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<p>Have you been playing it too safe for too long? You were once a tiny toddler, taking her first step or two. Step. Wobble. Fall down. Fail. Opps!</p>
<p>Do you have any trouble walking today? Maybe you’ve forgotten that you will fail if you challenge yourself. So what? Stop. Reflect why you failed. Make adjustments. Try again. Ultimately, you will write a better, more honest essay if you describe your setbacks along the journey to your new success.</p>
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<p>Sure, why not animals? But try to find an angle that meets a need that no one has addressed before in your community. Duplicating what any animal shelter already does is not going to be particularly impressive. Also, if you can “scale up” what you do to involve other helpers, you show management/leadership skills.</p>
<p>Here’s a thought experiment to get you started: Have you ever thought: “Wow, that’s really stupid. Why doesn’t somebody do something about this?” Well, congratulations! — you just identified an unmet need and you are that somebody to solve the problem.</p>
<p>Part Two: How many pets have to be put to sleep each year because they have no loving homes? Are there no lonely people out there who would treasure such a pet? Why do they not have one? Is it cost? Is it the mobility to get out to a shelter? Is it just that no one has ever brought the idea to their attention and made it easy for them to say “yes”? Identify the problem, identity possible solutions, make contacts with people in the industry (vets, animal shelters, pet food store managers). Find a solution and try to implement it. You won’t have 100% success, but you won’t have 100% failure, either. You’ll have a heck of an essay, however, and, very likely, get an invite to attend that college you so long for.</p>