Hey all, I'm new to this forum!
Here's an essay I wrote, originally for a UC prompt, and now I'm using it for the Common App prompt about evaluating a significant experience and it's impact on me:
When I first joined the Gunn Robotics Team, I imagined that the emphasis was on 'Robotics'. It was only later that I found out that the emphasis really lay with 'Team'. Initially, I joined because I wanted to learn how to use tools like mills and lathes, and because I've always enjoyed creating and working with all things mechanical. However, as we built a robot for the US FIRST robotics competition, the most valuable lesson I learned was how to work with people.
Before we even touched any tools to build the robot, we began with brainstorming ideas. Although usually this is a simple task, it can be extremely difficult when there are forty people with different ideas and only one robot to build. This is when I learned how to listen, since no matter how amazing my own ideas may be, there are plenty of others to be heard. I even began to really appreciate and depend on my teammates' ideas, even though I usually tend to work alone, because quite often those other ideas were simply brilliant. I was amazed at what a group of people with a single purpose and mindset can achieve by building on each other's ideas.
As we moved on, group discussion became decreasingly productive as the topic of discussion narrowed down. My amazement eventually turned to frustration, when instead of coming up with new and clever solutions my group became bogged down in debates over bolt size or choice of material. I found the best solution was to go into the shop and start making prototypes. One can argue over whether a certain bolt size is better than another for quite a while, but as soon as the whole group begins to work on a prototype, such trivialities are easily cleared up.
Only after the prototypes were finalized and everyone more or less agreed on the design did I actually begin learning about how to use the mill and the lathe and all the other tantalizing tools in the shop. Now, I finally learned about the difference between two-flute and four-flute mill bits, and how to center the piece I was working on in the lathe, and all the other things I had wanted to learn when I joined in the beginning. But even here, working as a team was an immense advantage. I quickly learned that there was no way I could finish a complex mechanism on my own more quickly than a well-organized group of people can.
The mechanical knowledge I learned paled in comparison to the people skills I acquired. Of course, the mechanical skills are important, because the Gunn Robotics Team's 2nd place out of 47 teams can't be attributed to teamwork alone, but everything I learned about the tools I could have learned from a book. What I learned from working with people was far more unique, and I use those skills every day. I cannot wait until the 2010 competition, where I'll get to do it all over again!
My main concerns: is there not enough analysis of how I was affected?
Thanks, all!
I quickly learned that there was no way I could finish a complex mechanism on my own more quickly than a well-organized group of people can.
Too much quickly in this sentence, but more importantly...
The essay is great!! You did a fine job of presenting this experience and telling what you learned. Now, you can talk a little about your intended career so that the reader sees a connection between this experience and your grand process of laying the foundation for your career.
