Hello, My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school. She is now healthy and in remission, but the experience was difficult for both of us. I was thinking about writing about this experience for my Common Application essay. Instead of making it a pity essay, I was hoping to focus on how I have grown from their experience and how it inspired me to start a local campaign (with my mom’s support) to spread awareness about preventative care for young women and aid local patients. Would this still be a “cheesy” essay? Thanks!
Not if you are authentic and specific. For example, avoid throwing around general phrases like “Going through this experience with my mother made me realize how fragile life is,” or sticking too much to the generally used narrative: start off in the waiting room with the diagnosis / your mother telling you that she had cancer --> you are devastated --> you watch as she goes through X, Y, and Z --> you feel powerless to help --> you do intensive research on cancer / raise a lot of money for some cancer-related cause --> now you’re interested in becoming a doctor, lol.