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How to Write the “Overcoming Challenges” Essay + Examples

What’s covered:.

• What is the Overcoming Challenges Essay?
• Real Overcoming Challenges Essay Prompts
• How to Choose a Topic
• Writing Tips

Overcoming Challenges Essay Examples

• Where to Get Your Essay Edited

While any college essay can be intimidating, the Overcoming Challenges prompt often worries students the most. Those students who’ve been lucky enough not to experience trauma tend to assume they have nothing worth saying. On the other hand, students who’ve overcome larger obstacles may be hesitant to talk about them.

Regardless of your particular circumstances, there are steps you can take to make the essay writing process simpler. Here are our top tips for writing the overcoming challenges essay successfully.

What is the “Overcoming Challenges” Essay?

The overcoming challenges prompt shows up frequently in both main application essays (like the Common App) and supplemental essays. Because supplemental essays allow students to provide schools with additional information, applicants should be sure that the subject matter they choose to write about differs from what’s in their main essay.

Students often assume the overcoming challenges essay requires them to detail past traumas. While you can certainly write about an experience that’s had a profound effect on your life, it’s important to remember that colleges aren’t evaluating students based on the seriousness of the obstacle they overcame.

On the contrary, the goal of this essay is to show admissions officers that you have the intelligence and fortitude to handle any challenges that come your way. After all, college serves as an introduction to adult life, and schools want to know that the students they admit are up to the task. 

Real “Overcoming Challenges” Essay Prompts

To help you understand what the “Overcoming Challenges” essay looks like, here are a couple sample prompts.

Currently, the Common Application asks students to answer the following prompt in 650 words or less:

“The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?”

For the past several years, MIT has prompted students to write 200 to 250 words on the following:

“Tell us about the most significant challenge you’ve faced or something important that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?”

In both cases, the prompts explicitly ask for your response to the challenge. The event itself isn’t as important as how it pushed you to grow.

How to Choose a Topic for an Essay on Overcoming Challenges

When it comes to finding the best topic for your overcoming challenges essays, there’s no right answer. The word “challenge” is ambiguous and could be used to reference a wide range of situations from prevailing over a bully to getting over your lifelong stage fright to appear in a school musical. Here are some suggestions to keep in mind when selecting an essay subject.

1. Avoid trivial or common topics

While there aren’t many hard-and-fast rules for choosing an essay topic, students should avoid overdone topics.

These include:

• Working hard in a challenging class
• Overcoming a sports injury
• Moving schools or immigrating to the US
• Tragedy (divorce, death, abuse)

Admissions officers have read numerous essays on the subject, so it’s harder for you to stand out (see our full list of cliché college essay topics to avoid ). If events like these were truly formative to you, you can still choose to write about them, but you’ll need to be as personal as possible. 

It’s also ideal if you have a less traditional storyline for a cliché topic; for example, if your sports injury led you to discover a new passion, that would be a more unique story than detailing how you overcame your injury and got back in the game.

Similarly, students may not want to write about an obstacle that admissions committees could perceive as low stakes, such as getting a B on a test, or getting into a small fight with a friend. The goal of this essay is to illustrate how you respond to adversity, so the topic you pick should’ve been at least impactful on your personal growth.

2. Pick challenges that demonstrate qualities you want to highlight

Students often mistakenly assume they need to have experienced exceptional circumstances like poverty, an abusive parent, or cancer to write a good essay. The truth is that the best topics will allow you to highlight specific personal qualities and share more about who you are. The essay should be less about the challenge itself, and more about how you responded to it.

Ask yourself what personality traits you want to emphasize, and see what’s missing in your application. Maybe you want to highlight your adaptability, for example, but that isn’t clearly expressed in your application. In this case, you might write about a challenge that put your adaptability to the test, or shaped you to become more adaptable.

Here are some examples of good topics we’ve seen over the years:

• Not having a coach for a sports team and becoming one yourself
• Helping a parent through a serious health issue
• Trying to get the school track dedicated to a coach
• Having to switch your Model UN position last-minute

Tips for Writing an Essay About Overcoming Challenges

Once you’ve selected a topic for your essays, it’s time to sit down and write. For best results, make sure your essay focuses on your efforts to tackle an obstacle rather than the problem itself. Additionally, you could avoid essay writing pitfalls by doing the following:

1. Choose an original essay structure

If you want your overcoming challenges essay to attract attention, aim to break away from more traditional structures. Most of these essays start by describing an unsuccessful attempt at a goal and then explain the steps the writer took to master the challenge. 

You can stand out by choosing a challenge you’re still working on overcoming, or focus on a mental or emotional challenge that spans multiple activities or events. For example, you might discuss your fear of public speaking and how that impacted your ability to coach your brother’s Little League team and run for Student Council. 

You can also choose a challenge that can be narrated in the moment, such as being put on the spot to teach a yoga class. These challenges can make particularly engaging essays, as you get to experience the writer’s thoughts and emotions as they unfold.

Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need to have succeeded in your goal for this essay. Maybe you ran for an election and lost, or maybe you proposed a measure to the school board that wasn’t passed. It’s still possible to write a strong essay about topics like these as long as you focus on your personal growth. In fact, these may make for even stronger essays since they are more unconventional topics.

2. Focus on the internal

When writing about past experiences, you may be tempted to spend too much time describing specific people and events. With an Overcoming Challenges essay though, the goal is to focus on your thoughts and feelings.

For example, rather than detail all the steps you took to become a better public speaker, use the majority of your essay to describe your mental state as you embarked on the journey to achieving your goals. Were you excited, scared, anxious, or hopeful? Don’t be afraid to let the reader in on your innermost emotions and thoughts during this process.

3. Share what you learned 

An Overcoming Challenges essay should leave the reader with a clear understanding of what you learned on your journey, be it physical, mental, or emotional. There’s no need to explicitly say “this experience taught me X,” but your essay should at least implicitly share any lessons you learned. This can be done through your actions and in-the-moment reflections. Remember that the goal is to show admissions committees why your experiences make you a great candidate for admission. 

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the g arb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire. 

Furiously I rubbed the twigs together—rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers. No smoke. The twigs were too young, too sticky-green; I tossed them away with a shower of curses, and began tearing through the underbrush in search of a more flammable collection. My efforts were fruitless. Livid, I bit a rejected twig, determined to prove that the forest had spurned me, offering only young, wet bones that would never burn. But the wood cracked like carrots between my teeth—old, brittle, and bitter. Roaring and nursing my aching palms, I retreated to the tent, where I sulked and awaited the jeers of my family. 

Rattling their empty worm cans and reeking of fat fish, my brother and cousins swaggered into the campsite. Immediately, they noticed the minor stick massacre by the fire pit and called to me, their deep voices already sharp with contempt. 

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame. 

In the tent, I pondered my failure. Was I so dainty? Was I that incapable? I thought of my hands, how calloused and capable they had been, how tender and smooth they had become. It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive. And I’d gotten glasses, having grown horrifically nearsighted; long nights of dim lighting and thick books had done this. I couldn’t remember the last time I had lain down on a hill, barefaced, and seen the stars without having to squint. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to squash him. 

Yet, I realized I hadn’t really changed—I had only shifted perspective. I still eagerly explored new worlds, but through poems and prose rather than pastures and puddles. I’d grown to prefer the boom of a bass over that of a bullfrog, learned to coax a different kind of fire from wood, having developed a burn for writing rhymes and scrawling hypotheses. 

That night, I stayed up late with my journal and wrote about the spider I had decided not to kill. I had tolerated him just barely, only shrieking when he jumped—it helped to watch him decorate the corners of the tent with his delicate webs, knowing that he couldn’t start fires, either. When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.

This essay is an excellent example because the writer turns an everyday challenge—starting a fire—into an exploration of her identity. The writer was once “a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes,” but has since traded her love of the outdoors for a love of music, writing, and reading. 

The story begins in media res , or in the middle of the action, allowing readers to feel as if we’re there with the writer. One of the essay’s biggest strengths is its use of imagery. We can easily visualize the writer’s childhood and the present day. For instance, she states that she “rubbed and rubbed [the twigs] until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers.”

The writing has an extremely literary quality, particularly with its wordplay. The writer reappropriates words and meanings, and even appeals to the senses: “My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame.” She later uses a parallelism to cleverly juxtapose her changed interests: “instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano.”

One of the essay’s main areas of improvement is its overemphasis on the “story” and lack of emphasis on the reflection. The second to last paragraph about changing perspective is crucial to the essay, as it ties the anecdote to larger lessons in the writer’s life. She states that she hasn’t changed, but has only shifted perspective. Yet, we don’t get a good sense of where this realization comes from and how it impacts her life going forward. 

The end of the essay offers a satisfying return to the fire imagery, and highlights the writer’s passion—the one thing that has remained constant in her life.

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite. 

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin. 

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

While the writer didn’t succeed in getting the track dedicated to Coach Stark, their essay is certainly successful in showing their willingness to push themselves and take initiative.

The essay opens with a quote from Coach Stark that later comes full circle at the end of the essay. We learn about Stark’s impact and the motivation for trying to get the track dedicated to him.

One of the biggest areas of improvement in the intro, however, is how the essay tells us Stark’s impact rather than showing us: His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The writer could’ve helped us feel a stronger emotional connection to Stark if they had included examples of Stark’s qualities, rather than explicitly stating them. For example, they could’ve written something like: Stark was the kind of person who would give you gas money if you told him your parents couldn’t afford to pick you up from practice. And he actually did that—several times. At track meets, alumni regularly would come talk to him and tell him how he’d changed their lives. Before Stark, I was ambivalent about running and was on the JV team, but his encouragement motivated me to run longer and harder and eventually make varsity. Because of him, I approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The essay goes on to explain how the writer overcame their apprehension of public speaking, and likens the process of submitting an appeal to the school board to running a race. This metaphor makes the writing more engaging and allows us to feel the student’s emotions.

While the student didn’t ultimately succeed in getting the track dedicated, we learn about their resilience and initiative: I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Overall, this essay is well-done. It demonstrates growth despite failing to meet a goal, which is a unique essay structure. The running metaphor and full-circle intro/ending also elevate the writing in this essay.

Where to Get Your Overcoming Challenges Essay Edited

The Overcoming Challenges essay is one of the trickier supplemental prompts, so it’s important to get feedback on your drafts. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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• Medical School Application

How to Answer Adversity Secondary Essay Prompts for Medical School

Including successful essay examples.

Medical schools desire applicants that can effectively manage stress, overcome challenges, and navigate their way through life's curveballs. Successful applicants must prove they can endure the rigors of both medical school and a career as a physician. The secondary application adversity essay is a way for the admissions committee to evaluate your resilience as an applicant. Keep reading for everything you need to know about the adversity essay, including successful essay examples and strategies for how to answer this prompt type, even if you feel you haven't faced adversity.

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Article Contents 9 min read

What is an adversity essay for medical school.

In addition to writing a  diversity essay for medical school , an adversity essay for medical school is one you'll likely have to write when filling out your medical school secondary applications. Although the AMCAS work and activities  section includes up to 15 experiences, medical school secondary essays dive deeper into unique applicant characteristics that haven't already been covered. While most schools send out secondary applications to all applicants, some schools are choosier about who they send secondaries to, often screening using MCAT and GPA scores. While there are many medical school secondary essay examples , the adversity secondary essay is among the most common. Typically, in the essay prompt, you'll be asked to discuss a challenging time you experienced as well as how you overcame that challenge. 

Adversity prompts often come in the form of an "overcoming challenges" question. These questions ask the applicant about a difficult situation they were faced with, an obstacle they encountered, or a hurdle they had to push past in order to succeed. Check out our blog for a comprehensive list of medical school secondary essays which are sorted by school so you can see which prompts you'll likely receive depending on your chosen school. The following prompt examples fit into the adversity category:

1. Discuss a time in your life in which you have failed at something other than an academic experience. How did you confront the failure and what did you learn from it? Please describe how you typically approach challenges that you face in your life.

2. What has been your biggest challenge in pursuing medicine? What have you learned as a result?

3. The admissions committee is interested in gaining more insight into you as a person. Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Examples may include a moral or ethical dilemma, a situation of personal adversity, or a hurdle in your life that you worked hard to overcome. Please include how you got through the experience and what you learned about yourself as a result.

4. Describe a major problem you have had to deal with at some time in your life. Include how you dealt with it and how it influenced your growth.

5. Please describe to the Admissions Committee a challenge you have overcome and what you learned about yourself from that experience.

First, you need to make sure you read the prompt thoroughly and understand what the prompt is asking. In some cases, the challenge the admissions committee wants you to discuss is a professional challenge, in other cases, they are looking for a personal challenge. If the med school adversity question should be answered using a particular type of example, it will be specified in the prompt. Secondly, check the word or character count and keep this in mind when structuring your answer. Some prompts may allow for 1000 words while others are limited to only 200 words. These limits must be strictly adhered to, any violation of the limit will be seen as a red flag and will exclude you from progressing further through the admissions process. When answering these prompt types, begin by reflecting on your past experiences, which you likely already did when you wrote your medical school personal statement. Think about a time when you faced a difficult situation. What happened? What were the steps you took to overcome the challenge? What did you learn from the experience? Often, you won't have a lot of available words or characters to answer the question, so you need to make sure your answer is direct and to the point.

Start your essay with a brief introduction to the situation or experience, notice the word brief here. The least important part of this essay is describing what happened and all the details surrounding the experience. Make sure you don't get lost in the story because you won't have any words left to describe the important aspects which are covered in the body paragraph. This includes how you felt, how you were affected, and what you learned. Discussing how you felt is particularly important as it helps the admissions committee understand your thought process when you're faced with adversity as well as how you cope in these situations. Tie everything together with a short conclusion that summarizes how the experience changed you. Have you become a stronger person because of the obstacle you faced? Have you learned to be more compassionate? Did you gain a better understanding of a complicated issue? Everyone's experience will be different, so it's important to reflect on your individual experience to determine how you gained something positive from it. 

Some students struggle with the "overcoming challenges" prompt because they feel truly fortunate in life and don't feel that they've faced adversity. So, if you haven't faced adversity, what should you write in this section? The truth is, everyone has faced adversity, the struggle that students face in answering this question is that they are categorizing the prompt incorrectly. Adversity simply means difficulty or misfortune, but students often take this term to the most extreme and feel that it only applies to a serious situation such as the loss of a loved one, a serious disability or a life-altering illness. While these are certainly hardships worth discussing, they are not the only hardships people face. Everyone has overcome a difficult situation, but if you're having a hard time identifying such a time in your life, read these questions below to help determine a hardship that affected you personally. If you answered yes to any of the below questions, you likely have a good topic for discussion, as long as you can expand the topic and think about how it affected you and what you learned moving forward.

Did you have to move because of issues at school?  Have you been bullied before?  Have you had a hard time making friends?  Did you face an obstacle while gaining shadowing or clinical experience?  Do you have a poor grade or a gap in your academic record? What do you think the main cause of this was?  Have you been the new person at school? "},{"number":"2","title":"Family Challenges","comment":" Have you lost a loved one?  Have you or a loved one faced injury or illness?  Has a loved one struggled with addiction?  Did your parents get divorced?  Do you or a loved one struggle with a physical, physiological, or developmental condition or disability?  Has your family lost their home?  Was your family forced to move? "},{"number":"3","title":"General Challenges","comment":" Can you think of a time when something didn't go the way you had hoped? For example, maybe you could have played professional basketball but an injury forced you to change plans.  Have you faced discrimination or prejudice of some kind?  Have you had to learn a new language?  Have you had to manage a financial hardship?  Have you fallen out with a best friend?  Have you made a mistake that had unfortunate consequences? "}]">

Check out our video for adversity essay examples:

1. Please describe any significant barriers or challenges you may have overcome in the pursuit of your personal/professional goals.

During my senior year of undergraduate studies I had struggled to cope with my diagnosis of vitiligo. It started off as a faint light spot near my eyes that I did not pay much attention to at first. Eventually, that spot became whiter and I noticed two other small spots forming near it and other around my lips. I became concerned at that point for my health.

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Can i write in my hardship that i didnot match last year

BeMo Academic Consulting

Hello Ambresha! Thank you very much for your question. You can absolutely include this obstacle in your essay. Do not forget to discuss what you learned and how you worked to overcome this hurdle.

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One Expert's Advice to Help You Write a Strong Overcoming Adversity Essay

Leslie Tucker PhD, Jun 07, 2021

Learn how to pick the right adversity story and write an impressive overcoming adversity essay

Whether you’re working on college or scholarship applications, you’re bound to come across the overcoming adversity essay sooner or later. While every type of college application essay is unique, the overcoming adversity essay presents particular challenges for students.

What’s the best way to talk about the adversity in your life? What if you come off as too whiny? What if you don’t have any significant obstacles to write about? Will you be at a disadvantage?

Every year, my students ask me how to tackle this tricky part of their college applications. Luckily for you, I’ve developed a fool-proof approach for writing the overcoming adversity essay , and I’m eager to share it.

Keep reading to learn why the adversity essay is important, how to choose the best topic, and how to write an impactful overcoming adversity essay.

Why the overcoming adversity essay is important

When colleges ask you to write a personal hardship essay, what are they trying to learn? Many students think they’re trying to find and admit the applicants who have faced the most adversity. Not true! Trust me, the adversity essay is NOT a competition to see who has it worse.

The purpose of the overcoming adversity essay is to reveal how you respond to difficult situations. Think about it. College is hard—not everyone has what it takes to succeed. Colleges want to accept students who have the skills and resilience to persevere through the adversity they’re bound to face.

So when an admissions officer reads your adversity essay, they’re trying to answer these questions:

●      How do you manage stress?

●      How do you attempt to resolve adversity?

●      How do you reflect on the challenges you face?

●      How do you apply lessons to your life?

If you can successfully answer these questions, you’ll write a stand-out overcoming adversity essay.

Not sure how to recognize an overcoming adversity essay prompt? Here are a few examples.

The Common App

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

The University of Miami

Considering your ability to control your own motivation and behavior, how have past experiences helped build your courage and resilience to persist in the face of academic and life challenges so that, once these storms pass, you can emerge in continued pursuit of your goals?

The University of California

Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

How to select the best story for your overcoming adversity essay

Choosing what to write your overcoming adversity essay about can be a challenge. The hardest things you’ve faced in life might not actually be the best topics. So I always encourage students to brainstorm lots of ideas before committing to one.

Here’s what I suggest. Sit down with a family member or close friend. Write a list of all the adversity you’ve faced—big and small. From challenging school projects to your parents divorce to the death of a family member, add everything you can think of to your list.

Next, you’ll want to remember and record how you reacted to each of the obstacles on your list. What were you thinking? What actions did you take?

To choose your adversity essay story, you’ll actually focus on your reactions list. Search for the instances when you showed impressive grit, strength, resilience, and problem-solving skills. These are the best stories to use for your overcoming adversity essay.

Weak topics for your adversity essay

As you’re selecting which topic to write about, beware of choosing a story that falls into one of these categories.

●      Adversity you faced due to COVID or virtual learning—everyone dealt with these circumstances, so it’s not a unique topic and won’t help you stand out.

●      Obstacles you dealt with in elementary or middle school—it’s a bit too outdated. Find a more recent instance of your grit and resilience.

●      Interpersonal struggles you had with a teacher or coach—these essays can come off like you don’t get along well with adults, which isn’t the impression you want to give.

Strong topics for your adversity essay

Any story that shows your maturity and problem-solving skills is a good choice for your overcoming adversity essay. Even so, there are few topics that might be better options for you than others, depending on your circumstances.

●      Ongoing obstacles you’re still facing but you’re handling well—important if this obstacle will carry on into college.

●      Adversity that interfered with your academic achievement—important if you had a GPA dip you’d like to explain.

●      Something that will resonate with the school you’re applying to or the career you’re pursuing—important if adversity drove you to choose a specific type of school or major.

How to write an impressive overcoming adversity essay

Now we’ve arrived at my fool-proof overcoming adversity essay formula. Once you’ve chosen the right story that demonstrates your resilience, just apply this formula to create a memorable adversity essay.

This formula is simple. It’s all about crafting a narrative. Remember, you’re telling the story of when you faced an obstacle. So you want it to sound like a real story, not a school report.

Here is the five-step formula to writing the perfect overcoming adversity essay.

• Introduce the obstacle or adversity
• Describe your emotional response
• Discuss the actions you took to face the problem
• Share the outcome of the situation
• Reveal what you learned from the experience

See? It’s a piece of cake. Now let’s see how it looks applied to an adversity story.

• The adversity: My family moved across the country between my sophomore and junior year.
• Emotional response: I was devastated to lose my friends and scared to start over in a new place.
• Actions taken: I scheduled regular talks and virtual hang outs with my old friends to ensure we’d stay in touch. Then I pushed myself to join two clubs at the beginning of the school year.
• Outcome: I stayed connected with friends from home. And even though it was intimidating to make new friends, putting myself out there helped me quickly meet people who shared my interests. I felt less alone and adjusted to my new environment sooner than I expected.
• Lessons learned: I am stronger and more adaptable than I thought I was. I am capable of thriving in new places and creating a new community for myself wherever I go.

With extremely little effort, I made a strong outline for an adversity essay using this formula. You can do the same!

Dos and don’ts for your overcoming adversity essay

The formula will take you a long way in structuring your adversity essay, but here are a few additional tips and tricks to make sure your writing is outstanding.

●       Don’t try to garner sympathy or pity —be honest about what happened, but remember your purpose isn’t to make the reader feel bad for you.

●       Do maintain a positive and upbeat tone throughout your adversity essay.

●       Don’t spend too much time describing the problem —keep it brief and to the point.

●       Do focus the majority of the essay on how you responded to and resolved the obstacle.

●       Don’t forget to include the outcome and the lessons you learned —self reflection is impressive to application readers.

●       Do connect what you learned with your future in college or in your chosen career.

Remember, one of the great things about the overcoming adversity essay is that you’re telling a story. You’re not making an argument or delivering an informational report. Once you have your story and the structure in place, have fun with the rest!

Final thoughts about the overcoming adversity essay

I’ll never say writing a college application essay is easy. But hopefully I’ve convinced you that the overcoming adversity essay isn’t as intimidating as it seems. In fact, I hope you have an enjoyable time writing your adversity essay and celebrating your resilience. Be proud of yourself. You are amazing!

I want to hear from you! What are your thoughts and concerns about the overcoming adversity essay? Drop a comment below, and I’ll be happy to address them.

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How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example

April 17, 2023

At some point, most college-bound students are tasked with writing an overcoming challenges essay. The prompt crops up in various forms, as a supplemental short essay about overcoming a challenge, and in as the main essay itself.

Some students may feel inclined to write about a dramatic experience (say, spotting a grizzly bear outside the kitchen window), mistaking the drama of the moment for a significant challenge. Others may get to work, only to realize they don’t have much to say about the time they got a C in P.E. (that dreaded frisbee unit). Students who’ve overcome unspeakable difficulties, like a death in the family, may find that reducing the tragedy to 650 words feels insufficient, or worse—as if they’re attempting to profit from suffering. One or two students may stare down the blank computer screen as their entire existence shrinks to the size of a 12-point font. Should they write about the challenge of writing about the challenge of writing an overcoming challenges essay??

Don’t worry. Focusing first on how to tackle the essay will help any student decide what they should write about. In fact, how the essay is written will also prove more influential than the challenge itself in determining the strength of the essay.

Decoding the Prompt

Let’s take a look at the overcoming challenges essay question included among the seven 2023-24 Common App Essay Prompts :

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Notice how the prompt places an immediate emphasis on the “lessons we take,” rather than on the obstacles themselves, or any potential success. This is because the challenge itself often says less about the student than the way the student chose to tackle it, or the way they now reflect on it. In other words, obstacles often come at us randomly; it’s our personal response to the circumstances which reveals something of who we are.

While studying a prompt for clues, it’s helpful to think from the perspective of the admissions officer (the essay reader). What can they glean from an overcoming challenges essay?  A lot, actually. A thoughtfully written essay may tell them about the student’s personality, as well as things like problem-solving techniques, rigor, persistence, creativity, and courage. These insights can work to prove to the admissions officers that the student has what it takes to overcome challenges in college, too. These future challenges may range from the inevitable academic obstacles that occur with heavy courseloads, to social and moral challenges that arise as college students form their adult identities.

Picking Your Topic: A Brainstorming Activity

With the question of identity in mind, let’s now approach the overcoming challenges essay backwards, by brainstorming the final message the student wants it to contain.

For this three-part exercise, the student will first set a five-minute timer. With the clock ticking, they’ll jot down character traits, values, and any descriptive words or terms that say something about who they are. If stumped, change perspective. The student may imagine what their best friends, parents, coaches and siblings would say. (For example, tenacious , logical , scientific , peacemaker .) Even mild criticism can be helpful, as long as it’s not cruel. While a student’s brother may call him a “perfectionist,” perhaps this word will trigger other relevant words, like persistent and detail-oriented.

Next, the student will set the timer for another five minutes, pull out a second sheet of paper, and jot down any challenges, obstacles, setbacks, failures, and achievements that come to mind. Don’t hold back here or overanalyze. (For example: underdog at state swim meet , getting lost on the family hike , petitioning for a school compost system …)

Lastly, the student will place the two pages side by side, and draw lines between the items on the list wherever connections occur. One student may draw lines between persistent , curious , gamer , passionate about electronics , and saved the day during the power outage. Another set of lines might connect caring, observant, creative thinker , and helped sister leave abusive cult . Whatever ideas are sparked here, the goal is to identify which challenges will demonstrate something essential about the student to an admissions officer.

Topics to Avoid

The internet is rife with advice on what not to write when writing an overcoming challenges essay. Yet this advice can be confusing, or downright hypocritical. For instance, some may advise against writing about death. Yet a student who lost their father at an early age may be capable of writing a poignant essay about their search for an alternative father figure, and how they found one in their soccer coach.

I suggest avoiding guides on what not to write until after the student has done a thorough round of brainstorming. Otherwise, they risk censoring themselves too early, and may reject a promising idea. Once they’ve narrowed down their list to three ideas or less, they may want to check our guide on College Application Essay Topics to Avoid .

The reason why certain types of overcoming challenges essays miss the mark is that they emphasize the wrong aspect of the experience, which turns the topic into a cliché. While it’s generally a good idea to avoid trivial topics (again, that C in P.E.), any topic has the potential to be compelling, if it’s animated through personal opinions, insight, and description. Details bring an experience to life. Structure and reflection make an essay convincing. In other words, how the story is told will determine whether or not the topic is worth writing about.

So, rather than avoid specific topics, consider avoiding these scenarios: if you can’t show the essay to your best friend or grandmother, it’s probably not ready to show a college admissions officer. If you must write a clichéd topic, don’t choose a typical structure.

Techniques to Hone

Techniques that animate an overcoming challenges essay are the same ones used in storytelling. Think setting, visuals, sounds, dialogue, physical sensations, and feelings. “Showing” instead of “telling.” Crafting the essay with these inner and external details will bring the challenge to life, and catch the reader’s attention.

Another technique which works well when trying to avoid the trappings of cliché involve subverting the reader’s expectations. In storytelling terms, this is a plot twist. The student who got a C in P.E. may actually have a stellar essay on their hands, if they can break away from the “bad grade” trope (working harder to improve their grade). Perhaps this student’s story is actually about how, while sitting on the bleachers and not participating in the game, they found themselves watching the frisbee spin through the air, and realized they had a deep interest in the movement of astronomical bodies.

Some of the strongest overcoming challenges essays demonstrate what students have learned about themselves, rather than what they’ve learned about the obstacle they confronted. These essays may show how the student has come to see themselves differently, or how they’ve decided to change, thanks to the challenge they faced. These essays work because the reflection is natural and even profound, based on the student’s self-awareness.

Writing the Overcoming Challenges Essay, or Drafts, Drafts, Drafts

Everyone writes differently, some by outlining (never a bad idea), some by free-styling (good for capturing sensations and memories), some by lighting a candle—but don’t procrastinate too much. The only “must” is to revise. After a first draft, the student should begin to look for several things:

1) Clarity and Detail. Is the challenge recounted with precision? Is it personal?

2) Structure. Consider mapping the structure, to visualize it better. Does the structure suit the story? Can it be changed for clarity, or to keep the reader more engaged?

3) Cliché. Identify words, sentences, and ideas that are dull or repetitive. Mark them up, and in the next draft, find ways to rewrite, subvert, condense, and delete.

4) Lesson Learned. Has the student reflected adequately on the lesson they learned from overcoming a challenge? To add more reflection, students might ask themselves what they have felt and thought about the experience since. Would they do something differently, if faced with the same challenge? Has their understanding of the experience evolved over time?

By the final draft, the experience and the reflection should feel equally weighted. To get there, it may take five or six drafts.

Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample

The Happiness Hotline

First there were reports. Then we were told to stop socializing, go inside, wait. Covid struck. Everyone knows what ensued. It probably looked different from where we were all (separately) standing, even though we faced the same thing. Those first weeks, I stood at my bedroom window. It was dark by early evening in Oregon. The weirdest part—after the fact that we were collectively sharing the loneliest experience of our lives—was the silence.

… it was really quiet.

So quiet, I could hear my mom sigh downstairs. (So quiet, I couldn’t remember if I’d hummed aloud, or if I’d just heard myself in my head.) When I looked out the window, I could hear the stoplight at the end of our street. Green to yellow. Click.

Before going on, you should know three things. First, this is not a Covid essay. This is about melancholy, and the “sadness that has taken on lightness,” to quote Italo Calvino. Second, from my bedroom window, I can see down a row of oak trees, past the hospital, to my friend Carlo’s house. Third, Carlo is a jazz singer. Maybe that sounds pretentious, a freshman kid being a jazz singer, but that’s Carlo, and I wouldn’t be me without Carlo being Carlo. He’s someone who appreciates the unhinged rhythm of a Charlie Parker tune. He’s an extrovert who can bring introverts like me out of my shell. He convinced me to learn trombone, and together we riff in the after-school jazz club.

In the first month of the pandemic, we called each other nightly to talk rap albums, school stuff. At Carlo’s house, he could hear a white-crowned sparrow. He could also hear his parents talking numbers behind the bathroom door. The death toll was mounting. The cost of living was going up too. As the month wore on, I began to hear something else in our calls, in the way Carlo paused, or forgot what he was saying. Carlo was scared. He felt sad, isolated, and without his bright energy, I too, felt utterly alone.

Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample (Continued)

After some dark days, I realized that to help ourselves we needed to help others. It was pretty obvious the more I thought about it. People are social creatures, supposedly, even introverts. Maybe our neighbors needed to remember the noisiness of life.

We built a happiness hotline. That sounds fancy, though essentially, we provided three-way calls on my parents’ landline. The harder part involved making flyers and putting them up around town, in places people were still going. Grocery stores, the post office. We made a TikTok account, and then—the phone rang. Our first caller.

For months, if you called in, you could talk to us about your days in lockdown. People went really deep about the meaning of life, and we had to learn on the spot how to respond. I’d become a journalist and a therapist before becoming a sophomore. After chatting, the caller would request a song, and if we knew how to play it, we would. If not, we improvised.

Now we’re seniors in high school. Carlo visits the hospital with band members. As for myself, I’ve been working on a community music book, compiling our callers’ favorite tunes. I don’t want to forget how important it felt to make these connections. Our callers taught me that loneliness is a bit like a virus, a bit like a song. Even when it stops it can come back to haunt you, as a new variant or an old refrain. Still, sadness can take on lightness when voices call through the dark: sparrows, friends, strangers. I learned I’m good at listening into the silence. Listening isn’t only a passive stance, but an open line of receiving.

Analysis of the Overcoming Challenges Essay Sample

This student uses their musical passion to infuse the essay with vivid detail. There’s a focus on sound throughout, from the bird to the stoplight. Then there are the callers, and the clever way the student conceived of breaking through the silence. The narrator’s voice sharpens the piece further, elevating a clichéd Covid essay to a personal story of self-discovery.

In fact, the essay briefly breaks with structure to tell the reader that this is not a Covid essay. Although techniques like this should be used sparingly, it works here by grabbing the reader’s attention. It also allows the student to organize their thoughts on the page, before moving the plot along.

Outwardly, the student is overcoming the challenge of loneliness in a time of quarantine. Yet there seems to be an inner, unspoken challenge as well, that of coming to terms with the student’s introverted personality. The essay’s reflection occurs in the final paragraph, making the essay experience-heavy. However, clues woven throughout point to the reflection that will come. Details like the Italo Calvino quote hint at the later understanding of how to alleviate loneliness. While some readers might prefer more development, the various themes are threaded throughout, which makes for a satisfying ending.

A Last Word on the Short Essay About Overcoming Challenges

The short essay about overcoming a challenge requires the same steps as a longer one. To write it, follow the same brainstorming activity, then focus more on condensing and summarizing the experience. Students who’ve already written a longer overcoming challenges essay can approach the short essay about overcoming a challenge by streamlining. Instead of deleting all the extra bits, keep two interesting details that will flavor the essay with something memorable and unique.

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Kaylen Baker

With a BA in Literary Studies from Middlebury College, an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University, and a Master’s in Translation from Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Kaylen has been working with students on their writing for over five years. Previously, Kaylen taught a fiction course for high school students as part of Columbia Artists/Teachers, and served as an English Language Assistant for the French National Department of Education. Kaylen is an experienced writer/translator whose work has been featured in Los Angeles Review, Hybrid, San Francisco Bay Guardian, France Today, and Honolulu Weekly, among others.

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One Expert’s Advice to Help You Write a Strong Overcoming Adversity Essay

Learn how to pick the right adversity story and write an impressive overcoming adversity essay

Whether you’re working on college or scholarship applications, you’re bound to come across the overcoming adversity essay sooner or later. While every type of college application essay is unique, the overcoming adversity essay presents particular challenges for students.

What’s the best way to talk about the adversity in your life? What if you come off as too whiny? What if you don’t have any significant obstacles to write about? Will you be at a disadvantage?

Every year, my students ask me how to tackle this tricky part of their college applications. Luckily for you, I’ve developed a fool-proof approach for writing the overcoming adversity essay , and I’m eager to share it.

Keep reading to learn why the adversity essay is important, how to choose the best topic, and how to write an impactful overcoming adversity essay.

Why the overcoming adversity essay is important

When colleges ask you to write a personal hardship essay, what are they trying to learn? Many students think they’re trying to find and admit the applicants who have faced the most adversity. Not true! Trust me, the adversity essay is NOT a competition to see who has it worse. 

The purpose of the overcoming adversity essay is to reveal how you respond to difficult situations. Think about it. College is hard—not everyone has what it takes to succeed. Colleges want to accept students who have the skills and resilience to persevere through the adversity they’re bound to face.

So when an admissions officer reads your adversity essay, they’re trying to answer these questions:

• How do you manage stress?
• How do you attempt to resolve adversity?
• How do you reflect on the challenges you face?
• How do you apply lessons to your life?

If you can successfully answer these questions, you’ll write a stand-out overcoming adversity essay. 

Not sure how to recognize an overcoming adversity essay prompt? Here are a few examples.

The Common App

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

The University of Miami

Considering your ability to control your own motivation and behavior, how have past experiences helped build your courage and resilience to persist in the face of academic and life challenges so that, once these storms pass, you can emerge in continued pursuit of your goals?

The University of California 

Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

How to select the best story for your overcoming adversity essay

Choosing what to write your overcoming adversity essay about can be a challenge. The hardest things you’ve faced in life might not actually be the best topics. So I always encourage students to brainstorm lots of ideas before committing to one.

Here’s what I suggest. Sit down with a family member or close friend. Write a list of all the adversity you’ve faced—big and small. From challenging school projects to your parents divorce to the death of a family member, add everything you can think of to your list.

Next, you’ll want to remember and record how you reacted to each of the obstacles on your list. What were you thinking? What actions did you take?

To choose your adversity essay story, you’ll actually focus on your reactions list. Search for the instances when you showed impressive grit, strength, resilience, and problem-solving skills. These are the best stories to use for your overcoming adversity essay.

Weak topics for your adversity essay

As you’re selecting which topic to write about, beware of choosing a story that falls into one of these categories.

• Adversity you faced due to COVID or virtual learning—everyone dealt with these circumstances, so it’s not a unique topic and won’t help you stand out.
• Obstacles you dealt with in elementary or middle school—it’s a bit too outdated. Find a more recent instance of your grit and resilience.
• Interpersonal struggles you had with a teacher or coach—these essays can come off like you don’t get along well with adults, which isn’t the impression you want to give.

Strong topics for your adversity essay

Any story that shows your maturity and problem-solving skills is a good choice for your overcoming adversity essay. Even so, there are few topics that might be better options for you than others, depending on your circumstances.

• Ongoing obstacles you’re still facing but you’re handling well—important if this obstacle will carry on into college.
• Adversity that interfered with your academic achievement—important if you had a GPA dip you’d like to explain.
• Something that will resonate with the school you’re applying to or the career you’re pursuing—important if adversity drove you to choose a specific type of school or major.

How to write an impressive overcoming adversity essay

Now we’ve arrived at my fool-proof overcoming adversity essay formula. Once you’ve chosen the right story that demonstrates your resilience, just apply this formula to create a memorable adversity essay.

This formula is simple. It’s all about crafting a narrative. Remember, you’re telling the story of when you faced an obstacle. So you want it to sound like a real story, not a school report. 

Here is the five-step formula to writing the perfect overcoming adversity essay.

• Introduce the obstacle or adversity
• Describe your emotional response
• Discuss the actions you took to face the problem
• Share the outcome of the situation
• Reveal what you learned from the experience

See? It’s a piece of cake. Now let’s see how it looks applied to an adversity story. 

• The adversity: My family moved across the country between my sophomore and junior year.
• Emotional response: I was devastated to lose my friends and scared to start over in a new place.
• Actions taken: I scheduled regular talks and virtual hang outs with my old friends to ensure we’d stay in touch. Then I pushed myself to join two clubs at the beginning of the school year.
• Outcome: I stayed connected with friends from home. And even though it was intimidating to make new friends, putting myself out there helped me quickly meet people who shared my interests. I felt less alone and adjusted to my new environment sooner than I expected.
• Lessons learned: I am stronger and more adaptable than I thought I was. I am capable of thriving in new places and creating a new community for myself wherever I go.

With extremely little effort, I made a strong outline for an adversity essay using this formula. You can do the same! 

Dos and don’ts for your overcoming adversity essay

The formula will take you a long way in structuring your adversity essay, but here are a few additional tips and tricks to make sure your writing is outstanding.

• Don’t try to garner sympathy or pity —be honest about what happened, but remember your purpose isn’t to make the reader feel bad for you.
• Do maintain a positive and upbeat tone throughout your adversity essay.
• Don’t spend too much time describing the problem —keep it brief and to the point.
• Do focus the majority of the essay on how you responded to and resolved the obstacle.  
• Don’t forget to include the outcome and the lessons you learned —self reflection is impressive to application readers.
• Do connect what you learned with your future in college or in your chosen career.

Remember, one of the great things about the overcoming adversity essay is that you’re telling a story. You’re not making an argument or delivering an informational report. Once you have your story and the structure in place, have fun with the rest!

Final thoughts about the overcoming adversity essay 

I’ll never say writing a college application essay is easy. But hopefully I’ve convinced you that the overcoming adversity essay isn’t as intimidating as it seems. In fact, I hope you have an enjoyable time writing your adversity essay and celebrating your resilience. Be proud of yourself. You are amazing!

I want to hear from you! What are your thoughts and concerns about the overcoming adversity essay? Drop a comment below, and I’ll be happy to address them.

Dr. Leslie Tucker College Consultant

17 Adversity Examples (And How to Overcome Them)

Examples of adversity on a resume could include:

• Overcoming a significant personal challenge
• Navigating a career change, and
• Demonstrating resilience in the face of major project setbacks.

See below for a detailed list of ideas for discussing adversity.

Adversity Examples

1. overcoming a disability.

Success in the face of disability exemplifies overcoming adversity. For example, we look to disabled athletes as inspiration for people who have risen to the top despite their setbacks. In real life, we can look to famous people with disabilities like Whoopi Goldberg ( dyslexia ) and Stephen Hawking (motor neuron disease) who learned to live with and overcome their disabilities to achieve success.

2. Overcoming a Rejection

Many individuals have experienced rejection in various forms, such as being turned down by a university, not receiving a scholarship, missing a promotion, or failing to secure a job. What’s crucial is highlighting the resilience shown in bouncing back from these setbacks. For instance, in an interview, you could discuss how, after not obtaining a sports scholarship for college, you proactively worked a part-time job to support your education.

3. Proving Someone Wrong (Being Underestimated)

There are instances where a teacher, mentor, or colleague doubts our capabilities or potential. Overcoming such negative perceptions and achieving success is a powerful demonstration of resilience in the face of adversity. Notable examples include Thomas Edison, who, despite being deemed cognitively inflexible by his teacher, invented the lightbulb, and Michael Phelps, who was told by a teacher that he would never achieve success, yet triumphed to win 28 Olympic medals.

4. Failing as a Student (Then Bouncing Back)

Almost everyone has experienced a period of struggle in their academic journey, as it’s uncommon for a student to excel in every subject.

When considering an example of adversity in an educational context, think back to a subject that posed significant challenges for you.

Consider how you responded to this difficulty: perhaps you dedicated more hours to studying, increased the amount of time spent on homework, sought extra help, or even faced the prospect of retaking an exam.

Reflect on the strategies you employed to overcome this hurdle, such as utilizing additional resources, collaborating with peers, or seeking guidance from teachers. This reflection not only highlights your ability to confront and overcome academic challenges but also demonstrates your resilience, adaptability, and commitment to personal growth.

5. Overcoming an Injury

Injuries often lead to difficulties in performing everyday activities that were once effortless. Such experiences can prompt a realization of how much we typically take these routine tasks for granted.

Take, for instance, breaking an arm; this can transform straightforward actions like dressing into complex, thoughtful processes.

Adapting to these new challenges by finding alternative methods to accomplish daily tasks not only showcases resilience but also fosters a sense of flexibility. This adaptability is a testament to one’s ability to overcome adversity and develop crucial life skills in the process.

6. Suffering Discrimination

Facing discrimination is a deeply unfortunate form of adversity, where individuals must surmount biases related to race, gender, disability, social class, or other factors to achieve success.

Jackie Robinson is a prominent example of someone who overcame such challenges; he was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era.

Despite enduring racial taunts from both players and fans, Robinson chose not to react aggressively, understanding that any retaliation could significantly hinder the progress of racial integration in MLB.

His legacy endures today, celebrated not just for his remarkable sporting achievements but also for his role as a peaceful pioneer who broke down barriers of discrimination for the betterment of society.

7. Growing up Poor

Individuals born into poverty often face lower lifetime earnings and a reduced likelihood of graduating from school compared to those from wealthier backgrounds. This adversity stems from limited access to quality education, tutoring, books, and other resources. However, there are inspiring figures who have surmounted the challenges of poverty to achieve remarkable success, such as Jim Carrey, who experienced homelessness during his youth, J.K. Rowling, who rose from the struggles of being a single mother to fame with her Harry Potter series, and Dolly Parton, who overcame her upbringing in a one-room cabin with dirt floors to become a music legend.

8. Being a Refugee

Refugees exemplify remarkable resilience , having fled perilous conditions in their homelands to seek safety, often starting anew in unfamiliar cultures with limited resources. Their ability to navigate and thrive despite such formidable challenges is a testament to their capacity to overcome life’s adversities. Notable individuals who began their journeys as refugees and rose to prominence include Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Madeleine Albright, each overcoming substantial early-life obstacles to achieve significant success.

9. Being an Immigrant

Immigrants and refugees often share parallel narratives of starting over. Refugees typically escape traumatic situations, indicating an added layer of adversity, but both groups face the challenge of acclimatizing to an unfamiliar environment upon arrival in a new country.

Immigrants frequently grapple with cultural adjustments and may find their foreign professional qualifications unrecognized, necessitating a restart from the bottom, often with limited financial resources.

However, the success stories of notable immigrants like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elon Musk, and Mila Kunis highlight the potential for triumph through the immigrant journey, overcoming significant obstacles to achieve remarkable success.

10. Losing your Job or Getting Fired

Losing a job is never a pleasant experience, bringing with it initial feelings of shock and anxiety. However, it also presents an opportunity for introspection and regaining self-assurance.

This experience is far from unique, as evidenced by the significant job losses during the 2008 economic downturn and the 2021 global lockdowns. In the aftermath, many people found themselves pursuing additional education, reassessing their career trajectories to ensure they align with their passions and strengths, or turning to mentors for guidance and support in addressing their areas of improvement.

Real-Life Role Models Who Overcame Adversity

1. stephen hawking.

Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at 21, Hawking was given just a few years to live. Despite losing his ability to walk and speak, he became one of the most renowned theoretical physicists, contributing significantly to our understanding of black holes and the nature of the universe.

2. Malala Yousafzai

As a young girl in Pakistan, Malala advocated for girls’ education, defying the Taliban’s ban. After surviving a gunshot to the head by a Taliban gunman, she became an international symbol of resistance against the suppression of women’s education and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

3. Nelson Mandela

Imprisoned for 27 years for his fight against apartheid in South Africa, Mandela never lost sight of his goal for racial equality. He emerged from prison to become the first black president of South Africa, leading the country towards a more inclusive future.

4. Oprah Winfrey

Born into poverty and faced with numerous challenges, including childhood abuse and racial discrimination, Oprah rose to become a media mogul and influential philanthropist. Her story is one of resilience and determination in overcoming personal and professional obstacles.

5. Nick Vujicic

Born without limbs due to a rare disorder, Nick faced immense challenges and bullying in his youth. He overcame these to become a motivational speaker and author, inspiring millions with his message of hope and perseverance.

6. Helen Keller

Despite becoming blind and deaf at a very young age, Keller broke through the isolation imposed by her condition with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan. She became a prolific author, political activist, and lecturer, advocating for the rights of those with disabilities.

7. Ludwig van Beethoven

One of the greatest composers in history, Beethoven began losing his hearing in his 20s, eventually becoming completely deaf. Nonetheless, he continued to compose, perform, and conduct, producing many of his most admired works during the last 15 years of his life, when he was unable to hear.

Other Resume Tips and Advice Articles

• Examples of Patientce
• List of Talents
• Perseverance Examples
• Examples of Integrity
• Examples of Honesty
• Attributes to Put on a Resume

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

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Write-on Wednesday: the 'overcoming adversity' essay

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You’ll probably be asked how you’ve overcome adversity in your college essays — but communicating this through a college application can be difficult. So join Shravya this Wednesday to learn how you can convey your lived experience in a compelling essay that optimizes your chance of admission.

Shravya will be providing a full breakdown of everything you need to know about this essay type, including: what admissions officers are looking for, how to research school-specific info, and general tips for writing. She'll also go through an example of an essay or two on-air so you can see how admissions officers would critique this kind of essay.

Shravya will also open up the floor for a Q&A session to answer any questions you may have about the overcoming adversity essay.

Undergrad College: Rice University '20

Work Experience: During my time at Rice, I mentored dozens of high school students through the college application process, along with editing essays and tutoring students for the ACT/SAT. I also interned at a medical technology startup, conducted research in Brazil, and gave a TEDx talk. I recently finished applying to medical school; I've been admitted to multiple schools, and will be starting in the Fall.

My Admissions Story: I remember feeling very blindsided by the admissions process and not knowing where to begin. I hope that sharing my experiences and some of the things I’ve learned along the way will help guide other students in a similar boat.

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47 Writing Prompts About Adversity

Adversity is rarely a topic that we want to deal with, regardless of age.

It can be difficult, especially for younger students, to put into words.

These prompts are designed to help students elaborate on and deal with the emotions that can accompany adversity, whether it is focused on themselves or focused on others. 

Hopefully, these can help students self-reflect, or at least gain insight into how adversity can affect any one at any time.

How to Use the Prompts

These can be used in different ways. 

• They can be assigned to students based on what needs they might have.
• They can also be randomly assigned by picking numbers from a jar or bowl of some sort. 
• There are plenty of ways to get creative and have some fun, even when dealing with a heavier subject.

The Prompts

• What challenges have you overcome? How?
• Do you have any survival strategies to deal with adversity? Describe them?
• What obstacles have you encountered? How have the changed you?
• Describe a situation where you had to deal with a great deal of adversity.
•  Have you ever failed massively at something? What did you learn?
• Has failing ever taught you a really important life lesson? Discuss it.
• Have you ever achieved a difficult goal? Describe how and why it was difficult.
• Describe a scenario that puts you outside your comfort zone.
• What was the last time you were scared? Describe how and why.
• Discuss a fear in detail and talk about how you might overcome it.
• Do you like to be challenged?  Explain your answer.
• Create a story about someone overcoming a challenge.
• Write a letter to someone who has hurt your feelings.
• Do you ever feel underappreciated? Write a letter describing how and why.
• Write about why it is okay to be alone sometimes.
• When have you ever been provoked to react a certain way? Describe what happened.
• What stressors do you have.  Describe a strategy to relieve some of it.
• Can you recall a time a bully said something really awful to you? Why did it hurt your feelings? How did you get past it?
• Do you think meditation would help you with a bully? What would?
• Do you respond well to feedback?  Why or why not?  How can you improve this?
• Write a story about someone with bad time management skills.
• Make up a story about someone who has a fear of bunnies. How do they overcome it? What do their friends say?
• Have you ever gotten past disliking something? Describe how and why you did it.
• Write a story about someone who is a procrastinator ans how it negatively impacts them.
• Describe someone without motivation and why they have trouble because of it.
• Write about someone who has no clue what discrimination is and how they learn about it.
• What is adversity? What adversity have you overcome?
• Make up a story about someone your age overcoming a serious health challenge. Describe also the people around the character during this.
• Do you have strategies to help deal with adverse situations?  What are they and how do they help?
• Have you ever had to deal with discrimination? Write about how you dealt with it, or describe how you would if you haven’t.
• Why is change so hard? Write a story where the main character has to make a big change.
• Are there any events that shaped who you are? Describe them and their effects.
• Write a story about someone having their personal beliefs challenged and how they change because of it.
• Is it the hardest to trust yourself? Why or why not.
• Have your fears changed or grown as you have become older? Describe how and why.
• Write a story about a bully who changes their ways. What made them choose to change?
• What would you say to someone bullying you? Could you stand up to them?
• What would you do if someone important to you was being bullied?
• How do you make me time?  Describe why it is important to do this.
•  Write a story about a life event that ended up differently than you believed it might.
• Write about a person with no self-control and how others are affected by it.
• Write a story about the most patient person in the world.
• Write a story about someone dealing with an illness and overcoming it.
• Make up a story about someone who discriminates and how the people around them react.
• Can you write a poem about how it feels to be made fun of?
• Do you go out of your way to make others feel appreciated?  How?
• Write a story about an animal standing up to another and why it happened.

There are plenty more where these prompts came from. Check out our website and see the resources available here. 

If you think we missed something or would like to share an idea please drop us a line, we would love to hear from you!

Home / Essay Samples / Life / Emotion / Adversity

Adversity Essay Examples

Overcoming challenges: examples of adversity bringing talents.

“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” This quote by Horace expresses that when faced with a difficult situation, our true sense of self will push through. Adversity changes a person's character in a way that prosperity...

Adversity in the Film the Greatest Showman

“Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become a successful person”- Zig Ziglar. Everyone has hardships at some point during their life. Tragic situations can influence people in different ways. Adversity can urge us to do things in a better or...

The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on a Person

Dysfunctional childhood experiences can have a negative impact on a developing brain. It is every parent or guardian’s duty to produce a well-rounded and educated adult that can sufficiently participate in a productive society. An individual who experiences early childhood trauma is more susceptible to...

Overcoming Adversity: a Journey of Resilience and Triumph

Life's journey is often fraught with challenges that test our mettle and resilience. The ability to overcome adversity is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of determination. This essay explores the concept of overcoming adversity, highlighting the inspiring stories...

To What Extent Individuals Overcome Adversity

“Success often lies not in what happens but in what you prevent from happening” Black Klansman, a film directed by Spike Lee explores how Individuals may face many challenges but to overcome these challenges, one must work hard, have patience and determination. Similarly, my entity...

Resilience in Adversity 

Being resilient is defined as recovering from misfortune without giving up. It means to develop habits that help you to get back up onto your feet and adjust from tragedy or change without giving up. The movie Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse demonstrates the ideas of...

Perseverance in the Face of Adversity: Overcoming Challenges

Almost everyone has had unpleasant experiences in their lives that may range from loss of property to loss of people among several examples. Several Universities use the adversity score of one to one hundred to analyze the adversity of students during the consideration of admission....

Childhood Adversity and Its Effects When Grown-up

Most people are familiar with the aphorism “What does not kill me makes me stronger” which originates from Friedrich Nietzsche's Twilight of the Idols (“Was mich nicht umbringt macht mich stärker"). It is visible in our society that this aphorism does have several coinciding quotes...

Billy Elliot and the Handmaids Tale 

Adversity has been defined as “a difficult or unpleasant situation”. Whether this is a benefit or hindrance to the development of character and identity has been the subject of considerable debate by scholars and academics alike. This presentation will draw on the common human experience...

Stress Level and Adversity Quotient Among Student-mothers

Motherhood is a noble status of life giving birth to a child. It is coupled with tremendous tasks of bringing up the child to be a responsible member of the society. Motherhood is a duty to mold a child to be a physically and spiritually...

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About Adversity

Adversity is the universal human experience of facing obstacles and setbacks, it's a very difficult or unfavorable situation.

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