<p>I know this sounds kind of wierd. But the whole thing in the south made me remember something. Something that i probably should have remembered; but it slipped my mind. Does Yale take a second look at people who lived/went to school in a disaster area? Almost two years ago there was a huge wild fire in my area that destroyed tons of houses. It got about 300 yards from our school and about 250 yards from my home. It burnt down about 7% of our students’ homes. Our community was considered a disaster zone by the Bush administration; and stayed in that state for about a month; completely putting school out of the question as so many of us had no home. It was one of the most humbling moments of mine; and im sure, several of my friends’ lives. It might be a feasable topic. any comments on this? thanks</p>
<p>how is that humbling?</p>
<p>tbh, there are so many “humbling” and “multicultural” essays that it’s REALLY trite.</p>
<p>if your school was in new orleans and you talked about your days in the superdome, maybe that would be interesting</p>
<p>btw, 20 kids from my school are all applying to yale. all of them have a diversity essay and what they bring as one of their essays.</p>
<p>So. “My days in the Superdome” would be more interesting than “My two weeks in the Wal-Mart parking lot within viewing distance of my home on fire” ? It’s humbling because it gives a well off person like myself an experience I may never have experienced if this hadn’t happened.</p>
<p>I think you should write about it. Lets face it, pretty much any essay topic that anyone chooses will be “trite” because most people have common experiences. It happens. You won’t be admitted to Yale simply because you lived in a disaster area, but it would be a good essay topic. Heck, I’m doing the dreaded “community service” essay topic, but it meant a lot to me. I’m sure that fire had a pretty big impact on your life, and it’s not something that most people experience. So yeah, do your essay on it.</p>