Undergraduate / MIT creativity essay " How i convinced students to donate blood" [3]

hi, i know it maybe odd topic for the creativity essay but this is the only project i have ever led. the word count is 281 and i need to cut it down by 30 words . Thanks in advance

Tell us about a time you used your creativity. This could be something you made, a project that you led, an idea that you came up with, or pretty much anything else. (*) (200-250 words)

It is one thing to do an appreciable deed yourself; a totally different matter to convince others to do it. I was overwhelmed by a similar feeling when I first had the idea of starting a voluntary blood drive in my school. Even before I had talked to anyone of my school fellows, I knew that convincing them to donate blood would be no walk in the park.

Though every person required a different approach, I used three basic tactics to persuade my fellows. For some the lure of being an unsung hero, someone who is going to save a life, was enough to convince them for donation. For others I rattled my brains for reasons that would appeal to them. Some of my fellows were studying economics and I used their knowledge of subject to my fullest advantage. A healthy adult can only donate three units of blood every year, roughly the same amount used in an average major operation. Major surgeries will never cease to happen so I used the simple argument of maintaining a supply of blood for the hospital, for the purpose of saving lives, to convince the young economists for donation. To induce the rest I made them realize that it was their social responsibility to give blood as we humans are the only source of blood and hospitals have a constant requirement for blood.

Although not many of my peers actually donated blood, as they were denied permission by their parents; something which I had overlooked, I was still satisfied that I had convinced, in person, many of my peers to donate blood. I believe one day, if not today, they will donate blood voluntarily

Undergraduate / "inferiority complex" - MIT most significant challenge essay [8]

Hi guys please comment and critique ( i know its not that good )

Pulling yourself out of suicidal thoughts is one thing; doing the same for somebody else is a lot more demanding. The absence of our father coupled with the fact that my brother had no real friends meant that I had to bear the brunt of his feelings.

I am still unsure about the cause of his inferiority complex. Social awkwardness, peer pressure and the list can go on and on. From what I had deduced from his confessions; all he was doing was assuming that people would not like him behind his back. I first went hard on him; scolding him for believing what he only had assumed. Only later I realized that my brother was building stone walls around him; I tried to remove them my own way yet was overwhelmed by the fear of crippling the walls over him.

I had almost given up on him; mostly out of frustration while blaming him for not changing his beliefs. But I was forced to rethink my strategy when he confessed to me about having suicidal thoughts. Maybe I was doing the wrong thing by being inflexible with a stubborn individual. I tried to put myself in his shoes , something I had never thought of before, and realized that what he required was confidence boosts, not scolding. I tried to improve my attitude towards him; encouraging him for the tiniest of appreciable deeds. Gradually he did get out of his suicidal stupor.

The major lesson I learnt from this experience was that blaming other's for one's failures can be called "consoling yourself" at best -"satisfying your ego" at worst. Continuous failures do not indicate that one is not capable of doing something; merely that one is trying to reach his goal, the wrong way.