I’m still trying to settle on a common app essay prompt for GA Tech. I’m scared that both are a bit cliche, so I would love some feedback.
One option is to write about my refugee parents (cliche already, I know). I would talk about how my parents survived the genocide in Bosnia and came to America as refugees. My dad had already finished his law degree, and my mom was almost done with her medical degree when they both came here and lost all of their hard work. I’ve been working as hard as possible in my school and in my life just to do them proud and to show them they didn’t come here just to survive. I would also talk about how I’m trying to be successful in life in order to make it up to my parents about how they lost both of their degrees when they came here. This topic means a lot to me, but it also means a lot to the millions of other children of immigrants that would write about the same thing.
My other choice would be about failure and how I overcame it. I’ve been completely and utterly devoted to my student council for my whole high school career. I’ve invested hundreds of hours into it, gone to tons of conferences and rallys, and have just poured my life into it in general. My council even hosted a huge student council conference for every student council in the southeast, and I was heavily involved in the planning and completion of the conference. I have also held two executive board positions before this year on my council. This all being said, I thought that I would be a shoe in when I ran for student council/student body president (they’re the same thing in my school) earlier this year. I thought everyone would appreciate all of the hard work that I had put in, and didn’t worry about what I thought would be my definite election. Unfortunately, someone else (who had only done 1/4 of what I had done for the council) ended up being elected. Needless to say, I was completely devastated. I was probably devastated for a good week before I accepted the situation. I had doubted if I should even stay on my council (I was still given a position on the exec board), since I thought I obviously wasn’t appreciated. I eventually decided that I wasn’t strong enough to quit, so I stayed on. I accepted the situation and was eventually happy with my situation. A few months later, the president approached me and told me that she was quitting and that I would finally be president. That was another hard decision: I didn’t know if I should hold onto my pride and decline or suck it up and accept what I had wanted for forever. I did accept the position, and picked up the pieces of what was left of my council. This seems sorta cliche, too (I don’t know if I’m just doubting myself, though).
Any ideas which I should pick? Any feedback on either of these topics? (Sorry if there’s something messed up, I’m typing this on my phone.)