<p>Is it appropriate to both expand upon a specific extra-curricular (in the appropriate section), focusing on its academic and intellectual components, and to use that activity in the actual essay, talking about how if affected me personally?</p>
<p>I actually would advise against it. Technically, the academic and intellectual components should have affected you personally and what affected you personally should be the challenging aspect of the EC. They intermix and would probably draw similarities between the two prompts</p>
<p>This is where the point of having TWO essays comes in. The Adcoms want to know two different sides of you, to make a more well-rounded version of you in their eyes – not a 2-D version. Take advantage of it and write about something else for one of the prompts</p>