TUCK essay 3: What is the greatest challenge or hurdle you have overcome, either personally or professionally, and how did you manage to do so?
Hi,
I am having a bit of a difficulty with this question. I am sure of the answer I want to give, however it is pretty old but has had a huge impact on my life.
I want to use this question to explain how I overcame aquaphobia and subsequently highlight the following traits: discipline and determination.
However I started the process of overcoming my aquaphobia when i was 17 and it took me around one and a half year to do so. Now, unlike diseases such as diabetes where usually people do have a general perception of how it's treated, phobias as usually treated via meditation, metal exercises etc. Thus I am not sure on how the adcom will react to this 'challenge' and whether they will feel it is a prominent hurdle. Second, like I mentioned this was far back, however the lessons of discipline and perseverance i learnt were helpful during my undergrad days when i had to strike a balance between my academics, extracurricular activities and volunteer work. Similarly, when I worked as a Program Manager in Microsoft and committed a good chunk of my time to volunteer work and my side project as a tee shirt designer, I could only do them due to the lessons i learnt early on while trying to overcome my fear of water.
Thus, One- should I go along with this example? or should I pick something that happened recently? My fear is if I pick something recently it would most likely be a challenge at work or during my tenure as the Vice President of my undergrad Student council. For these i would not be able to give a personal touch as I would when I explain how I pvercame my phobia.
Two- if I do go with the phobia how do structure the essay? How much space (say 1/4 of the essay etc.) do i spend on the challenge and the journey to conquering it and how much space should I dedicate to explaining it's significance?
Thanks a ton for answering the question.
Cheers,
Lee
Hi,
I am having a bit of a difficulty with this question. I am sure of the answer I want to give, however it is pretty old but has had a huge impact on my life.
I want to use this question to explain how I overcame aquaphobia and subsequently highlight the following traits: discipline and determination.
However I started the process of overcoming my aquaphobia when i was 17 and it took me around one and a half year to do so. Now, unlike diseases such as diabetes where usually people do have a general perception of how it's treated, phobias as usually treated via meditation, metal exercises etc. Thus I am not sure on how the adcom will react to this 'challenge' and whether they will feel it is a prominent hurdle. Second, like I mentioned this was far back, however the lessons of discipline and perseverance i learnt were helpful during my undergrad days when i had to strike a balance between my academics, extracurricular activities and volunteer work. Similarly, when I worked as a Program Manager in Microsoft and committed a good chunk of my time to volunteer work and my side project as a tee shirt designer, I could only do them due to the lessons i learnt early on while trying to overcome my fear of water.
Thus, One- should I go along with this example? or should I pick something that happened recently? My fear is if I pick something recently it would most likely be a challenge at work or during my tenure as the Vice President of my undergrad Student council. For these i would not be able to give a personal touch as I would when I explain how I pvercame my phobia.
Two- if I do go with the phobia how do structure the essay? How much space (say 1/4 of the essay etc.) do i spend on the challenge and the journey to conquering it and how much space should I dedicate to explaining it's significance?
Thanks a ton for answering the question.
Cheers,
Lee
