essay should not end by summarizing the points you’ve already made. It’s better to be creative and aim for a strong final impression.

You should also avoid stating the obvious (for example, saying that you hope to be accepted).

There are a few strategies you can use for a memorable ending to your college essay :

Return to the beginning with a “full circle” structure
Reveal the main point or insight in your story
Look to the future
End on an action

The best technique will depend on your topic choice, essay outline, and writing style. You can write several endings using different techniques to see which works best.

College deadlines vary depending on the schools you’re applying to and your application plan:

For early action applications and the first round of early decision applications, the deadline is on November 1 or 15. Decisions are released by mid-December.
For the second round of early decision applications, the deadline is January 1 or 15. Decisions are released in January or February.
Regular decision deadlines usually fall between late November and mid-March, and decisions are released in March or April.
Rolling admission deadlines run from July to April, and decisions are released around four to eight weeks after submission.

Depending on your prospective schools’ requirements, you may need to submit scores for the SAT or ACT as part of your college application .

Some schools now no longer require students to submit test scores; however, you should still take the SAT or ACT and aim to get a high score to strengthen your application package.

Aim to take the SAT or ACT in the spring of your junior year to give yourself enough time to retake it in the fall of your senior year if necessary.

Apply early for federal student aid and application fee waivers. You can also look for scholarships from schools, corporations, and charitable foundations.

To maximize your options, you should aim to apply to about eight schools:

Two reach schools that might be difficult to get into
Four match schools that you have a good chance of getting into
Two safety schools that you feel confident you’ll get into

The college admissions essay accounts for roughly 25% of the weight of your application .

At highly selective schools, there are four qualified candidates for every spot. While your academic achievements are important, your college admissions essay can help you stand out from other applicants with similar profiles.

In general, for your college application you will need to submit all of the following:

Your personal information
List of extracurriculars and awards
College application essays
Transcripts
Standardized test scores
Recommendation letters.

Different colleges may have specific requirements, so make sure you check exactly what’s expected in the application guidance.

You should start thinking about your college applications the summer before your junior year to give you sufficient time for college visits, taking standardized tests, applying for financial aid , writing essays, and collecting application material.

Yes, but make sure your essay directly addresses the prompt, respects the word count , and demonstrates the organization’s values.

If you plan ahead, you can save time by writing one scholarship essay for multiple prompts with similar questions. In a scholarship tracker spreadsheet, you can group or color-code overlapping essay prompts; then, write a single essay for multiple scholarships. Sometimes, you can even reuse or adapt your main college essay .

You can start applying for scholarships as early as your junior year. Continue applying throughout your senior year.

Invest time in applying for various scholarships , especially local ones with small dollar amounts, which are likely easier to win and more reflective of your background and interests. It will be easier for you to write an authentic and compelling essay if the scholarship topic is meaningful to you.

You can find scholarships through your school counselor, community network, or an internet search.

A scholarship essay requires you to demonstrate your values and qualities while answering the prompt’s specific question.

After researching the scholarship organization, identify a personal experience that embodies its values and exemplifies how you will be a successful student.

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

A unique, personally meaningful topic
A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

While timelines will differ depending on the student, plan on spending at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing the first draft of your college admissions essay , and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Don’t forget to save enough time for breaks between each writing and editing stage.

You should already begin thinking about your essay the summer before your senior year so that you have plenty of time to try out different topics and get feedback on what works.

Your college essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s weight. It may be the deciding factor in whether you’re accepted, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurricular track records.

In most cases, quoting other people isn’t a good way to start your college essay . Admissions officers want to hear your thoughts about yourself, and quotes often don’t achieve that. Unless a quote truly adds something important to your essay that it otherwise wouldn’t have, you probably shouldn’t include it.

Cliché openers in a college essay introduction are usually general and applicable to many students and situations. Most successful introductions are specific: they only work for the unique essay that follows.

The key to a strong college essay introduction is not to give too much away. Try to start with a surprising statement or image that raises questions and compels the reader to find out more.

The introduction of your college essay is the first thing admissions officers will read and therefore your most important opportunity to stand out. An excellent introduction will keep admissions officers reading, allowing you to tell them what you want them to know.

You can speed up this process by shortening and smoothing your writing with a paraphrasing tool . After that, you can use the summarizer to shorten it even more.

If you’re struggling to reach the word count for your college essay, add vivid personal stories or share your feelings and insight to give your essay more depth and authenticity.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

In your application essay , admissions officers are looking for particular features : they want to see context on your background, positive traits that you could bring to campus, and examples of you demonstrating those qualities.

Colleges want to be able to differentiate students who seem similar on paper. In the college application essay , they’re looking for a way to understand each applicant’s unique personality and experiences.

You don’t need a title for your college admissions essay , but you can include one if you think it adds something important.

Your college essay’s format should be as simple as possible:

Use a standard, readable font
Use 1.5 or double spacing
If attaching a file, save it as a PDF
Stick to the word count
Avoid unusual formatting and unnecessary decorative touches

There are no set rules for how to structure a college application essay , but these are two common structures that work:

A montage structure, a series of vignettes with a common theme.
A narrative structure, a single story that shows your personal growth or how you overcame a challenge.

Avoid the five-paragraph essay structure that you learned in high school.

Campus visits are always helpful, but if you can’t make it in person, the college website will have plenty of information for you to explore. You should look through the course catalog and even reach out to current faculty with any questions about the school.

Colleges set a “Why this college?” essay because they want to see that you’ve done your research. You must prove that you know what makes the school unique and can connect that to your own personal goals and academic interests.

Depending on your writing, you may go through several rounds of revision . Make sure to put aside your essay for a little while after each editing stage to return with a fresh perspective.

Teachers and guidance counselors can help you check your language, tone, and content . Ask for their help at least one to two months before the submission deadline, as many other students will also want their help.

Friends and family are a good resource to check for authenticity. It’s best to seek help from family members with a strong writing or English educational background, or from older siblings and cousins who have been through the college admissions process.

If possible, get help from an essay coach or editor ; they’ll have specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and be able to give objective expert feedback.

When revising your college essay , first check for big-picture issues regarding message, flow, tone, style , and clarity. Then, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

Include specific, personal details and use your authentic voice to shed a new perspective on a common human experience.

Through specific stories, you can weave your achievements and qualities into your essay so that it doesn’t seem like you’re bragging from a resume.

First, spend time reflecting on your core values and character . You can start with these questions:

What are three words your friends or family would use to describe you, and why would they choose them?
Whom do you admire most and why?
What are you most proud of? Ashamed of?

However, you should do a comprehensive brainstorming session to fully understand your values. Also consider how your values and goals match your prospective university’s program and culture. Then, brainstorm stories that illustrate the fit between the two.

In a college application essay , you can occasionally bend grammatical rules if doing so adds value to the storytelling process and the essay maintains clarity.

However, use standard language rules if your stylistic choices would otherwise distract the reader from your overall narrative or could be easily interpreted as unintentional errors.

Write concisely and use the active voice to maintain a quick pace throughout your essay and make sure it’s the right length . Avoid adding definitions unless they provide necessary explanation.

Use first-person “I” statements to speak from your perspective . Use appropriate word choices that show off your vocabulary but don’t sound like you used a thesaurus. Avoid using idioms or cliché expressions by rewriting them in a creative, original way.

If you’re an international student applying to a US college and you’re comfortable using American idioms or cultural references , you can. But instead of potentially using them incorrectly, don’t be afraid to write in detail about yourself within your own culture.

Provide context for any words, customs, or places that an American admissions officer might be unfamiliar with.

College application essays are less formal than other kinds of academic writing . Use a conversational yet respectful tone , as if speaking with a teacher or mentor. Be vulnerable about your feelings, thoughts, and experiences to connect with the reader.

Aim to write in your authentic voice , with a style that sounds natural and genuine. You can be creative with your word choice, but don’t use elaborate vocabulary to impress admissions officers.

Admissions officers use college admissions essays to evaluate your character, writing skills , and ability to self-reflect . The essay is your chance to show what you will add to the academic community.

The college essay may be the deciding factor in your application , especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

Some colleges also require supplemental essays about specific topics, such as why you chose that specific college . Scholarship essays are often required to obtain financial aid .

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Essays About Life Challenges: Top 5 Examples and 6 Prompts

Essays about life challenges let us share our valuable experiences and lessons in life. See our top examples and prompts to assist you in writing your essay.

Life challenges envelop the obstacles we face to reach where we are now. These personal crises we had to deal with have left us with lessons we can use to grow as people and have better lives. Essays that tackle this subject help us reflect on our experiences so we can remember our failures, celebrate our successes, and appreciate our growth. You can also check out these essays about life .

5 Essay Examples

1. african refugees life challenges by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 2. overcoming challenges in my life: dyslexia by anonymous on gradesfixer.com, 3. a self-reflection of my life challenges, motivation, and persistence to achieve my goals by terence hampton, 4. young generation’s challenges in life and career by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 5. role of challenges in identification of purposes in life by anonymous on gradesfixer.com, 1. before and after life challenges, 2. extreme life challenges and mental health, 3. the role of family when dealing with life challenges, 4. life challenges at work, 5. the different effects of life challenges, 6. overcoming life challenges.

“The refugees are allowed to live in these camps and receive emergency food and medical care until they feel it is secure enough for them to go back to their domiciles or until they are reunited with their people living out of the campers.”

This essay gives readers an insight into the everyday challenges of refugees living in a camp. The author describes their situation in detail to let the readers understand their suffering and how difficult it is to be away from their homes. The essay further includes relevant statistics and studies to showcase the astounding number of refugees worldwide, including how they became refugees.

Refugee camps still exist today, intending to relieve refugees from their challenging situations. Creating a challenging environment for many refugees living in this situation. You might be interested in these essays about cause and effect .

“As a child, I can remember when people were reassuring me that I was such a bright and outgoing kid. But there were times that I didn’t feel that way. I’ve always thought they were wrong about me and just trying to get my self-esteem up… ”

In this essay, the author shares their difficulties with having dyslexia, noting how growing up with this disability put them through overwhelming pressure and unpleasant situations that made them self-conscious. Their disability triggered many emotions that made them constantly embarrassed or panicky.

However, the writer recognizes how their disability helped them improve their communication skills and reflects on how their challenging time at school molded them into who they are today. You can also check out these essays about conflict and essays about stress .

“I refuse to let adversity crush me because that would mean that my family and I would have done all this suffering for nothing. I do not live in vain, I live for a purpose and that is to inspire people to be more than what they think they are capable of. No day is promised, but the future is always full of possibilities.”

Hampton starts this essay by recognizing how life continuously throws him challenges. Still, he decides to only reflect on the most significant impact on his character, namely, his brother’s arrest, his twin brother Dante’s disability, and his father’s death. Throughout the piece, Hampton narrates these obstacles, letting the readers know what they made him feel and how they affected him as an individual.

When he thinks back to these difficulties, he realizes what his objectives should be, encouraging him to be a better person. Hampton tells his readers that these challenges inspire him to reach his goals. Check out these essays about life lessons .

“Being the age of twenty-four years, I have encountered and seen the various challenges that many youths in this generation are experiencing. The list of challenges facing the youth in the current generation is endless with most of them having great impacts on the entire globe.”

As a young person, the author lets the audience in on the challenges they face and centers the essay around the hurdles youth are expected to deal with. The writer focuses on the difficulty of gaining employment despite years of formal training. This essay looks at current challenges facing today’s youth and how to overcome them.

“When you are faced with a challenge, especially one that pushes your limits, you sometimes behave differently. I’m not sure how to explain it…but there is occasionally a moment when you feel absolutely drained — like you can’t take one more step or your arms are about to fail you — but if you have the right mindset you can pull the strength you need from a part of you that is not commonly used.”

This essay focuses on how challenges can be used to enhance self-identification. The author explains how difficulties in life are commonly related to experiential learning, which helps people reflect, grow, and change. The author also believes that the most challenging times bring out the bravest in us, and the more we get used to these challenges, the more we develop our “superhero power.”

6 Prompts for Essays About Life Challenges

Begin your essay by sharing a personal experience about a life-changing challenge you had to endure. Reminisce about your life before this occurred, and delve into how you felt during the challenge, then describe overcoming the challenge and how it shaped you. You can split your essay into three sections to dedicate thought to each part of the process. Make sure to use descriptive language and share your feelings with the reader for an engaging piece of writing.

Essays About Life Challenges: Extreme life challenges and mental health

The effects of life challenges differ for each person. For this prompt, research severe life challenges that can significantly damage an individual and add relevant statistics that prove these cases. These occurrences include childhood abuse, long-term stress, and social isolation. Conduct research and describe how experiencing these challenges can result in mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Tip: Make sure to cite research from credible sources.

Our upbringing shapes how we confront challenges and find resolutions. These lessons are communicated through events we are exposed to as children and young adults. In this essay, describe the ways that different upbringings can impact our ability to cope with challenges.

For example, a child who grew up in a family where anger was used to resolve challenges may be more likely to deal with their own challenges in a negative way, resulting in anger and anxiety. Look for studies that support this prompt and identify the importance of a family unit in a child’s reaction to life challenges. Check out our 20 engaging essay topics about family .

Essays About Life Challenges: Life challenges at work

To narrow down the subject for your essay, focus on an aspect of an individual’s life they can’t remove, such as livelihood. Use this prompt to open a discussion about the challenges people face in their workplace and find cases that illustrate these difficulties.

For example, there are 48.6 million Americans who have experienced workplace bullying. Delve into the reasons for these issues and offer possible solutions.

Overcoming tough challenges in life may lead to positive or negative results. Divide your essay into two parts, list the pros and cons of dealing with everyday life challenges, and add relevant factors that lead to those outcomes.

Here’s an example: After the death of a loved one, an individual will learn how to deal with the pain and continue living their life with a stronger faith. On the other hand, they may succumb to sadness and become depressed.

For this prompt, choose a specific life challenge you had to deal with and how you addressed the situation. Narrate the difficulties you needed to manage during that time and ensure to highlight the qualities or values you used to overcome them.

Following the previous point’s example, if you have experienced losing a close relative, your struggles could include consoling your family and yourself while needing to oversee how the deceased’s funeral and estate are handled. You can describe how you overcame this challenge by remaining composed and wise throughout the ordeal.

Looking for more? Check out our guide on how to write essays about depression .

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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7 Essay Writing Challenges And How To Handle Them

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If there is an opened empty Word file on the background and you are unthinkingly browsing through the Internet searching for at least a glimpse of inspiration, trust us, you are not alone.

According to the study of DSU students, 60% of them procrastinate more on writing tasks than on any other workload. All professional writers face a writer’s block at some point. Procrastination is waiting for them at social media news feed or somewhere near a cozy chair with an exciting book.

Students sometimes have a right to stare at the blank sheet of paper with no clue or desire to write. Writers, on the contrary, earn a living by writing, so they have no chance but to struggle with all the challenges of writing.

Also, they understand your issue with writing like nobody else, and they already came up with some efficient solutions to these challenges. Here you will find out how to overcome all obstacles and succeed in academic writing.

What are the common challenges in writing an essay?

Challenge #1: Start.
Challenge #2: Search for compelling arguments.
Challenge #3: Clichés.
Challenge #4: Tone of voice and the audience.
Challenge #5: Fear of Failure.
Challenge #6: Quotations.
Challenge #7: Time management.
Other problems with writing you may face.

When it comes to the accomplishing of the writing assignment, a student goes through several stages of despair and has to clear some obstacles on the way to an excellent paper. These are the most frequent problems that any writer can face on all steps of the writing process:

No clue on how to start the text.
Searching for compelling arguments.
Getting rid of clichéd words.
How to find the right tone for the audience?
What if I fail?
Proper formatting of the quotes.
Time management.

Challenge #1: Start

The very first sentence of the essay is the most complicated and takes the most time.

Solution : this is one of the typical problems in academic writing for a student who neglects the pre-writing stage. Before writing, sit for some time, define the purpose of the essay (e.g., to educate, to persuade, etc.) and contemplate the ideas on how to fulfill it.

For example, you can draw a mind map or use a technique of a word salad when you are writing down all the ideas that come to mind without censoring them. Thus, you get a direction of where to search for materials and facts.

Challenge #2: Search for compelling arguments

Solution : make a thorough research of the issue and check your list of ideas. Remember: any argument may seem solid if it is supported with proofs taken from reliable resources.

People tend to believe reputable sources, so take advantage of it. Press a librarian into service! Do not rely on the Internet only as not all great magazines or books have an online version.

Actually, limiting yourself with online sources is one of the main problems with writing.

…Think out of the box!

Challenge #3: Clichés

Solution : get rid of them. Read the text carefully, and if you see one, rephrase it with simpler words.

If you cannot see them at once, let your friend read the text, as it is easier to spot such things from the sideline.

Remember – avoid clichés like the plague!

Challenge #4: Tone of voice and the audience

Solution : it is one of the most common problems students have with writing. It is necessary to meet the requirements of academic writing and select the right tone and language to create a top-notch paper.

As a rule, academic papers call for unbiased third-person voice, so check the paper and correct all your “I think” and “To my mind.”

All the terminology that you use in the text should be explained, and it is necessary to avoid colloquialisms and slang. But, if you think that adding a lot of compound words of too sector-specific terminology is a good idea, you are wrong.

It is hard to beat plain, clear, and logical language. As when a writer hides behind the heavy-weight word constructs, it is a sign that his knowledge of the subject is superficial.

The audience is another crucial aspect of your paper success. You do not write for corporate purposes. Thus, you have to take the audience into account: make sure that the paper will be interesting for readers.

It should not offer the information that is obvious to your audience, nor should it be too simple or too complicated for understanding.

Challenge #5: Fear of Failure

Solution : practice. And practice. And practice again.

… Nobody’s perfect.

It is fine to have doubts, each and every writer is skeptic about the success of the paper sometimes. If you want to make sure that your paper complies with the wishes of your teacher, show him the rough draft.

If there are some discrepancies, the teacher will show you and explain how to fix it.

Challenge #6: Quotations

Solution : many students struggling with writing essays forget about proper formatting of the citations and then get into trouble.

Each and every quote placed into the text without affiliation is considered to be plagiarism.

… Do you want to be punished for plagiarism?

If no, stick to the chosen citation style. There are plenty of guidelines online where you can check the correctness of the formatting.

Challenge #7: Time management

Solution : leave no out to procrastination. It is a great temptation to wait for a deadline date and try to complete the task within several hours in a hurry.

Proper planning will save you from such problems in writing.

It goes without saying that no student would like to spend several days editing a paper . However, several additional hours dedicated to the research will significantly improve your analysis of the issue.

Also, you will be able to set the paper aside and return to it after a couple of days. Thus, you can revise it from a fresh perspective.

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July 18, 2018

How to Write About Overcoming Challenges Without Sounding Like a Whiner

Download our free guide and start writing your best essay yet!

It’s a classic MBA essay question : Write about a time when you overcame a challenge. How did you handle it? What did you learn from the experience?

Let’s start by easing one worry you may have. Not everyone has faced a significant challenge at work by the time they apply for an MBA. If that is your situation, think of another significant challenge you have faced in another realm: a community or volunteer organization, the military, or perhaps even a difficult personal situation . It’s important that the challenge be something in the recent past – preferably within the last two or three years. If the challenge you write about is farther back than that, it will need to have that much greater impact or significance.

What makes a good “challenge” for the purpose of this essay? The possibilities are almost limitless, but here are a few strong examples:

• “Joe’s” boss informed him he was going to fire “Freddy,” a new-hire Joe had been mentoring, for poor performance. Joe believed in Freddy’s technical skills, and felt Freddy’s shyness and lack of English fluency had hurt him. Joe took it upon himself to try to help save Freddy’s job. He convinced his boss to give Freddy another chance, and coached him after-hours, directed him to a language fluency program, and engaged in role playing to help Freddy gain confidence. Freddy began to thrive, kept his job, and became the go-to guy in his department for certain technical knowledge.

At no time did Joe complain about his boss or call him unreasonable or insensitive. At no time did Joe play the martyr, patting himself on the back about the extra steps he was taking to work with Freddy. He just stated the facts about what he did , which spoke for themselves.

• Here’s another example. “Lori” joined a community service organization whose membership was plummeting. Lori believed in the organization’s goals, volunteered to spearhead a membership drive, which was successful, and then ran for president of the organization and won. Then, she worked to create more dynamic programming, a social media presence, and added appealing incentives for people joining or renewing membership.

Joe made a huge impact on one man, and by extension, an impact on his organization. Lori also was able to show direct and tangible impact on her group. Neither Joe nor Lori made themselves out to be heroes by describing their exhaustion because of long hours spent on their respective “projects.” They didn’t pat themselves on the back for the contributions they made. They simply stated the circumstances, why they believed in their mission, and related what they did to fix what was wrong around them. Presenting their stories in a “just the facts, Ma’m” manner make Lori and Joe sound like exciting management material: filled with vision, creativity, incentive, and energy. And it is succinct.

• Let’s look at one final example. “Gary” had written a marketing plan to boost awareness and fundraising at the non-profit where he worked. His CEO at first approved his plan, then suddenly nixed it, replacing it with his own plan. Gary was sure the CEO’s plan was not viable. It lacked a marketing budget yet had lofty target goals for fundraising. The CEO gave Gary six months to achieve these goals.

Now that’s a challenge.

When Gary couldn’t get the CEO to reconsider, he appealed to others in the organization who had the CEO’s ear. Fortunately, they were willing to speak to the CEO, who then agreed to Gary’s original plan. Now, based on the first few examples we’ve seen, you will already have guessed that in this case, Gary did not complain about the CEO, call him short-sighted or stingy. He did offer some explanations for why the CEO might have seen the situation as he did, but nothing pejorative was written.

Gary’s workaround to his challenging situation showed boldness, initiative, and perseverance. At no time did he complain about the added workload of having to unravel this situation, or make himself sound like he had saved the day.

Let’s recap: A strong “challenge” example will allow you to show direct impact on either your organization or another individual. Ideally, it will be something that happened in the last two or three years, unless it was a monumental achievement. Finally, do not cast blame on others who may have helped create the problem/challenge in the first place, and do not sound like a martyr in describing the efforts (no matter how great) you made to get the job done. Simple, direct writing about the challenge will make it abundantly clear that you have the initiative, problem solving, communications, and organizational skills a good MBA program looks for.

From Example to Exemplary - Download your guide today!

By Judy Gruen, former Accepted admissions consultant. Judy holds a Master’s in Journalism from Northwestern University. She is the co-author of Accepted’s first full-length book, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools . Want an admissions expert help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• The Quick Guide to Admissions Resumes • Writing About Overcoming Obstacles in Your Application Essays • 3 Tips for Showing Strengths in Your Application Essays

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Essay Writing Guide

Essay Writing Problems

Essay Writing Problems - 5 Most Paralyzing Problems

#1 Lack of Confidence

The inability to believe in one’s capabilities and skills is one of the most common problems in essay writing that students have to face.

Students who think they are not good at writing will have trouble starting their papers. They doubt their capability to complete it as well. And with this self-doubt, they may never even try to start working on their paper.

As a result, these students end up not submitting an assignment or simply handing in a poorly-written one, fully accepting and expecting that they will get a low or failing grade.

How to Overcome This

There are various ways students can improve their writing skills. There are online courses they can take and they also have the option to take up traditional classes offered by local schools or tutorial centers.

Additionally, students should practice writing daily even if they make mistakes. As long as these mistakes are corrected, they will become better writers in the future.

Lastly, students who don’t know how to start an essay can always ask for assistance from their teachers, peers, and other people who are more knowledgeable and experienced in writing.

#2 Insufficient Knowledge

Many students will also have difficulties writing an essay about a topic taken up in school. The main reason is that they don’t have enough knowledge about the subject matter.

This difficulty can be caused by the student failing to take notes in class or not attending classes at all. He or she may not even understand the topic completely. This will cause anyone to have poor knowledge of any topic.

This is a problem that students can easily trounce. Students simply need to put in some extra time to study whatever notes they have. They can also do extra research to understand the topic.

Students can also ask their teacher to explain the topic to them again if they are having a hard time understanding it.

#3 Lack of Writing Skills

Although some students are confident about writing and have enough ideas to write their papers, if they lack language proficiency, they won’t submit an impressive essay.

Using the wrong words, misleading language, misplacing words, phrases, and punctuation will result in a poor paper. Some students may even resort to using technical words and jargon with the hope of impressing their teacher. Of course, this technique usually backfires.

Students should learn to use simple words and construct short, concise sentences to get a good mark on their papers. Students also need to read more since this is a good exercise for becoming a better writer.

They can also get help from the best assignment experts if they need help with polishing their papers. These writers will ensure students turn in good essays, reflective of their knowledge and abilities.

#4 Plagiarism

When all else fails, plagiarism is something that many students end up doing just so they can submit a paper. This is also their last resort if they are rushing to complete their essay at the last minute.

Teachers today check each paper for plagiarized content. Students who submit essays that contain copied paragraphs from published material will find themselves in a lot of trouble.

Students need to learn how to paraphrase the content they use for their essays. They should know when and how to use references as well.

Finally, they should make it a habit to run their essays through online plagiarism tools to ensure that they submit an original paper.

#5 Getting Stuck

Lastly, students are given a topic that has been discussed numerous times already. This can get the student stuck and unable to write anything about it. They think that there is nothing left to explore and they can’t have their own say on such topics.

Because of this, they are unable to start writing their paper, much less finish it.

Conducting more research will help students find an angle they will be interested in exploring, analyzing, and discussing. Students can also ask their peers, parents, and other people about the topic.

#6 Time Management

Time management is another main problem that students face. Some students think they can get away with working at the last minute. They might be in a big hurry or simply don't know what needs to be done yet. Because of this, they will submit bad-quality work.

How to Overcome This:

If you plan ahead, you can avoid having to spend a lot of time editing your paper.

Planning ahead will help you do better research, so your analysis of the issue is stronger. This will also help you set the paper aside and come back to it later with a fresh perspective, which means you can revise it more effectively.

#7 Awkward Structure

The structure of your sentences should be clear and understandable to allow the reader to follow what you are saying. Each sentence needs a meaningful connection with the topic so they can understand it fully without confusion, ultimately making them enjoy reading more.

Structure is key to making an essay readable. You should know the proper essay structure. Every sentence should be related and meaningful for your target audience.

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What is the College Essay? Your Complete Guide for 2023

Bonus Material: 30 College Essays That Worked

The college essay is one of the most important parts of your college application.

As important as it is, however, it’s very different from the essays you’re used to writing in high school.

From word count to genre, the college essay is in a category entirely of its own–and one that can be unfamiliar for most students applying to college.

So, what is the college essay? What role does it play in college admissions?

And, most importantly, how do you get started writing an amazing essay?

We answer all of these questions in this complete college essay guide.

Plus, we give readers access to 30 college essays that earned applicants acceptance into the nation’s top colleges. They’re free and you can grab them below right now!

Download 30 College Essays That Worked

Here’s what we cover in this guide:

What is the College Essay?

Our Expert Definition
A College Essay That Worked
The Essay’s Role in College Admissions

The 7 Common Challenges in Writing the College Essay

How To Get Started Writing an Amazing Essay — 6 Tips
Bonus: 30 College Essays That Worked

Most students will use the Common App to apply to U.S. colleges and universities. A smaller number of colleges require students to submit applications through Coalition .

Regardless, both platforms require students to submit a personal statement or essay response as part of their application. Students choose to respond to one of the following prompts in 650 words or fewer .

College Essay Prompts 2022-2023

What do these questions all have in common? They all require answers that are introspective, reflective, and personal.

Take a look at some of these buzzwords from these prompts to see what we mean:

Understanding
Belief / Idea
Contribution

These are big words attached to big, personal concepts. That’s the point!

But because that’s the case, that means the college essay is not an academic essay. It’s not something you write in five paragraphs for English class. Nor is it a formal statement, an outline of a resume, or a list of accomplishments.

It’s something else entirely.

Our Definition of the College Essay

How do we define the college essay? We’ll keep it short and sweet.

The college essay is a personal essay that tells an engaging story in 650 words or fewer. It is comparable to memoir or creative nonfiction writing, which relate the author’s personal experiences.

The college essay is fundamentally personal and creative. It is rich with introspection, reflection, and statements of self-awareness. It can have elements of academic writing in it, such as logical organization, thesis statements, and transition words. But it is not an academic essay that fits comfortably into five paragraphs.

Your task with the college essay is to become a storyteller–and, in the process, provide admissions officers with a valuable glimpse into your world, perspective, and/or experiences.

Example of a College Essay That Worked

Take a look at this essay that earned its writer acceptance into Princeton. We won’t take a super deep dive into the components that make it great.

But we do want to point out a handful of things that align with our definition of the college essay. This essay:

Tells an engaging story
Clearly conveys the author’s voice
Is rich with introspection and reflection
Provides insight into the author’s character, values, and perspective
Is not an academic essay or list of accomplishments
Is deeply personal

It also exemplifies the 7 qualities of a successful college essay .

Here’s the full essay:

“So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being.” – Franz Kafka

Kafka, I’m afraid, has drastically overestimated the power of food. And though it pains me to undermine a statement by arguably the greatest writer of the 20 th century, I recognize it as a solemn duty. Perhaps Kafka has never sat, tongue wild in an effort to scrape residual peanut butter off his molars, and contemplated the almost ridiculous but nevertheless significant role of peanut butter in crafting his identity. Oh, did I just describe myself by accident? Without further ado, the questions (and lack of answers, I point out) that I contemplate with peanut butter in my mouth.

When I was three and a half years old, my tongue was not yet versed in the complex palate of my peers, consisting mainly of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (It did not help my transition into pre-school that I did not speak English, but Russian and that my name, which had been hurriedly switched from Alya to Alex, was unpronounceable to me.) But it is most worth noting that I refused lunch for months, waited at the windowsill with tear-stained cheeks every day unless my mom left law school midday to bring my own comfort food: borscht, katlety, kampot.

I slowly assimilated into American culture, like most immigrant kids. I began to eat the peanut butter sandwiches at pre-school in the presence of my mom, and then did not need her altogether. She must have been elated that I was comfortable, that she could stay at school all day without worrying. She must have been destroyed when I waved her away the first time and told her I did not need her to come anymore.

I realized much later that the Russian food my mother brought me in pre-school made me comfortable enough to learn the language of the children there, to share their lunches, to make friends. Ironically, my Russian culture enabled the rise and dominance of American culture. When my parents wanted to visit their birthplace, my birthplace, Odessa, Ukraine, I rolled my eyes and proclaimed Disney Land, Florida. I rolled my eyes when I spoke too fast for my parents to understand. I rolled my eyes when I checked my mom’s grammar and when she argued with customer service in her thick Russian accent.

Peanut butter, and foods like it, represented not only my entrance into American culture, but the swift rejection of anything Russian that followed. Chicken noodle soup replaced borscht, meatballs replaced katlety, Sunny D triumphed over kampot. I became embarrassed by the snacks packed in my brown paper bag, begged for Cheetos, lime Jell-O cups, and that creamy spread between two damp pieces of Wonder Bread. My American identity tried to eclipse the Russian one altogether.

I realized later still that the identity battle I fought must have been more difficult to watch for my parents than it could have ever been for me to experience. They let me figure myself out, even though it meant I spent years rolling my eyes at them. Though I do not claim to have discovered a perfect balance of Russian and American, I would venture that a healthy start is eating peanut butter for lunch and katlety at dinner.

So, Kafka, I hope that next time a memorable quote comes to mind, you think before you speak. Because when peanut butter cleaves to the roof of my mouth, I think about what it means “to cleave:” both to adhere closely to and to divide, as if by a cutting blow, especially along a natural weakness. And I think about my dual identity, how the Russian side and American side simultaneously force each other apart and bring each other together. I think about my past, feeling a little ashamed, and about my present and future, asking how I can create harmony between these two sides of me. That, Kafka, does not sound like solved questions to me.

Want to read more essays that worked? Download our 30 college essays that earned their writers Ivy League acceptance for free below.

The College Essay’s Role in Admissions

In our post about what college admissions officers are looking for , we outline the Golden Rule of Admissions.

We also define “a student of exceptional potential.” In general, competitive applicants to top U.S. colleges and universities exemplify three pillars:

Character and personal values
Extracurricular distinction
Academic achievement

Admissions officers have a lot at their disposal when it comes to assessing extracurricular distinction and academic achievement. They’ve got transcripts, test scores, resumes, and letters of recommendation.

But how do they assess character and personal values?

A recent survey of admissions officers revealed some interesting answers to this question.

Source : National Association for College Admissions Counseling

Notice how an overwhelming 87% of officers surveyed reported that they infer character and personal qualities of an applicant from the content of the college essay!

The Common Data Set for individual colleges further supports this notion that officers infer character and values through the college essay, teacher recommendations, and other application components. The CDS for Cornell , for example, reveals that the application essay and character/personal qualities are “very important” in admission decisions.

What’s more, the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly altered the college application landscape by introducing some serious inequity in the realm of extracurricular activities, academics, and general access.

Many admissions officers have stressed their focus on character and personal values (more qualitative components) in recent admissions cycles as a result.

Schools are hungry for as much material as possible that they can use to assess students’ character and values! This is one of the reasons why many top colleges require applicants to answer supplemental essay questions — ones in addition to the college essay. These essays can range from 50-650 words, and many colleges have more than one.

For example, Princeton requires applicants to respond to six supplemental essay questions . Here’s one of them from the 2022-2023 admissions cycle:

At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future?

So how important is the college essay in the application process?

Princeton’s former Dean of Admissions summed it up nicely with this quote about the college essay in a conversation with the New York Times :

Your ability to write well is critical to our decision because your writing reflects your thinking. No matter what question is asked on a college application, admission officers are looking to see how well you convey your ideas and express yourself in writing. It is our window to your world.

Now that you know what the college essay is and how it influences college admissions, let’s discuss the challenges in writing it. This list isn’t comprehensive, but it does compile some of the most common challenges most students face when preparing to write their personal statement.

Challenge #1: The Pressure

The college essay is integral to the college admissions process. It’s only likely to carry more weight in coming admission cycles in the wake of COVID-19 .

There is immense pressure on students to write essays that will make them competitive in admissions! This essay can also very much feel like uncharted territory for students given their lack of experience in the world of personal writing. This pressure can become a veritable roadblock in writing the college essay.

Challenge #2: What’s Introspection?

Successful college essays are deeply personal and full of introspection. We define introspection as reflection on what’s important in your life — values, beliefs, opinions, experiences, etc. It also can have a lot to do with what makes you you .

To some students, introspection might come naturally. To others, it might not! This is understandable. The high school classroom doesn’t necessarily give space for students to reflect on what they’ve learned from certain experiences or what they believe are their core values. However, this is exactly what admissions officers are looking for in essays!

Challenge #3: You Just Don’t Write Personal Essays in School

Most English classes spend a lot of time on the academic essay . But most don’t include many units on writing personal essays or creative nonfiction–if any!

Many students writing the college essay thus face an entirely unfamiliar genre that comes with its own word limit, structure, and style of writing.

Challenge #4: The Word Limit

Both the Common App and Coalition require students to limit their essays to 650 words. That’s a little over a page of writing, single-spaced.

This means that students have to be incredibly concise in crafting their responses. This can be a tall order given what the college essay often includes: big ideas, big themes, and big reflection!

Challenge #5: Choosing a Topic

Given the college essay’s requirements, it can be tough to choose the “right” topic . Should you discuss an extracurricular activity ? Personal experience? An important mentorship figure?

Some students have a wide variety of experiences and personal stories to choose from. Others might feel that they have a limited number.

Challenge #6: Choosing a Structure

Let’s say that you’ve chosen your college essay topic. Now how do you fit it into a concise structure that gives ample air space to what college admissions officers are looking for?

Choosing a structure can be critical for telling your specific story in a compelling fashion. But once again, this is unfamiliar terrain for most students who haven’t really written a personal essay before.

And when we say that structure really is critical for college essay writing, we mean it–we’ve written an entire post on college essay structure .

Challenge #7: Getting Started

Last but not least, it can be incredibly difficult simply to start the college essay writing process. From choosing a topic to writing that first draft, there’s a lot to navigate. Many students also have a lot going on in general when they get around to writing their essays, including AP exams, summer programs , and the chaos of senior fall schedules.

If this sounds like where you’re at in the college essay writing journey, keep reading. We’ve got 6 tips coming up to help you take those first steps.

How To Write an Amazing College Essay – 6 Tips

You’ve learned what a college essay is and the weight it carries in college admissions. You’ve also heard a bit about what makes this essay challenging. Now what?

It’s time to get started writing your very own.

The following tips are designed to help you begin the journey towards an amazing college essay, regardless of your story, college aspirations, or timeline. Let’s dive in.

Tip #1: Give Yourself Time & Get Organized

Good college essays take time, and we mean time . We recommend that students establish a generous timeline for writing their personal statements. Ideally, students should start thinking about their essays seriously in the spring of their junior year or summer immediately following.

It’s also important to get organized. Create separate documents for brainstorming and free-writes, for example, and clearly mark your drafts based on where you’re at in the writing process.

We also recommend researching supplemental essay prompts for the colleges on your list and keeping track of these–including deadlines and word limits–in a spreadsheet. This is especially important for students applying early.

Tip #2: Practice Introspection

You can start flexing your introspective muscles before writing your essay! Practice journaling, for example, or responding to daily reflective prompts like the following:

What is your greatest strength? Weakness?
What is one of your core beliefs? Why is it core?
What is your best quality?
What matters to you? Why?
What challenges you? Why?

The New York Times has even released 1,000 free writing prompts for students that range from identity and family to social life and technology.

With introspection, focus on using “I” as much as possible. This can feel awkward, especially as most English teachers encourage students to avoid using “I” in academic essays. But it’s the key to deep reflection.

You can also check out our post on College Essay Brainstorming or download 30 FREE college essay brainstorming questions right here.

Tip #3: Familiarize Yourself with Personal Writing & Storytelling

Immerse yourself in examples of powerful personal writing and storytelling. A great place to start is by downloading our 30 examples of college essays that earned students Ivy League acceptance or checking out our 11 College Essays That Worked post .

Otherwise, check out memoirs or creative essay collections.

The Moth , a storytelling radio project, is another great resource for students looking to learn more about how people tell personal stories in an engaging fashion. Plus, it’s just plain fun to listen to!

Tip #4: Know What Makes for An Amazing Essay

What qualities do most successful college essays have?

We’ve done the research. A successful college essay is often:

Introspective and reflective
Full of a student’s voice
Descriptive and engaging
Unconventional and distinct
Well-written

We take a deeper dive into these 7 qualities of a successful college essay in a separate post.

Tip #5: Review Supplemental Essay Questions

Don’t forget about supplemental essay questions! It’s easy to overlook these or assume that they are less important than the college essay.

But remember–many colleges require supplemental essays as a means of gaining more information about competitive applicants. The Common App and Coalition also now have optional COVID-19 essay questions (learn our tips for answering these COVID-related questions here ).

Don’t save your supplemental essays for the last minute! Review questions well in advance through the Common App or Coalition platform so that you are aware of the other responses you’ll have to write.

We’ve actually compiled the supplemental essay questions for the top 50 U.S. colleges and universities right here.

You can also check out our 8 tips for writing amazing supplemental essay responses .

Tip #6: Work with a Mentor

Yes, it is possible to write your college essay, personal as it is, under the right one-on-one guidance. Mentors can help you with all stages of the college essay writing process, from topic brainstorms to final draft polishing.

They can also help create an actionable timeline for tackling both the college essay and all of those supplements, and hold students accountable!

You can sign up to work with one of PrepMaven’s master essay consultants if you’d like. Or check out our summer College Essay Workshops .

One of the best ways to start the college essay writing process is to look at examples of successful essays. But these examples can be hard to find, and few and far between.

That’s why we compiled 30 college essays that earned their writers acceptance into Ivy League schools. You can download these examples for FREE below.

Kate is a graduate of Princeton University. Over the last decade, Kate has successfully mentored hundreds of students in all aspects of the college admissions process, including the SAT, ACT, and college application essay.

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21 Best ‘Describe a Challenge You Faced and How You Overcame It’ Examples

Answering behavioral interview questions can be tricky if you are unsure of their purpose. For example, when a potential employer asks you to describe a challenge you overcame, they want to see how you deal with pressure, setbacks, failures, and unexpected challenges.

A stellar answer will tell them about your problem-solving skills and critical thinking ability. Let’s review some tips for excellent answers, pitfalls to avoid, and look at 21 fantastic example answers.

5 Tips for Crafting Your Best Answer

Use a professional or work-related story if you can
Try to include a relevant story that can apply to the job position
Emphasize what you learned from the challenging situation
Keep the interview answer simple and concise
Be humble but proud of your accomplishments

5 Mistakes to Avoid

Do not say that you have never had to overcome any challenges
Avoid too much detail
Do not use your answer to blame someone else for a previous issue
Stay away from stories with negative outcomes
Avoid retelling the story as you being superior to others

How to Answer: STAR Format

When answering common interview questions, the hiring manager hopes your answer gives them a deeper look into your work abilities. Using the proven STAR technique will provide a good example that includes all the key elements they are looking for in an easy-to-follow layout.

The STAR method uses four vital elements, which include:

S: Situation – Start with the simple circumstances as the base for the answer. Were you on a team project and facing a short deadline?

T: Task – What was your part or role in the circumstances? Were you the individual responsible for delivering products to a client?

A: Action – What course of action did you take to solve the original problem? Specify your steps and not that of the team.

R: Result – End your answer with a positive outcome. Did you achieve what you set out to do, or what did you learn from the problem that you can use next time?

Take a look at these real example answers and see how you can prepare for any tough interview questions in your next interview.

Example #1: Filling a Role You Never Held Before

At my first job, I worked as the on-site customer service rep for the store. I was right out of school and did not have any customer service experience until this point. I answered phone and email concerns, forwarded complaints to specific departments, and tried to find workable resolutions.

Even though I was new to handling customer problems, especially in a busy, high-stress store, I learned how to think quickly and empathize with the clients so that they were satisfied with the end results.

Example #2: Fixing the Mistakes of a Coworker Who Was Fired

Working on the production floor at my previous job presented a significant challenge one time. A coworker was let go due to a lack of quality work, and there was a pile of incomplete orders and customer invoices with mistakes that needed fixing.

Because we were both assigned to the same production team, I had to fix the mistakes and clean up the unfinished orders. Although it was stressful and many of the orders were under a tight schedule, I successfully completed the task while balancing my production duties with careful time management.

Example #3: Having to Fire a Coworker

I was in a tough situation at my last job as the shift supervisor. I always try to have a good relationship with everyone at work for a more harmonious environment. Unfortunately, HR approached me to fire one of my coworkers because of some disciplinary issues.

This circumstance was a difficult time for me at first since I had never been the bearer of bad news before. Thankfully, after discussing company procedures and policies with Human Resources, I came up with a plan to let my coworker go as empathetically as possible. Although I do not want to deal with that problem again, I believe I am more knowledgeable on what it takes to get that kind of job done tactfully and professionally.

Example #4: Deal with a Cash Till Shortage Problem

Working as a cashier on the night shift at my previous job posed some challenges. My shift was short at cash-out every evening for an entire week. In addition, management was beginning to suspect employee theft, so I investigated the problem.

I did not want to start blaming coworkers, but I had to find the cause of the shortage before our company lost any more money. After sitting down with everyone on the night shift and going through till receipts, I discovered that one woman working with us had terrible eyesight and mistakenly entered in wrong codes and price counts.

Thankfully, I caught the problem early, she started wearing proper prescription glasses while on shift, and there was no further cash till shortage issues.

Example #5: Act as the Liaison Between Two Disgruntled Coworkers

Even though I was not a supervisor in my previous role, the management team asked me to act as a liaison between two coworkers that had personal issues because I had close personal relationships with both of them.

Although I had no previous conflict resolution training, my employer’s HR team helped me prepare to work effectively with both coworkers. As a result, I see now how having a familiar acquaintance was more productive for diffusing a sensitive situation than having the management team intervene alone.

Example #6: Learn a New Skill to Keep Your Job

When I was working as an administrative assistant, we had a change in ownership. The new management team had their own ideas about what each employee’s current role and duties should entail. After going through my job description, they decided that my position was ineffective and outdated.

The new owners gave me a chance to take some evening classes to obtain my license to sell insurance in the office and take a job on the floor rather than getting laid off. Although it was stressful to face a looming job loss, I decided to pursue the certification and completed it successfully to keep employment.

Example #7: Manage a Sales Team During Company-Wide Layoffs

Working as a sales team manager during the recession was a tough time for everyone. Our organization was going through company-wide layoffs, which had a detrimental effect on the remaining employee’s confidence and job satisfaction.

I could see how the anxiety and stress affected our monthly sales, and I had to find a way to turn it around. So, I took the initiative to talk to management about integrating some no-cost morale-boosting things to incorporate at work to help with everyone’s outlook. Thankfully, by including things like a monthly potluck and casual-dress Fridays, the employees started to enjoy working at the office more and spending time with each other, and our sales improved again.

Example #8: Accept a Promotion When Up Against a Coworker Who Was a Close Friend

One tough situation I faced at my last position was when our supervisor retired and his job was up for grabs. The company conducted an in-house job interview first before looking outside the organization, and consequently, both myself and my coworker applied for the position. The complication was that this coworker was also my close friend.

After two rounds of interviews with the hiring manager, they offered me the promotion to shift supervisor, much to my friend’s disappointment. However, this circumstance gave me insight into being professional and empathetic to coworkers. Although my friend was not happy about being passed over, they eventually accepted that I was the better choice for that particular job, and we have a good working relationship to this day.

Example #9: Being in Charge of Finding Cost-Cutting Measures for the Office

As part of my job as the district manager, my boss came to me for help in finding cost-cutting measures for the office. Although I did not have much accounting and budgeting experience, I embraced this new task and began searching our company processes and procedures for any inefficiencies.

In only two weeks, I distinguished three separate areas where our office could save money. From changing suppliers and distribution companies to allowing employees to take unpaid time off, I decreased our district budget by 12%.

Example #10: Make an Ethical Decision at Work Regarding Some Current Work Practices

Working at a public relations firm presented the biggest challenge that I have faced during my career so far. After working there for only one year, I found that some of my coworkers were making unethical decisions regarding our company’s business practices because of pressure from clients.

Once a client approached me to perform the same favors, I had to decide if my job was worth going against my principles. Eventually, I chose to follow my morals, and although the client was not pleased with my decision, it brought unfair company practices to light with our management team, forcing a positive change for all our staff.

Example #11: Being an Ineffective Manager of a Retail Store

Although it is hard for me to discuss now, I was an ineffective retail store manager years ago. It was my first role in management, and I had outdated ideas of my duties. As a result, my subordinates did not respect me, and there was a high turnaround rate for the first six months of me overseeing the team.

Eventually, the district manager came to me with concerns about my actions and how to handle the employees. By seeking further training and remaining open to better management practices, I was thankfully able to adjust my view and how I dealt with the team on the floor. This way, everyone was happier and more productive.

Example #12: Letting Pride Get in the Way of Asking for Help

At my previous position, I had the chance to take on other jobs during our slow season. Unfortunately, the one task they asked me to handle was an action I was unfamiliar with before. Because I was still pretty new to the job, I felt intimidated and nervous about asking for help since I didn’t want to look like I didn’t know what I was doing.

As a result, I did not complete the task according to how the company wanted, and I ended up wasting more time since I had to redo it after my supervisor took me aside to go over the steps. I know now that it is always better to ask for clarification and ensure that I am on the right track to be more productive.

Example #13: Refusing to See How Much More You Could Learn at Your First Sales Position

I worked as part of a profitable sales team at my previous job. My team was terrific, and we achieved top sales status almost every quarter. However, because of this, anytime my supervisor came to me with a good idea on obtaining new clients, I would brush him off and disregard his advice.

After some time, the management group brought me in to discuss how I was not open to new ideas and was combative at work. At the time, my thought process felt like they singled me out, but now I realize that my disregard for learning new strategies limited my potential. So now, I try to take any ideas a coworker has as having the potential to help me improve.

Example #14: Being in Charge of Hiring a Third-Party Event Planner That Overbilled Your Company

My boss assigned me to hire a third-party event planner for our annual district conference. I spent a lot of time researching the available options and comparing quotes, finally deciding on a local small company to run our event.

Once the event was over and my company received the final bill, there was a significant discrepancy in some charges. There was a miscommunication between what they quoted and what services I chose for them to handle. Facing a more significant invoice than our limited budget allowed, I strategized and agreed with the event planner for a lesser amount, and also committed to using their services for our next event.

In the end, my company had a more manageable bill, and we kept a professional relationship open with a local company. I also learned more about communication skills and having contracts in writing ahead of time.

Example #15: An Angry Client Asked for Your Manager Who Was Not Available and Demanded a Solution

I remember the first time I was the only senior staff member on shift while our manager had to leave for a delivery. While he was gone, I took a phone call from an irate client who had a mistake in their order and demanded to talk to the manager.

Although I have some experience with angry customers, the process at our company was to let the manager handle these types of calls. However, since he was unavailable, the client wanted a solution now rather than waiting for a callback. Thankfully, I took a conflict resolution course the year before, and I could calm the client down and minimize their urgency. This way, my manager could talk to them later about a proper solution.

My manager was impressed with how I handled the call. Because of how effective my methods were, he ensured that every team player could take the conflict resolution course so they would also have the tools to handle this situation if he was not around.

Example #16: Completing Your Monthly Reports Incorrectly

I held a work experience position as an intern right out of school. Although it was only a short-term job, I was keen to try my hand at as many tasks as possible. But, unfortunately, I think I was in too much of a hurry to try and learn everything and missed an important part in my monthly reports.

My supervisor noticed the mistakes and brought them to my attention. Of course, I immediately felt ashamed. But with time, I realized that as long as I own up to my mistakes and make sure I do not continue them, I can learn from any negative situations.

Example #17: Repeatedly Clashing with a Team Member During Major Projects

I worked in a small team at my last place of employment. We oversaw all the accounts payable and receivables. Unfortunately, each month, a report was due that required important information from all four team members. I was consistently clashing with one coworker about generating the details for the document.

This conflict would continue each month, causing stress and time delays. Finally, after some consideration, I approached my supervisor to ask for help to diffuse the situation and figure out a resolution. I am glad I took the initiative because, after that, our supervisor was able to work with both of us to find a workable solution when it came to collecting the necessary data for our monthly reports.

Example #18: After Spending Days on an Important Project, All the Data Was Lost

I can remember a difficult work situation where I spent many days working on an important project for a new client. My supervisor wanted me to make sure that I met all the customer’s requests. I worked diligently on this project and was satisfied with my progress as I went through their items.

Unfortunately, we had a power surge at our office that took out our power, and my computer took on some damage from it. Within a second, all my hard work was gone. I immediately started to panic but realized that I had to think logically and formulate a plan. I contacted our IT department, and with some careful retracing to our backup server, I could recover most of my work so I could remain on task and complete the project on time.

Example #19: Being Very Driven During a Team Project, and Taking Over Too Much of the Responsibility

I enjoy working in teams, and with my last project, I was a little too enthusiastic when it came to taking on team tasks. So I started trying to handle as many items for the group as possible, believing that the more I did for the group, the better we would be.

Unfortunately, by doing this, I was not allowing each team member a great opportunity to use their strengths and abilities for the group’s benefit. As a result, I stretched myself too thin, and because I was completing too many things at once, I started making mistakes and missing deadlines. In the end, I realized that I could not do everything, and having a competent team to split tasks is the best solution for large projects.

Example #20: Having a Hard Time Following the Direction of Your Manager

Unfortunately, one difficult situation I encountered at my previous employer was when I was having a hard time following the direction of one of my managers. This individual would come to me with tasks that I didn’t feel were relevant to the project or they were not an efficient use of my time.

Consequently, because I did not always follow the directions given to me, I created a wedge between my manager and me that other coworkers noticed. After talking to the Human Resources department, I realized that ignoring or disregarding my manager’s directions was not the best solution. Thankfully, with the amazing group of people on staff, I learned how to accept guidance and when to ask for more clarification if I had concerns.

Example #21: Reacting When a Client Changed a Project Deadline

Thinking back, the biggest challenge I faced at work was when I was working for a prestigious client on a major project. This client was a long-term contract of our company, and I was new to working on their file. I began their new project last quarter and was well into many details when they came back and changed the deadline, moving it up by two weeks.

Once my manager notified me of the change, I started to panic since I didn’t think I would have enough time to complete the project before the due date. So, I talked to my supervisor and discussed some options to complete the job in a shorter time frame. I am glad I reached out because my supervisor assigned another person to help me with the project, and we had it done in time for the client, after all.

Answering behavioral questions is just the first step in the job interview process. One great way to ace an interview is preparing with sample answers that will wow potential employers.

Using details from specific situations will show an employer the best way you handle workplace challenges and if you will be the best fit for the job. In addition, past experiences can help a potential employer relate to you and show your best qualities, even when in stressful situations.

Life’s Challenges: the True Nature of Obstacles

This essay about obstacles explores their role not just as hindrances but as essential components of personal growth and self-discovery. It presents obstacles as multifaceted challenges that can be physical, psychological, social, or emotional in nature. The essay argues that the true value of obstacles lies in our response to them, which shapes our journey and character. It discusses how obstacles prompt introspection, forcing us to confront our fears and limitations, and how they teach valuable life lessons about resilience, creativity, and the nonlinear path to success. By redefining obstacles as opportunities for learning and growth, the essay encourages a perspective shift, suggesting that overcoming obstacles is a testament to our commitment and a crucial step in our personal and professional development. Through this lens, obstacles are not merely roadblocks but stepping stones that enrich our life’s narrative. Additionally, PapersOwl presents more free essays samples linked to Life.

How it works

The concept of an obstacle is universally understood as anything that impedes progress or prevents achievement. However, this definition barely scratches the surface of what obstacles truly represent in our lives and growth. This essay delves into the multifaceted nature of obstacles, exploring how they function not merely as hindrances but as catalysts for development, learning, and self-discovery.

At its core, an obstacle can be anything – a physical barrier, a psychological boundary, a social constraint, or an emotional burden. It’s the hurdle between where we are and where we aim to be.

Yet, the essence of an obstacle’s impact lies not in the obstruction itself but in our response to it. The way we navigate around, over, or through obstacles defines our journey and molds our character. It’s in these moments of confrontation that resilience is built, creativity is sparked, and perseverance is tested.

Obstacles also serve as mirrors, reflecting our fears, insecurities, and the limits we impose on ourselves. They challenge us to question our assumptions, evaluate our strategies, and sometimes, to redefine our goals. This introspective process can be uncomfortable, but it’s essential for growth. By facing obstacles head-on, we learn more about our capabilities, discover new strengths, and sometimes, uncover passions we never knew we had.

Moreover, obstacles have a way of teaching us valuable life lessons. They remind us that success is rarely a straight path and that failure is not the opposite of success but a part of it. Each obstacle overcome is a step forward, a testament to our commitment and a building block for future endeavors. In this light, obstacles can be seen not as barriers to our goals but as stepping stones, necessary for the journey of personal and professional growth.

In conclusion, the definition of an obstacle extends far beyond its role as a mere impediment. Obstacles are integral to the narrative of our lives, shaping our paths, strengthening our resolve, and enriching our experiences. They compel us to innovate, adapt, and evolve. By embracing the challenges they present, we unlock our potential for resilience, learning, and transformation. Thus, understanding and appreciating the full scope of what obstacles represent can empower us to face them with courage, creativity, and an open heart, fully aware that within every obstacle lies an opportunity for growth.

Cite this page

Life's Challenges: The True Nature of Obstacles. (2024, Feb 27). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/lifes-challenges-the-true-nature-of-obstacles/

"Life's Challenges: The True Nature of Obstacles." PapersOwl.com , 27 Feb 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/lifes-challenges-the-true-nature-of-obstacles/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Life's Challenges: The True Nature of Obstacles . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/lifes-challenges-the-true-nature-of-obstacles/ [Accessed: 12 Apr. 2024]

"Life's Challenges: The True Nature of Obstacles." PapersOwl.com, Feb 27, 2024. Accessed April 12, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/lifes-challenges-the-true-nature-of-obstacles/

"Life's Challenges: The True Nature of Obstacles," PapersOwl.com , 27-Feb-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/lifes-challenges-the-true-nature-of-obstacles/. [Accessed: 12-Apr-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Life's Challenges: The True Nature of Obstacles . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/lifes-challenges-the-true-nature-of-obstacles/ [Accessed: 12-Apr-2024]

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Humans in Space

Earth & climate, the solar system, the universe, aeronautics, learning resources, news & events.

The top right corner of the image shows a nearly quarter-circle shaped piece of land, which is a brown-orange color. There are speckles of clouds covering the top right-most corner of the land. The rest of the image is taken up by ocean, showing the coast of the ocean where it meets the land. The ocean is split up into three segments, each colored differently, with the middle section the largest. The section to the left shows the ocean in true color. There are white wispy clouds covering parts of the ocean from top to bottom at the left-most side. The ocean itself is primarily a dark blue color, though at the top of the section, near the coastline, swirls of light blue, teal, and green begin to form – part of a phytoplankton bloom. The middle section of the image is shown in pink and green. The swirls of green are closer to the coastline, but spread outwards into the ocean, mixing in with the pink. The swirls of pink are farther away from the coast. The right section of the image is shown in several colors of the rainbow. Reds, yellows, and greens are closer to the shore while dark blues and purples are further out in the ocean.

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Kristin Jansen

Public affairs specialist, grades 9-12, nasa has selected the nine finalists of the power to explore challenge, a national competition for k-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes..

NASA selected nine finalists out of the 45 semifinalist student essays in the Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes. Contestants were challenged to explore how NASA has powered some of its most famous science missions and to dream up how their personal “super power” would energize their success on their own radioisotope-powered science mission.

The competition asked students to learn about NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS), a type of “nuclear battery” that the agency uses to explore some of the most extreme destinations in our solar system and beyond. As cities across the United States experience a total solar eclipse, we experience first hand a momentary glimpse into what life would be like without sunlight. This draws attention to how NASA can power missions at destinations that cannot rely on the energy of the Sun, such as deep craters on the Moon and deep space exploration. In 250 words or less, students wrote about a mission of their own enabled by these space power systems and described their own power to achieve their mission goals.

The Power to Explore Challenge offered students the opportunity to learn more about these reliable power systems, celebrate their own strengths, and interact with NASA’s diverse workforce. This year’s contest received 1,787 submitted entries from 48 states and Puerto Rico.

"The RPS Program is so impressed by the ideas and quality of writing that come forth from essays submitted to NASA’s Power to Explore Challenge

Carl Sandifer

Manager, Radioisotope Power Systems Program

“The RPS Program is so impressed by the ideas and quality of writing that come forth from essays submitted to NASA’s Power to Explore Challenge,” said Carl Sandifer, NASA’s manager for the Radioisotope Power Systems Program in Cleveland. “We would like to congratulate the finalists, and we look forward to welcoming the winners to NASA’s Glenn Research Center this summer.”

Entries were split into three categories: grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Every student who submitted an entry received a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual event that announced the semifinalists. Students learned about what powers the NASA workforce to dream big and work together to explore.

Three national finalists in each grade category (nine finalists total) have been selected. In addition to receiving a NASA RPS prize pack, these participants will be invited to an exclusive virtual meeting with a NASA engineer or scientist to talk about their missions and have their space exploration questions answered. Winners will be announced on April 17.

Katerine Leon, Long Beach, CA
Rainie Lin, Lexington, KY
Zachary Tolchin, Guilford, CT
Aadya Karthik, Redmond, WA
Andrew Tavares, Bridgewater, MA
Sara Wang, Henderson, NV
Thomas Liu, Ridgewood, NJ
Madeline Male, Fairway, KS
Kailey Thomas, Las Vegas, NV

About the Challenge

The challenge is funded by the Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and administered by Future Engineers under the NASA Open Innovation Services 2 contract. This contract is managed by the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Kristin Jansen NASA’s Glenn Research Center

Meet the Top Contenders in the NASA Power to Explore Student Challenge

N ine young visionaries have been announced as finalists in NASA’s Power to Explore Challenge, a contest that drew participation from K-12 students nationwide. These students crafted essays that showcased their understanding of NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) and how such technology could fuel their own hypothetical space missions. Out of the 45 semifinalists, these select individuals stood out for their creative insights into the uses of radioisotopes in space exploration.

Through the Power to Explore Challenge, students were encouraged to examine the significance of RPS, the ‘nuclear batteries’ essential for power generation in some of the least accessible corners of space. This became particularly topical during the recent total solar eclipse witnessed across many U.S. cities, emphasizing the critical need for alternative power sources in environments devoid of sunlight. In concise essays no longer than 250 words, the young participants outlined a space mission they would embark on, powered by these space power systems, while also reflecting on their own unique capabilities to achieve mission success.

Harnessing the contest as an educational platform, students gained valuable knowledge about these integral power sources and celebrated personal strengths, as well as engaged with NASA’s diverse team of professionals. The competition attracted an impressive 1,787 entries from 48 states, including Puerto Rico.

Carl Sandifer

Manager, Radioisotope Power Systems Program

Carl Sandifer, the head of NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program, expressed admiration for the participants’ submissions, praising their innovative thinking and articulate writing. He also noted the excitement surrounding the opportunity to host the winners at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in the approaching summer season.

Submissions were divided among three educational levels: grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. The contest lavished each entrant with a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual gathering, where the semifinalists were introduced. This event was a chance for the students to delve into NASA’s driving forces for big dreams and cooperative space endeavors.

The chosen finalists—three from each educational category, altogether making nine—will not only be endowed with a special NASA RPS prize package but also the exclusive opportunity to participate in a virtual dialogue with a NASA engineer or scientist, further consolidating their spirit of space inquiry. The winners’ names will be disclosed come April 17.

Katerine Leon, Long Beach, CA
Rainie Lin, Lexington, KY
Zachary Tolchin, Guilford, CT
Aadya Karthik, Redmond, WA
Andrew Tavares, Bridgewater, MA
Sara Wang, Henderson, NV
Thomas Liu, Ridgewood, NJ
Madeline Male, Fairway, KS
Kailey Thomas, Las Vegas, NV

About the Challenge

Operated through a partnership with the Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and managed by Future Engineers under the NASA Open Innovation Services 2 contract, this competition is a facet of the NASA Tournament Lab, which itself falls under the aegis of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Kristin Jansen

NASA’s Glenn Research Center

FAQ Section

How were the Power to Explore Challenge finalists selected?

Finalists were chosen based on their imaginative and articulate essays that discussed how NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems could enable their proposed space missions and their personal “super power” contributions to mission success.

What are Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS)?

RPS are a type of “nuclear battery” used by NASA to generate power for spacecraft exploring extreme environments where solar power is not viable.

How many students participated in the challenge?

There were a total of 1,787 entries from students across 48 states and Puerto Rico.

When will the winners be announced?

The winners will be revealed on April 17.

Do participants receive any rewards for entering?

All participants received a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual event. The finalists will receive a NASA RPS prize pack and an exclusive meeting with a NASA professional.

The NASA Power to Explore Challenge has once again showcased the innovative potential of young students interested in space and science. By delving into the capabilities of radioisotope power technology, these finalists have engaged with real-world applications that reflect the future of space exploration. Through their imaginative essays, they have not only earned personal recognition but also the unique opportunity to interact with the very engineers and scientists shaping the future at NASA. With the winners’ announcement just around the corner, all eyes are on these bright young minds who represent the next generation of space explorers and innovators.

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Guest Essay

The Fidelity of ‘Originalist’ Justices Is About to Be Tested

A crumbled ball of paper with the text of the Constitution on it.

By Nelson Lund

Mr. Lund is a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and has written widely on constitutional law, including the Second Amendment.

The Supreme Court reputedly has a long-awaited conservative majority committed to enforcing the meaning of the Constitution as it was understood when it was adopted. This commitment to originalist interpretation will soon be tested in two cases now before the court that have what lawyers call bad optics.

One case, United States v. Rahimi , involves a Second Amendment challenge to a federal statute criminalizing the possession of firearms by people subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders. State courts typically use these orders to forbid threatening or abusive conduct toward the subject’s intimate partner. The federal gun ban is automatically imposed if the order either says that the subject presents a credible threat to the physical safety of the partner or explicitly forbids the use of physical force against the partner.

The other case, Garland v. Cargill , involves a regulatory ban on bump stocks that enable a semiautomatic rifle to achieve a rate of fire comparable to that of fully automatic machine guns. After a 2017 Las Vegas massacre in which semiautomatic rifles equipped with bump stocks were used to kill 60 people and injure hundreds more, the Trump administration classified them as machine guns, which made them illegal.

No judge can relish being accused of siding with domestic abusers or of allowing a weapon to remain on the market that facilitated mass murder. Unless the court rules in favor of the government in these cases, denunciations undoubtedly will follow, especially in an election year.

These cases have come before a court that has been transformed by Republican efforts to stop the politicized use of judicial power to effect progressive social change. What began with calls for judicial restraint during the Nixon era eventually became a long campaign devoted to promoting originalist theories of interpretation.

This effort had its first conspicuous success in 2008, when a 5-to-4 majority struck down a handgun ban in District of Columbia v. Heller . Justice Antonin Scalia’s majority opinion featured a detailed originalist analysis that rejected an overwhelming and longstanding consensus in the lower courts. Rather than assume that the Second Amendment protects only a right of state governments to maintain militia organizations, the court concluded that the constitutional “right of the people to keep and bear arms” may be exercised by individuals for the purpose of self-defense.

Although the decision was seen as a milestone for originalism, the lower courts refused to go along. They adopted a deferential balancing test — like the one advocated by Justice Stephen Breyer in his Heller dissent — under which the courts should uphold almost any regulation that might serve the worthy purpose of promoting public safety. Applying that approach, the lower courts essentially rubber-stamped virtually every gun-control law they reviewed.

In 2022 the Supreme Court struck back. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen , the court invalidated a New York law that forbade individuals to carry a firearm in public unless they could persuade a government official that they faced some extraordinary threat to their personal safety. This was an easy case on originalist grounds because a right restricted to a tiny subset of the population cannot be the “right of the people” that the Constitution says “shall not be infringed.”

But the court went further, adopting a new legal test designed to enforce the original meaning of the Second Amendment. When defending a law that deprives an individual of the freedom to keep or bear arms, the court said, the government has the burden of proving that the law “is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” Thus, for example, the absence of a historical regulation “distinctly similar” to a modern gun-control law is evidence of the modern regulation’s unconstitutionality. And Bruen ruled out traditions that did not begin until the 20th century.

This is a plausible way to identify certain exceptions to the Constitution’s linguistically unqualified prohibition. Just as the court has assumed that the First Amendment’s protection of “the freedom of speech” was not meant to ban longstanding and uncontroversial laws against perjury and fraud, similarly longstanding and well-accepted regulations of weapons would presumably not infringe the right protected by the Second Amendment.

Under Bruen’s originalist test, Rahimi should be an easy case. The government has not informed the Supreme Court of a single pre-20th-century law that punished American citizens, even those who had been convicted of a violent crime, for possessing a gun in their own homes. Not one.

The subject of the case, Zackey Rahimi, however, is an unsympathetic defendant. His ex-girlfriend obtained a protective order against him on the ground that he had assaulted her, and he has been charged with several crimes involving the misuse of firearms. Although he apparently had not been convicted of any offenses when the restraining order was issued, that order immediately and automatically criminalized his possession of a firearm under federal law.

If the court pretends that a historical tradition of such laws existed, it will not be faithful either to Bruen’s holding or to the court’s repeated insistence that the right to keep and bear arms is not “a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.”

Imagine that an overwrought woman called her ex-boyfriend and threatened to scratch his eyes out. If a state court ordered her to refrain from making such calls and from physically attacking him, the federal statute at issue in Rahimi would automatically make her a felon if she kept a gun in her own home. And that would be true even if she had good reason to fear a violent attack from the ex-boyfriend or his criminal associates. But no court would uphold a statute that made this restraining order a sufficient basis on which to criminalize her possession of a telephone. We will soon find out whether the Supreme Court takes the Second Amendment as seriously as the First.

The fidelity of the conservative justices to originalist legal principles will also be tested in Garland v. Cargill . Under those principles, only the text of a statute is the law, which cannot be changed unless Congress amends it by enacting a new law. That means courts may never give precedence over the text to their own views of good policy or to their speculations about what policies are popular in Congress.

The National Firearms Act of 1934 places very stringent regulatory restrictions on machine guns, which Congress defined as any weapon that shoots “automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.” Because bump stocks like those at issue in the case now before the court require the shooter to release and then depress the trigger again after each shot, the government initially concluded that they do not turn a semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun. That conclusion was dictated by the unambiguous language of the statute, which requires that multiple shots be fired “by a single function of the trigger.”

Since bump stocks permit a semiautomatic firearm to achieve a rate of fire comparable to that of a machine gun, it’s perfectly understandable that the government would want to update the 1934 law. Congress has done that repeatedly, going so far as to freeze the supply of legally owned machine guns in the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act of 1986. But if there is one central tenet in the originalist principles of statutory interpretation, it is that only Congress, not the president or the Supreme Court, has the constitutional authority to amend statutes. Upholding the Trump reclassification would require a majority of the justices to repudiate that principle, whether they admit it or not. And for what? To spare Congress the trouble of enacting a simple and presumably popular fix?

The goal of the conservative legal movement has been to replace the result-oriented adventurism of the Warren court during the 1950s and 1960s with respect for the original meaning of the Constitution, including its allocation to Congress of the sole authority to enact and amend statutes. If the government wins either of these cases, let alone both, that movement should recognize that its project has not succeeded.

Nelson Lund is a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and has written widely on constitutional law, including the Second Amendment.

Source images by Sean Gladwell and LPETTET/Getty Images.

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Writing the Common App Essay: Prompt #3—Challenging Beliefs or Ideas

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Now that the Common Application for the 2016-2017 cycle is available, it’s time to start think about ideas for your essay. Because you will probably be sending the Common App to many of the colleges on your list, it’s a good idea to start planning what you want to say early on. Unlike some other parts of your application, such as grades and test scores, the essay portion is subjective and allows you complete control over how you present yourself. It gives you a chance to show sides of yourself that may not be evident in the more objective aspects of your application.

Prompt #3 of the Common Application asks the following:

Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

Unpacking the prompt

This prompt is a great way to show colleges who you are and what is important to you. While much of your application focuses on your intelligence, success as a student, hard work, and achievements, this is an opportunity to demonstrate your personality and willingness to take risks. Reflecting on a time you challenged a belief or idea allows you to show colleges what your values are.

This prompt may seem a little tricky at first because as a high school student, you may not have participated in many large-scale protests, which initially may seem like the only way to respond to this prompt. However, your response doesn’t need to present a time you radically altered the status quo. You can challenge beliefs in a multitude of small ways that may not even seem that radical to you, but may have made a difference—however big or small—to a person or a system. Of course, if you do have an example of a time you effected great change, this is a great opportunity to do write about it.

Usually, challenging a long-held belief or idea requires some kind of challenge or stress to your own way of acting. That doesn’t mean the incident you choose needs to have resulted in a massive consequence to you, or that you must have put everything on the line. But it does mean it should be something outside of your norm, and something that caused some amount of disruption to the way you and others typically behave.

Think about why you did what you did and why it was important to you. Was it something that bothered you for a long time? Did you know beforehand you were going to act, or was it a spur of the moment decision?

You should also be sure to explore some ways what you did affected you. Did you learn anything from your actions? Did it change or alter your views in any way? In answering whether or not you would make the same decision again, explain why or why not.

Developing an idea

As discussed above, your topic doesn’t need to be something that radically altered the norms of society. Even if you influenced just one person’s life, it may be worth discussing. For instance, you could write about a time you stood up for a friend or peer who was being bullied, or a time you befriended someone who was considered unpopular. Or you might describe a time you called someone out for using hateful or discriminatory language. The essay is less about the incident itself and more about what it demonstrates about you as a person .

Note that it is okay to write about something somewhat controversial here. But make sure you are limiting the controversy to the action or idea itself, and not how you present it or perceive it. For instance, if you engaged in an anti-war rally or a political protest, you should explain why the cause is important to you and your specific participation. Avoid disparaging others or explaining why you think the opposition is wrong or at fault—and never use insulting or derogatory language. There is definitely a such thing as too controversial. You should never write about a time when you did anything discriminatory, inappropriate, violent, or illegal. If you have any concerns about how something might come across or how you will appear, you may want to avoid writing about that particular incident.

If you are having trouble coming up with an idea for your essay, try making a list of values and opinions that are especially important to you. Then consider how you have presented these views. Have there been any instances in which you needed to get outside your comfort zone in order to express something that is important to you?

This is an opportunity to think outside the box a bit. Challenging a belief doesn’t necessarily mean you stood at a podium and vocalized your stance on a particular cause. Instead, it might mean you started a club or program aimed at feeding the hungry and encountered some difficulties in getting people to take you seriously as a teenager. Or perhaps you overcame your shyness in order to perform an act at a talent show. If you encountered any dissonance regarding adults’ or peers’ expectations of you and what you are capable of and powered through, that is an example of challenging a belief.

If the results of your challenge weren’t necessarily what you expected, don’t write it off as a bad idea for an essay. Such experiences provide an opportunity to explore how you might approach the situation differently in the future, or how you could manage or change your expectations. You could even write about a time when you challenged a belief and later realized you were in the wrong, and explain how you came to that conclusion and what you think about it now.

While it is certainly acceptable to write about implementing small-scale change, you should avoid topics that may come across as trivial or actions that you performed solely to directly benefit yourself. For instance, if you led a protest against your school’s dress code because you wanted to be able to wear tank tops to school, you may not want to share this story with colleges. However, if the protest spoke to larger issues with your school’s administration and unfair or unequal treatment of students, you might use approach it from that lens.

You should also avoid writing about a way you effected change that was meant to benefit you and no one else, unless it reflected a larger societal issue. For example, your campaign to institute more clam chowder days at the cafeteria because you particularly like clam chowder is not going to impress the admissions committee. However, if you attempted to institute healthier food options in the cafeteria because childhood obesity is on the rise, that might be an issue you could tackle in your essay.

Writing the essay

You are telling a story in this essay. Since this is an opportunity to talk about a particular experience that actually happened, keep in mind all the conventions of a narrative. It should have a conflict and a resolution, even if that resolution doesn’t feel final. The resolution could even be your own thoughts regarding the experience.

A good way to open the essay—and really, almost any personal essay—is to tell an anecdote. That helps draw the reader in and engage him or her in the narrative you are telling. In this case, you might start with the incident itself, or, if you are describing a long incident or series of experiences, a particular moment.

For example, if you are writing about a time you organized a trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in a political rally, describe the setting. Bring yourself and the readers back to the scene. Tell them what it was like to sit on the bus and what you were thinking. Were you nervous? What were you hoping to achieve?

If you have not already done so in the anecdote, fully explain what happened during and afterwards in detail, including the reactions of others and your personal response. What did you feel while you were doing what you did, and how did you feel afterwards?

Explain what prompted you to act. Why did you do what you did? Did anything or anyone influence you in a particular way? How long did it take from ideation to execution?

Describe the aftermath. What did you accomplish? Were the results positive, negative, or mixed? If you had it to do over again, would you? This is another opportunity to convey your values to the admissions committee, as well as any life lessons you may have learned. How did the experience affect you? Did it change you as a person? (If it didn’t affect you at all, it’s probably not worth writing about.)

Since you have a 650-word limit, precision of language is key here. That doesn’t mean you should skimp on the details—in fact, the more details the better. However, choose your details and the parts of the story to include very carefully. If a particular element is not integral to the story, don’t include it.

Presentation

Throughout writing the essay, keep in mind that you are presenting yourself. This is a chance for you to shine. Colleges want to know about your values and personality here—not those of a teacher, friend, or family member. Even if you are writing about a group effort, you should focus on yourself and your participation, as well as how it affected you and why you were involved.

Consider your tone in the essay as well. You can express that you are proud of yourself, but avoid acting superior or putting down others for failing to act. On the reverse side, avoid putting yourself down, deeming your efforts as useless or unimportant, or presenting yourself as a failure. A little self-deprecation is okay, as long as it adds something to the overall essay. But you don’t want to come off as too negative about yourself or anyone else. Remember, you want colleges to get a sense of who you are and what you deem important, and ultimately impress them.

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

Regions & Countries

4. challenges in the classroom.

In addition to asking public K-12 teachers about issues they see at their school, we asked how much each of the following is a problem among students in their classroom :

Showing little to no interest in learning (47% say this is a major problem)
Being distracted by their cellphones (33%)
Getting up and walking around when they’re not supposed to (21%)
Being disrespectful toward the teacher (21%)

A bar chart showing that 72% of high school teachers say students being distracted by cellphones is a major problem.

Some challenges are more common among high school teachers, while others are more common among those who teach elementary or middle school.

Cellphones: 72% of high school teachers say students being distracted by their cellphones in the classroom is a major problem. A third of middle school teachers and just 6% of elementary school teachers say the same.
Little to no interest in learning: A majority of high school teachers (58%) say students showing little to no interest in learning is a major problem. This compares with half of middle school teachers and 40% of elementary school teachers.
Getting up and walking around: 23% of elementary school teachers and 24% of middle school teachers see students getting up and walking around when they’re not supposed to as a major problem. A smaller share of high school teachers (16%) say the same.
Being disrespectful: 23% of elementary school teachers and 27% of middle school teachers say students being disrespectful toward them is a major problem. Just 14% of high school teachers say this.

Policies around cellphone use

About eight-in-ten teachers (82%) say their school or district has policies regarding students’ use of cellphones in the classroom. Of those, 56% say these policies are at least somewhat easy to enforce, 30% say they’re difficult to enforce, and 14% say they’re neither easy nor difficult to enforce.

A diverging bar chart showing that most high school teachers say cellphone policies are hard to enforce.

High school teachers are the least likely to say their school or district has policies regarding students’ use of cellphones in the classroom (71% vs. 84% of elementary school teachers and 94% of middle school teachers).

Among those who say there are such policies at their school, high school teachers are the most likely to say these are very or somewhat difficult to enforce. Six-in-ten high school teachers say this, compared with 30% of middle school teachers and 12% of elementary school teachers.

Verbal abuse and physical violence from students

A horizontal stacked bar chart showing that most teachers say they have faced verbal abuse, 40% say a student has been physically violent toward them.

Most teachers (68%) say they have experienced verbal abuse from their students, such as being yelled at or verbally threatened. About one-in-five (21%) say this happens at least a few times a month.

Physical violence is far less common, but about one-in-ten teachers (9%) say a student is physically violent toward them at least a few times a month. Four-in-ten say this has ever happened to them.

Differences by school level

Elementary school teachers (26%) are more likely than middle and high school teachers (18% and 16%) to say they experience verbal abuse from students a few times a month or more often.

And while relatively small shares across school levels say students are physically violent toward them a few times a month or more often, elementary school teachers (55%) are more likely than middle and high school teachers (33% and 23%) to say this has ever happened to them.

Differences by poverty level

Among teachers in high-poverty schools, 27% say they experience verbal abuse from students at least a few times a month. This is larger than the shares of teachers in medium- and low-poverty schools (19% and 18%) who say the same.

Experiences with physical violence don’t differ as much based on school poverty level.

Differences by gender

Teachers who are women are more likely than those who are men to say a student has been physically violent toward them. Some 43% of women teachers say this, compared with 30% of men.

There is also a gender difference in the shares of teachers who say they’ve experienced verbal abuse from students. But this difference is accounted for by the fact that women teachers are more likely than men to work in elementary schools.

Addressing behavioral and mental health challenges

Eight-in-ten teachers say they have to address students’ behavioral issues at least a few times a week, with 58% saying this happens every day .

A majority of teachers (57%) also say they help students with mental health challenges at least a few times a week, with 28% saying this happens daily.

Some teachers are more likely than others to say they have to address students’ behavior and mental health challenges on a daily basis. These include:

A bar chart showing that, among teachers, women are more likely than men to say a student has been physically violent toward them.

Women: 62% of women teachers say they have to address behavior issues daily, compared with 43% of those who are men. And while 29% of women teachers say they have to help students with mental health challenges every day, a smaller share of men (19%) say the same.
Elementary and middle school teachers: 68% each among elementary and middle school teachers say they have to deal with behavior issues daily, compared with 39% of high school teachers. A third of elementary and 29% of middle school teachers say they have to help students with mental health every day, compared with 19% of high school teachers.
Teachers in high-poverty schools: 67% of teachers in schools with high levels of poverty say they have to address behavior issues on a daily basis. Smaller majorities of those in schools with medium or low levels of poverty say the same (56% and 54%). A third of teachers in high-poverty schools say they have to help students with mental health challenges every day, compared with about a quarter of those in medium- or low-poverty schools who say they have this experience (26% and 24%).

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Table of contents, ‘back to school’ means anytime from late july to after labor day, depending on where in the u.s. you live, among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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The Awards Ceremony for this annual competition recognized the essays of all 18 finalists on "The Meaning of Courage Today." The top winners were announced, prizes awarded and the essays read, followed by a reception.

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India's MSME conundrum: Can the sector rise through its present challenges?

Byline: Surabhi
Producer: Arnav Das Sharma

It’s been a slow and uneven recovery after the pandemic for MSMEs. As they get back to normalcy, several old challenges persist and newer ones are emerging. Addressing them could put India on a much higher growth trajectory

Photos: Hardik Chhabra & Mandar Deodhar

When an MSME goes to a bank for financing, it means that it is a patient and needs to be in the ICU. That is how banks should treat the business. Instead, they ask for several documents and take a long time to lend, if at all,” says Gaurav Kumar Jain, the owner of Meerut-based MSMEs K.R. Industries, K.R. Synthetic and K.R. Rubber, which manufacture a range of rubber, sports goods and fitness equipment.

The district of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh is India’s second-largest producer of sports goods after Jalandhar in Punjab. But problems in sourcing raw material, meeting international quality standards and challenges with ease of doing business are some of the biggest hurdles for MSMEs in the space, says Jain.

His comments are met with laughter by other MSME owners and sectoral experts gathered in his office. Almost all recognise the bitter truth behind his comments even as they grapple with their own challenges. Take Sajid Saifi, President of the Mini Gas and Petromax Spare Manufacturers and Traders Association in Meerut. The mini gas cylinder cluster in Meerut has about 400 units and is looking for a proper space for production. “We want a common facility centre that would help us with adequate space for testing, getting raw materials and production,” says Saifi. But despite its large markets in India and abroad, it has been unable to convince the authorities.

“ The biggest challenges for MSMEs to compete with cheaper imports in India or exports abroad are access to technology and getting timely payments ” ANIL BHARDWAJ Secretary General FISME

Across the city, Ashutosh Agarwal, MD of jewellery firm Bhawani & Bhawani Jewellers, says players in the imitation jewellery space need to invest in technology to become competitive. But formal financing is hard to come by. Jain’s comments also find resonance amongst MSME owners across the country. In Maharashtra’s Kalyan, near Mumbai, chemicals manufacturer Chandan Gupta (name changed on request) is bogged down by the large number of compliance reports that need to be filed every month. “How is a small manufacturer supposed to run his businesses, if he has to meet deadlines to file returns and reports?” he asks. In Ahmedabad, Jaimin Gupta, 29, Founder of men’s apparel maker Barcelona, is worried about the presence of too many central- and state-level policies that could make doing business across states cumbersome. “The current government is big on creating digital infrastructure and it could well look at creating one for MSMEs that helps us meet all state-level compliance requirements,” he says.

In Delhi, J.S. Ahluwalia, MD of freight forwarding and logistics firm Aquatic Freights, says the government doesn’t do enough for MSMEs. “Even during the pandemic, we were left to fend for ourselves… We were lucky. Many businesses couldn’t bear the burden and shut down,” he says.

Torrid Times

According to official data, as many as 35,680 MSMEs registered on the government’s Udyam portal have shut since 2019. Experts say the numbers may be higher since many are unregistered. And while the pandemic may be over, millions of MSMEs continue to struggle with several old challenges even as newer ones are emerging.

While a full recovery remains elusive, experts say that easing ground-level issues and simpler compliances could improve MSMEs’ productivity, giving a boost to job creation and economic growth. Despite the modest nature of their operations, MSMEs are a force to contend with in the Indian economy. These firms—that can range from a single-person unit to medium-sized companies that employ dozens of workers—are the country’s second-largest job creator after agriculture, contribute a third of the GDP, and 45% of national exports. It is estimated that there are more than 66 million MSMEs in India, with a little over 40 million being registered with the government, as of March 15, 2024.

Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General of the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), says MSMEs have seen a K-shaped recovery since Covid-19. Many in contact-intensive sectors such as tourism, travel and hotels have shut shop; those that survived are on the mend. Those in food processing, pharma, auto and engineering were not impacted and continue to do well. “Problems continue for sectors such as garments and textiles, leather and gems and jewellery, and capital goods that are exposed to the global markets... Many of these markets are now entering into recession and these companies are the worst hit,” says Bhardwaj.

While government spending on infrastructure and housing, and the resurgence in domestic demand have given a boost to these sectors, there continues to be pain points. “The biggest challenges for MSMEs to compete with cheaper imports in India or exports abroad are access to better technology and getting timely payments,” says Bhardwaj.

K.E. Raghunathan, National Chairman of Chennai-based Association of Indian Entrepreneurs (AIE), distils MSMEs’ problems down to 5Ms: money, marketing, materials, manpower, and modernisation. “These vital needs of MSMEs have been poorly addressed by policymakers… For any policy intervention, there is a need for data but… the Ministry of MSME is yet to collect data on all existing MSMEs,” he says.

Labour economist Santosh Mehrotra, a retired JNU professor, agrees. “There is not any updated data on MSMEs for comprehensive policy action. The NSSO conducted the Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Enterprises sample survey in a five-year interval and the last report is available for 2015-16,” he notes.

Nirav Shah, Founder of Zyapaar, a networking platform for MSMEs, says the three key challenges are credit access, technology and digital adoption, and market access. “Because of these challenges, there is a huge gap between what the MSMEs are doing and what they can do.”

“ Money, marketing, materials, manpower, and modernisation—these vital needs of MSMEs have been poorly addressed by policymakers ” K.E. RAGHUNATHAN National Chairman AIE

Payment Delays

The biggest challenge for MSMEs is getting timely payments. According to some estimates, as much as Rs 10.7 lakh crore of dues for small businesses are stuck. Ahluwalia of Aquatic Freights says it took one and a half years to get a payment from a central government ministry for an overseas consignment, and another six months to get paid by a large private infrastructure company. “The MSME Samadhaan portal made us run back and forth between Delhi and Mumbai and eventually did not yield any result,” says Ahluwalia when asked about recourse to arbitration. The Samadhaan portal was set up in 2017 to monitor delayed payments and ensure they are paid in a time-bound manner.

There are other policy measures. Under the MSME Development Act, 2006, if payment is not made within 45 days of receiving the goods or service from the supplier, the buyer must pay compound interest with monthly rests (where interest is calculated based on the outstanding balance) to the supplier on the amount at thrice the notified bank rate. But such measures have seen mixed results. While MSME facilitation centres in each state can settle such disputes, industry players say that cases can drag on for months. Even after the award of the payment, the buyer may default on it or appeal against it. The MSME ministry is looking at amendments to the Act to ensure the award of dues is implemented.

In 2014, the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDs) was launched as an electronic platform to facilitate financing and discounting of receivables from MSMEs and help them receive funds against approved invoices within 48 hours. While invoice processing on TReDs is understood to have hit about Rs 11,000 crore per month, AIE’s Raghunathan says many state governments have not yet accepted it, and many corporates don’t care about it.

The proposed implementation of a new income tax provision from April 2024 has thrown MSMEs into a tizzy. The Finance Act 2023 inserted a new clause (h) in section 43B of the Income Tax Act under which, if a company fails to pay an MSME within 45 days, the dues would be added to the buyer’s profit and taxed.

While the aim is to promote timely payments to small businesses, MSMEs are worried that this could impact their relations with clients. Some have even given up their MSME registration to ensure clients continue to do business with them. Industry bodies have sent representations to the finance ministry to either extend the period to 90 days or defer its implementation. Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), says the entire supply chain needs to be brought into it. “Otherwise, it can lead to a huge income tax liability for companies.” CAIT has called for the implementation to be deferred to April 1, 2025.

Funding Gap

The perennial challenge for MSMEs remains the funding gap. Getting financing from formal lending channels such as banks and NBFCs at the right time and right rate is crucial, but for most it involves a series of meetings and providing adequate collateral. The credit gap in the sector was pegged at Rs 20-25 lakh crore by a report of the Expert Committee on MSMEs headed by former Sebi Chairman U.K. Sinha in 2019. This is seen to be higher now. According to estimates, less than 40% of MSMEs avail credit from formal financial systems. “The credit gap for MSMEs is about Rs 28 lakh crore at present but this will increase further as the informal sector enterprises transition into the formal sector,” says Sanjay Agarwal, Senior Director at CareEdge Ratings.

To some extent, the government’s measures have helped bridge this gap. Bank lending to MSMEs is currently at Rs 22 lakh crore while NBFCs have lent Rs 3 lakh crore. These include bringing MSMEs into priority sector lending (PSL) and the Rs 5 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to support businesses. As of March 31, 2023, guarantees amounting to Rs 3.61 lakh crore had been issued under ECLGS, benefitting 11.9 million borrowers.

MSME ministry officials also point to additional capital infusion of Rs 9,000 crore into the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises to enable additional credit of Rs 2 lakh crore with a reduced cost of credit. The government has also established the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups, under which loans to 106 start-ups amounting to Rs 265 crore have been guaranteed. Other measures include the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme and Startup India Fund of Funds for Startups. Bharadwaj of FISME suggests that the government can consider floating a large dedicated commercial bank. “A commercial bank for MSMEs with a branch in every district could help MSMEs in a big way,” he says.

At a recent webinar, CareEdge Ratings summed up the major stumbling blocks for MSMEs in accessing formal credit: requirement for collateral, lack of credit history and financial record, the seasonal nature of business of MSMEs, and the lack of awareness and financial literacy. CareEdge’s Agarwal notes that gross NPAs for MSMEs is at an all-time low. “As more data becomes available on MSME borrowers, the comfort of lenders will increase… Due to repayment data available with credit bureaus, MSME borrowers are also becoming more careful in making timely payments,” he says. The quality of banks’ MSME portfolio has shown improvement with gross NPAs declining to 4.7% in September 2023 from 7.7% a year earlier. Shachindra Nath, Founder and MD of U GRO Capital, an MSME lending-focussed fintech, adds that as formalisation of the sector continues and companies have more data and the ability to collate it, credit to the sector will increase. “The next 10 years could be the golden age of MSMEs and with the right credit financing, they could contribute as much as 40% to the GDP.”

Formalisation Push

The government is trying to nudge unregistered MSMEs into the formal sector so that they can avail the benefits of various schemes and access to bank credit. But the transition has not been easy. Demonetisation and the GST roll-out were seen as major stumbling blocks and then the pandemic happened. Many also prefer to stay off the books as it allows them to operate without regulatory scrutiny.

“The formalisation gap remains high, and we are focussing on getting more registrations on the portal to help percolate the benefits of schemes to MSMEs,” says a senior official from the MSME ministry. “The biggest issues are the formalisation gap, credit gap and the need for handholding for technological support. We believe these are opportunities,” says the official, who declined to be identified. Government data shows that more and more MSMEs are moving towards registering on the portal, which assigns them a permanent identity number. This enables them to avail facilities such as PSL, collateral-free loans, subsidy for patent registration and lower electricity charges.

A total of 40.7 million businesses are registered on the Udyam and Udyam Assist Platform (that registers informal micro enterprises) and they cumulatively employ more than 181.5 million people, as of March 24, 2024. In July 2021, retail and wholesale traders were also allowed to register on the portal, but only for PSL. Experts say that given the diverse entities that form the sector, there is a need for more clarity on what constitutes an MSME. This would also help in better percolation of policies to the grassroots.

The composite criteria to qualify as an MSME is linked to investment in plant and machinery and annual turnover. Micro units can have investment in plant and machinery of not more than Rs 1 crore and annual turnover of not more than Rs 5 crore; small enterprises (Rs 10 crore; up to Rs 50 crore); and medium businesses (Rs 50 crore; up to Rs 250 crore). But MSMEs can range from one running a boutique from home to a company that manufactures electrical transformers. Rajendra Agrawal, Lok Sabha MP from Meerut and Convenor of a forum of MPs across party lines called Friends of MSMEs, says it is necessary to classify MSMEs “not only capital-wise but also industry wise”. Khandelwal says wholesale and retail traders would like to be included in the overall definition for more benefits.

Given the complex and diverse nature of many of these problems, finding solutions may take time. But a common thread running through all these businesses is that of optimism, grit, and the belief that they can grow and do well with the right kind of support. If they manage to make their way out of this labyrinth of problems, these businesses could very well be the building blocks on which India can become an economic superpower.

(With inputs from Ashish Rukhaiyar)

UI Developer : Pankaj Negi Creative Producer : Raj Verma Videos : Mohsin Shaikh Photos : Hardik Chhabra & Mandar Deodhar

COMMENTS

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