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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Need application essay ideas? |
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| Anonymous |
| 10/20/03 at 13:26:32 |
| Assalaamu alaikum! I'm in need of a little advice/guidance, I need to write an essay describe the single greatest challenge in my life, its one of those 'program application essays'. And well, every time I sit down to think, I draw a blank, well not really, I think about all the hardships that have come my way, and how always by putting my faith in Allah swt those high mountains became molehills. I don't know what to write about. It seems like everytime I think of something, I remember that it wasn't so difficult, that I got through it fine, that others have gone through things that were much more difficult. I know the object of the essay is for the selection committee to get a better idea of what kind of person I am, how I respond to stress and all of that...but, subhanAllah, i'm stuck. If any of you sisters/brothers out there have any ideas,suggestions, any at all...i'd love to hear them. A sister that thinks she's thunk herself out |
| Re: Need application essay ideas? |
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| theOriginal |
| 10/20/03 at 14:00:20 |
| [slm] I'll write you a more serious reply later, inshaAllah.... For now: Not to make light of the situation...wit is usally not regarded as a good form of writing for a college application essay....BUTTT does anyone remember Hugh Gallaghar? He won the scholastic award for writing an application to NYU. Here, it follows: Question: ESSAY: IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON? Answer: I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru. Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge. I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat 400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me. I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis. But I have not yet gone to college. |
| Re: Need application essay ideas? |
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| chiq |
| 10/20/03 at 14:34:09 |
| [slm] No I haven't heard of him, but :-/ :-/ :-/ ! Sis Anon, mashallah I wish I could lay claim to the mountain-molehill conversion trait - me too used to being hauled out of my stormy seas by others on the point of drowning :P 'Tis said that true sabr is forbearance at the [i]onset[/i] of calamity...myself, I can think of plenty of times I've entered my own hand-made tunnel of tears and complaint for a while before calming down and putting things in perspective... Personally, I would consider my [i]real[/i] challenges to be one of those times - when I was too overwhelmed to let Allah's promise comfort me. By extension, my [i]greatest[/i] challenge would be the one with the longest/most severe such "down" period... Don't know if you have any such challenge...? ??? Wasalaam |
| 10/20/03 at 14:38:15 |
| chiq |
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