Describe a difficult situation or set-back you have experienced and what you learned from it. 1,000 word limit.
the world is my oyster
When I started college I was a Music Technology major at Capital University. I finished my first semester and music was still a passion. I was excited going into my second semester to learn more. Before the end of the second semester I started realizing some things about the music industry, and about myself. I knew the music industry was competitive, but I didn't know the true scale of it. For example, a sound engineer could work tirelessly on an album. It could be their absolute best effort and considered a work of art to most people. However, the client could have a different opinion, and like the work of the other four sound engineers they also hired for the same project. Five different engineers, all paid for their time, but only one is paid for their work based off of an opinion. I then realized that I didn't want to live my life in constant competition, when even my best could not be rewarded. Things I also realized were that I enjoy problem solving, stability, and a versatile routine. Now that I had some boxes to tick off, I decided to change my major, but "the world is my oyster" is a lot nicer to hear than to be faced with.
So here starts my setback. I had been training my voice since I was thirteen and music was my end all be all, then it wasn't what I wanted. Deciding to walk away from something you had put so much of yourself into is incredibly difficult. However, I think the hardest part was turning around to a huge question mark. What do I do now? I immediately started researching various careers and taking all the free "what should you do with your life" tests available. A lot of medical field jobs started appearing, and the first one to really spark my interest was optometry. So scheduled an appointment with the head of Pre-Optometry at Capital University and started to plan my next semester and discuss the career. I felt secure with a grasp on a new interest and I went home for the summer with full intentions to return to Capital University.
Mid-May approaches, and I now have an excel document of various optometry schools I am interested in attending. At the top of my list sits The Ohio State University. I start thinking that if I finished up my undergraduate there I might have a better chance of getting into their optometry school. Maybe five minutes after the thought runs through my head, I go start filling out the application that is already passed due. A month later I receive my letter of acceptance, and start my sophomore year as a buckeye. However, I was diving into my sophomore year into a place I didn't know many people, another set back of its own. I started my sophomore year making friends, joining organizations and taking general education classes. One organization being pre-optometry club, where I eventually learned that optometry was not for me.
My next stepping-stone major was Dietetics. I really enjoyed nutrition and took the introduction class. I learned about many of the different career paths and what the degree had to offer. I also applied for a job at the Wexner Medical Center as a nutrition aide. With this job I became aware of the true hospital environment. However, during my semester learning all I could about dietetics, I didn't feel that I fit in to that career. Which brings me to applying to the Medical Laboratory Science program.
With every stepping-stone I felt much closer to where I was supposed to be, and I am confident that I have found it. With a degree in Medical Laboratory Science I have many different options and paths to take, and I genuinely find all of them interesting. I currently work at the Wexner Medical Center in the specimen-processing lab, and interact with many laboratory scientists. I feel that I could walk in their shoes, and enjoy being a laboratory scientist.
During this extended period of time when I struggled to find where my personal niche was, I have resurfaced improved. During this process I have a greater understanding of myself, and am confident that I can succeed and be happy in the medical field. Things definitely happen for a reason, and I am so happy to be where I am today, as well as excited to see how things evolve into my professional life.
Describe an experience you have had working as part of a team, the role you played, and how the team resolved any challenges to working together. What was key to making the team successful? 1,000 word limit.
ProjectHeal is an organization that I am a part of, and we definitely work as a team to accomplish our goals. We are a chapter of a nonprofit organization that raises money for people recovering from eating disorders. Most people's medical insurance does not cover the full treatment; so many people do not fully recover. We raise most of our money primarily through our gala we have annually. At this gala we have speakers, food, and have a huge raffle. It takes a lot of preparation and work, for a team of very few people. Last year was our first gala, which came with some challenges among the excitement. Our biggest challenge was being spread too thin, with such few people putting on a large event.
Being a brand new chapter and not having anything to compare to, we were unsure of the destination we were trying to get to. The part I played on this team was on the public relations committee, and spreading the word about our gala to increase attendance. Our committee posted flyers around campus and the Columbus area to get our name out there. We also networked through our individual social networks through social media and friends. Some girls traveled sorority to sorority to get those organizations to come. A main selling point to encourage Greek life to participate was that every year they are required to attend a seminar, and our gala was a fun way to attend one. Our other committees concentrated on food, decorations, donations and entertainment. With all of us concentrating on our niches, we got the job done just in time.
The gala approached and everyone was scrambling to set up the decorations and we waited for the attendees to arrive. All in all, our first gala was an extreme success and we raised over $12,000 for ProjectHeal. The challenges we faced were persevered with hard work and encouraging fellow members. From dividing the work between each other we had more freedom and flexibility on how we could accomplish our individual tasks. With everyone's busy schedule, I think being a small team worked to our advantage. From being an organization less than a year old and accomplishing so much from what we thought was so little, we are heading into this years gala with bigger goals and a confident organization.Holt Educational Consultant - / 14,835 
4783 Sara, we have a one essay per thread policy in this forum which is strictly implemented so I will only be responding to the first essay in your presentation. You have to post the 2nd prompt as a separate, new thread in order to get any advice for that one. Sorry about that. We need to focus on only one essay per thread so that you can get the best advice possible for each work you ask us to consider helping you with.
In relation to the setback essay, I think that you do not understand what the concept of a setback is. A setback is defined as
" something that happens that delays or prevents a process from developing"
The essay that you are presenting does not indicate any setback experienced. Rather, it shows how you have been undecided about what kind of future you dream of having for yourself when you realized that the dream would not be easy to achieve. That is not to be confused by a setback. An example for a setback discussion in this essay would be not getting into your dream school. That is a setback. So you ended up going to your second choice school. All the while working towards getting the grades and other qualifications that would help you get into your school of first choice upon your second application.
Neither does the essay qualify as a difficult situation because the situation described is just you deciding to change college majors and not being able to decide which one would be best for you. I am afraid that your essay will not work for the prompt requirements. Please consider the definition of a setback as I indicated above and try to present an essay that leans more towards that definition. That is the kind of essay that this paper requires.
