Question #1 About YOU
To answer this first question, I want you to describe a major event that occurred during your lifetime that you think had a significant impact on you — be it on some aspect of your belief system, your politics, your faith, your physical/mental/emotional health, your proposed career path/academic major, etc. Ideally, it will be something that caused a change — an alteration to the path you had been on. Include a web link that references the event and write at least a few sentences describing how/why it impacted your life.
EXAMPLE:
One could of course choose something about the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps you’ve taken on significant additional caregiving responsibilities while juggling school, work, your social life, etc. Perhaps a story like this one resonates: https://time.com/5892535/elderly-parents-pandemic/ There are so many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has forced subtle and not-so-subtle changes to our lives. Yet, many of us can likely identify specific instances relating to it that perhaps have caused us to recalibrate our views on things like the relative value of certain technologies, the importance of face-to-face time spent with grandparents, the relative freedom that Americans generally have to travel freely across state and national boarders, the degree of trust we have in our elected or appointed leaders, and so on…
ONE of THESE types of things should be the focus of your essay. Make sense?
Question #2 about SOMEONE ELSE
This question is similar to the first — but it will require you to reach out to someone from a generation (or two) OLDER than you. Specifically, I want you to have a conversation (be it in-person, on the phone, Skype, etc.) with someone who reached adulthood before you were born. Of course, this could be with a parent, aunt/uncle, grandparent, family friend, etc.
I want you to pose the same question I gave to you above:
Ask them to describe a major event that occurred BEFORE YOU WERE BORN that they think had a significant impact on their life — be it on some aspect of their belief system, their career path, their politics, their faith, their physical/mental/emotional health, etc. Again, ideally, it will be something that caused a major change in their life — an alteration to the path they were on. Give them some time to think about it — and if done right — this can be a great conversation on many levels for both of you.
Jot down some brief notes while they are speaking… and then afterwards, find a web link that references the event they told you about. Write and submit a paragraph to relay their story (that includes the link).
Make sense?