<p>For the UC optional essay, could I talk about personal issues in my life but talk about how I can overcome these and persevere or should I just leave it blank?</p>
<p>if you feel that these personal issues are important to you and your character and that you haven’t already covered that elsewhere in your application, then by all means, write the essay. if you think you’ve covered it sufficiently in your other essays, then you don’t need to write it.</p>