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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!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

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.

• College Essay

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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How To Write a Narrative Essay About Overcoming a Challenge

Mastering essay writing is crucial, whether you’re in high school or prepping for college admissions.

Narrative essays, which tell compelling stories, can be challenging yet deeply rewarding. While my college days are behind me, my passion for writing narrative essays hasn’t waned. It’s a powerful writing tool that dives deep into the heart of a story’s meaning. Dive in for my top tips and tricks on crafting standout narrative pieces, and I’ll even share a personal essay on overcoming challenges to get you inspired.

What Counts as a Narrative Essay?

Narrative essays are often more fun to both read and write than other types of academic essays. You probably already realize how much information you need to gather for an argumentative synthesis essay or a concise expository essay . However, instead of recounting information, narrative essays seek to tell a story, convey an anecdote or an experience, and wrap up with a moral of the story or an insightful conclusion. It’s a popular writing task that lets students express themselves and describe their thoughts in a way that’s meaningful to them. Students may also rely on a paper writer for hire  if they don’t feel especially creative or have a tough time telling their story. Just note that not every story counts as a narrative essay. Unlike traditional short stories, a narrative essay typically DOESN’T include extensive dialogues or intricate plotlines. Instead, the focus is on describing a specific event or experience. It can be something you experienced yourself, or you can describe an event from another person’s (or fictional character’s) point of view. That means you can write in both 1 st and 3 rd person, and even try 3 rd person omniscient if you’re brave! The goal is to take the reader on a journey with you – let them connect to you and learn a lesson through your experience.

It’s time to become a narrator and share a good story.

How do you write a narrative essay about overcoming a challenge?

There are only a couple of requirements that you need to cover with your narrative essay:

• It should recount an experience significant to the main character
• It needs to make a point through an integral theme or moral
• It requires an introduction, conflict , resolution, and conclusion
• Includes a limited amount of events or characters.

Along with these basic requirements, your topic and narrative choices are limited by specific rules set by your teacher, school, or admissions office.

1. Pick a topic that moves you – and it will move your readers too

When you get the task to write a narrative essay, you’ll likely also get broad instructions on the topic. Whether that’s “Overcoming a challenge” (my topic for the day) or “A tale from your childhood”, picking a specific experience or event to write about will likely be tough.

Here’s an approach that worked for me:

• I dwelled on the topic of overcoming a challenge first – what makes hardships important, and how they help us grow.
• I listed a few challenges I remember going through. I examined each example I could think of – how difficult the experience felt for me, and how well I handled the situation. In hindsight, a lot of my reactions and solutions seem far from ideal.
• I was left with a couple of solid ideas and finally chose the one that was a deeply emotional experience for me. This brings me to my next point…

Your topic should be important to you. It’ll be hard to convince your reader to care about your story if you don’t write it with convincing zeal. Picking a topic that you care about deeply will resonate in your writing and immediately make your audience more interested in what you have to say. That being said, the contents of your narrative essay don’t necessarily need to be real. Embellish a few details or even make up the entire story – it’s up to you.

Write about something that moves you deeply and your emotions will shine through the words of your essay.

2. Weigh your conflicts

Every good narrative requires a conflict. That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to write about a fight with a friend. There are many kinds of conflict that you can choose from or combine to make an amazing story.

Any story’s characters may end up in a struggle against:

• Other people (for example, a physical fight or a psychological conflict),
• Nature (natural disasters and survival),
• Society ( social forces or political ideologies)
• Themselves (dealing with depression, tough decisions, or a path to self-actualization)

If you’re writing your essay for college admission, make sure your conflict doesn’t seem too trivial or commonplace. You don’t need a life-and-death situation for an interesting story, either. The most important aspect of describing a conflict in your narrative essay is to express how it affects and fits in with your life and personality .

3. Stay grounded

One of the common mistakes students make when writing narrative essays is trying hard to impress their teacher.

In many cases, that ends up with one of these two results:

• The story sidetracks when the student gets wrapped up in over-explaining unimportant details. Make sure you start with a solid outline and refrain from a lot of additional info to avoid this issue.
• The message gets “lost in translation” when the student uses complex structures and terminology they don’t fully understand. Don’t try to impress your teacher by using a big word just because you read it in a book – only do it if you’re 100% positive that it precisely expresses the meaning you want.

The Narrative Essay Structure

A narrative essay typically describes one experience or event, so its structure shouldn’t be overly complex. Here’s a common, tested, and tried narrative essay structure that gives coherent, neat results: Introduction: Includes a hook for your readers and introduces the moral of the story in broad terms Body: Setting – Introduces the reader to the setting and characters involved Conflict –  Details the key event of your narrative Resolution –  Explains how you (or your character) dealt with the conflict and got out of it Conclusion: Provides moral of the story and explains the significance of the experience Outline before you start writing your essay . It should contain the basic order of events and point out important details to elaborate on. You can decide on what to put in the intro and conclusion after you nail down the basic narrative. If you have a target word count, the outline can also help you determine approximately how long each paragraph needs to be.

Narrative Essay About Overcoming A Challenge – Example Titled “It Makes Me Tremble”

Shy people can’t explain why they’re shy. It’s not really that others are intimidating. It’s a state of being that just is, a quiet fear that burns and stings regardless of the actions of others. It’s a fear of feeling stupider, inferior, less worthy than others in a system that only exists within oneself – and that has nothing to do with how others perceive us. I’ve been battling shyness for ages. I’ve gone through plenty of ups and downs, but one particular event stands out on my self-liberation path. My love for writing has deep roots. I was fairly good at it back when I was 16 years old and attending the Eastern European equivalent of a language-focused magnet school. In my reading-oriented literature class, we spent most of the time analyzing famous works of fiction. But once in a while, we’d get an essay writing task – and I couldn’t be happier. For me, essays were the easy way to bump my grade up. Writing simply came naturally to me. This time was no different until, a few days later, my teacher told me that she liked my essay so much she wanted me to read it in front of the class. I felt the blood in my veins freeze. I knew no way’d end well. I was good at writing, but public speaking was a nightmare! I was sure I was going to mess it up. There was nothing I could do but get out there, face my 23 classmates, take a deep breath, and begin reading. In the beginning, it seemed alright. But as time went on, I felt a growing unease. Instead of fellow teens, I spent my days with, I felt 23 pairs of unblinking, unforgiving eyes on me, judging every word I said, the way I stood, the way I spoke, the way I breathed. I hated it. With each passing moment, my throat tightened more. The words I was reading made no sense. They hated it, hated me. I just needed to run away from there. Instead of sprinting home, I stopped. I closed my eyes and just breathed for a moment. I swallowed rapidly emerging tears. And I reminded myself there wasn’t a malevolent jury in front of me – just 23 of my peers, each of them insecure and self-conscious in one way or another. I could hear my heart like it was thumping on my eardrums, and my shaking knees felt like giving out. “I’m super nervous and I know it makes no sense but I can’t control it” – I managed to say, lips still quivering. To my utter astonishment, “Yeah, that’s ok”, “no worries”, and “Why? It’s good!” could be heard from a few corners of the classroom. Nina, a close friend, showed her support with a raised fist. The class clown simply shouted “Stop stalling! I wanna hear how it ends!” I couldn’t help but smile. Some of these people liked me and appreciated my talent. Others were, at worst, indifferent. Most simply enjoyed the fact they didn’t have to do anything for the rest of the lesson. I took a few more breaths to steady my heart rate and continued reading where I left off. Instead of looking down and wishing it’d just end, I looked up at the faces of my listeners and basked in the support that radiated from them. That day, I learned that my shyness comes from within. I figured out that my insecurities lied to me. It wasn’t my audience that was judging me – I’m my own harshest critic. I felt my environment turn from horror to wholesome in a matter of minutes, but the truth is, only my perception changed. Back when I was 16 and felt my legs shake from stage fright, I learned that people are sometimes kinder to us than we are to ourselves.

Narrative Essay Outline

Here’s the outline I created before writing my essay. You should do this before writing anything – I just placed it after my essay to avoid spoiling the story!

• Intro: What is shyness?
• 16-year-old in high school, good at writing
• Great essay for the literature class, the teacher asked me to read it in front of the class
• I feel growing self-consciousness and stage fright as I read. In the middle, I can’t control my tears
• I stop reading and take a breath. Tell the class I’m super nervous and can’t control it
• The class shows support, a friend makes a joke
• I feel calmer, wipe my tears, and continue reading
• Moral: You’re your own worst critic, people are usually less critical towards you than you think

To Conclude

I hope I explained and covered everything there is to know about writing a narrative essay. Before you get started, double-check your teacher’s or admission office’s instructions, and then you’ll be ready to create your outline. And don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you know or figure out something I overlooked in my narrative essay how-to! Next up, you may want to explore a guide on how to write better essays .

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Essays About Overcoming Challenges: Top 5 Examples

Confront challenges in writing by reading our guide with example essays about overcoming challenges and helpful prompts. 

Whether your problems have been failing a subject, getting retrenched at work, or losing someone you love, overcoming challenges is a relief and successful feat always worthy of celebration. 

Overcoming challenges requires patience and persistence to advance your goals despite failures. If you aim for something great in life, you can anticipate facing constant obstacles on your way. However, to successfully hurdle them, a positive and focused mindset coupled with the ability to regulate your emotions will help you go a long way.

5 Essay Examples

1. ​​how to succeed at failure by arthur brooks, 2. how to overcome family problems by vinaya ghimre, 3. when obstacles become opportunities to work better by tim harford, 4. how you can stop global warming by melissa denchak, 5. how countries deal with debt, 10 helpful writing prompts on essays about overcoming challenges, 1. my inspiration for overcoming challenges, 2. helping persons with disabilities (pwds) overcome discrimination, 3. overcoming challenges for students, 4. overcoming mental health issues, 5. overcoming challenges in budgeting, 6. overcoming challenges from childhood, 7. how startups overcome financing challenges, 8. overcoming bullies, 9. overcoming challenges in memory retention, 10. overcoming challenges in income inequality.

“After you have been hurt by a failed relationship, for example, rumination can make you focus on the past instead of the future, so you are less likely to get out there and try again. You’re frozen in your moment of failure as you turn defeat over and over in your mind. You become fearful, lose confidence, and miss your opportunities for new success.”

This essay explores the cognitive studies of a professor’s happiness and includes success tips to help one overcome challenges. One tip that eches with relevance is our need to stop aiming for success and shift toward learning and improvement. For more, check out these essays about life challenges .

“Culture and tradition ask young people to respect their parents and elders’ decisions, whereas modern education teaches them to have their own view of life. Neither the educational system is wrong nor are the parents trying to harm their children. However, truth is, the difference in opinions creates family conflict.”

This essay strives to explain the root causes of conflicts to help readers better navigate the nature of their family problems. The author also offers tips to overcome family tensions, such as being more tolerant and understanding of family members. 

“A shock can prompt us to find new and better ways to live our lives, both individually and collectively. We try new ideas, develop new skills, invest in new kit and draw strength from the fact that others are doing likewise. Resilience is essential but not enough: we need to be able to explore, experiment and adapt.”

As COVID-19 redefined the way we live, we are forced to find new paths to rediscovering better ways of living. Offering lessons from the life of musician Django Reinhardt and the pandemic, the author notes that with the right mindset and commitment to more significant change, we can bring light to a dark period and even rebound stronger and better. 

“ The effects of climate change are already threatening our health, our communities, our economy, our security, and our children’s future. What can you do? A whole lot, as it turns out. ”

Slowing down global warming and building resilience against climate change are critical missions to the world that everyone has to be part of. This essay lists 12 specific actions one can take to help combat global warming in their day-to-day lives, with each tip backed by data showing how big this seemingly small act can mean.

“While higher debt can slow growth and slower growth may cause sovereign debt to rise, the level of debt at which it turns into a problem depends on a country’s particulars, including sources of its debt financing and economic growth catalysts.”

As debts in several countries have ballooned to record highs during the COVID-19 pandemic, governments are finding new sources of revenue to reduce this debt. The article explains dominant economic beliefs about debt and cites its negative consequences on countries. 

Whoever it may be, write about the person whose accomplishments and constant efforts always remind you that you can overcome challenges in life. List down the qualities you admire and how you practice adopting these qualities. You can also elaborate on why these qualities are crucial for the younger generations.

PWDs face discrimination every day and are forced to make adjustments to be part of society. So first, spell out the current challenges PWDs face. Next, you can narrow down this discussion to the situation in your locality. And then, write down what your government is doing to move toward genuine inclusiveness and enable PWDs to cope better in their daily lives. Some examples could be educating the public about how society should accommodate PWDs and creating more wheelchair-accessible destinations. 

Students may struggle in their academic and extracurricular performance while dealing with anxieties over social relationships and growing up. Enumerate the multiple challenges students face on campus and at home. You can share your own experiences and relay how you have overcome them. You can also interview some friends and consolidate their responses. 

With raging geopolitical tensions and the road to recovery from COVID-19 still a long way to go, cases of anxiety and depression are on the rise . First, write about the detrimental effects of such mental health issues on overall well-being and life – as depression is a trigger to suicide. Then write about what specific parts of society are doing to address the mental health crisis. For example, you can cite the efforts your city health office is providing.

With more uncertainties looming for the economy, overcoming bad money habits is imperative. This essay describes the colossal challenge of balancing the need to save, spend for basic needs and invest. Then provide tips on saving and doing away with bad habits. One prudent advice would be to review spending patterns through a statement of accounts. 

Feelings of emptiness can plague even the most successful people. Often, this emptiness could be traced back to challenges in childhood. This essay explains adults’ difficulties in facing their repressed childhood trauma—research recommendations by psychology experts on breaking free from the contempt against parents. Here, you can tackle the benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy to alter harmful thoughts and behavioral patterns.

The biggest obstacle to the commercial success of startups is adequate financing to bring their concepts into reality. For this essay, lay down the financing options available to startups in your country. Often, countries promoting innovative startups have assistance funds. You can encourage startups to tap these funds by enumerating the eligibility criteria of each fund. Look also into the latest surveys and reports showing trends in investing preferences worldwide. 

Bullying can come in different forms and may even initially disguise itself as a playful joke. Help your readers detect bullying and overcome these challenges early. Write about the early signs of bullying and the best ways to defend against it. Keeping records of the incident and immediately filing a report to higher authorities is often the best way to deter bullies. If you want to be guided more on this topic prompt, check out our essays about bullying . 

Forgetting is normal. But the pressures to remember an overwhelming load of information can be high during examination week. For an interesting kick in your essay, talk about famous memory theories such as the Forgetting Curve by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus , which sheds light on why we forget and how we can remember better. Then, write more tips on how one can retain information longer. Not cramming is one helpful suggestion.

First, point out historical events and trends that have exacerbated the divide between the rich and the poor. For instance, several studies have blamed the digital divide. Next, think about what societies can do to narrow this gap. With this, you can also touch on how much your government is spending to improve digital infrastructure in rural areas and look into whether these resources are mobilized efficiently. 

For more help with your essay, check out our roundup of the best grammar checkers .  Grammarly is one of our top grammar checkers, and you can find out why in this Grammarly review .

Yna Lim is a communications specialist currently focused on policy advocacy. In her eight years of writing, she has been exposed to a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, web hosting, agriculture, marketing, intellectual property, data privacy and international trade. A former journalist in one of the top business papers in the Philippines, Yna is currently pursuing her master's degree in economics and business.

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How to Write a Narrative Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

A narrative essay tells a story. In most cases, this is a story about a personal experience you had. This type of essay , along with the descriptive essay , allows you to get personal and creative, unlike most academic writing .

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Table of contents

What is a narrative essay for, choosing a topic, interactive example of a narrative essay, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about narrative essays.

When assigned a narrative essay, you might find yourself wondering: Why does my teacher want to hear this story? Topics for narrative essays can range from the important to the trivial. Usually the point is not so much the story itself, but the way you tell it.

A narrative essay is a way of testing your ability to tell a story in a clear and interesting way. You’re expected to think about where your story begins and ends, and how to convey it with eye-catching language and a satisfying pace.

These skills are quite different from those needed for formal academic writing. For instance, in a narrative essay the use of the first person (“I”) is encouraged, as is the use of figurative language, dialogue, and suspense.

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Narrative essay assignments vary widely in the amount of direction you’re given about your topic. You may be assigned quite a specific topic or choice of topics to work with.

• Write a story about your first day of school.
• Write a story about your favorite holiday destination.

You may also be given prompts that leave you a much wider choice of topic.

• Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself.
• Write about an achievement you are proud of. What did you accomplish, and how?

In these cases, you might have to think harder to decide what story you want to tell. The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to talk about a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

For example, a trip where everything went according to plan makes for a less interesting story than one where something unexpected happened that you then had to respond to. Choose an experience that might surprise the reader or teach them something.

Narrative essays in college applications

When applying for college , you might be asked to write a narrative essay that expresses something about your personal qualities.

For example, this application prompt from Common App requires you to respond with a narrative essay.

In this context, choose a story that is not only interesting but also expresses the qualities the prompt is looking for—here, resilience and the ability to learn from failure—and frame the story in a way that emphasizes these qualities.

An example of a short narrative essay, responding to the prompt “Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how the structure works.

Since elementary school, I have always favored subjects like science and math over the humanities. My instinct was always to think of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right answer, I thought, why bother? But recently I had an experience that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was skeptical. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve—I really had no idea. I imagined something pretty abstract: long, stilted conversations pondering the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite different.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones—“but you can call me Rob”—was far from the white-haired, buttoned-up old man I had half-expected. And rather than pulling us into pedantic arguments about obscure philosophical points, Rob engaged us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own choices. To talk ethics, we looked at dilemmas we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most interesting ones.

The experience has taught me to look at things a little more “philosophically”—and not just because it was a philosophy class! I learned that if I let go of my preconceptions, I can actually get a lot out of subjects I was previously dismissive of. The class taught me—in more ways than one—to look at things with an open mind.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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If you’re not given much guidance on what your narrative essay should be about, consider the context and scope of the assignment. What kind of story is relevant, interesting, and possible to tell within the word count?

The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to reflect on a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

Don’t worry too much if your topic seems unoriginal. The point of a narrative essay is how you tell the story and the point you make with it, not the subject of the story itself.

Narrative essays are usually assigned as writing exercises at high school or in university composition classes. They may also form part of a university application.

When you are prompted to tell a story about your own life or experiences, a narrative essay is usually the right response.

The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

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A Guide to Writing a Narrative Essay About Overcoming a Challenge

EssayEdge > Blog > A Guide to Writing a Narrative Essay About Overcoming a Challenge

What do you think of when you think of the word “challenge”? Do you think of a professional project? A class? Do you think of a family situation? A hurdle in your faith? Do you think of a health issue?

If you are an international candidate, perhaps what comes to mind is the “language barrier.” Whatever it is, there is a way to approach writing about challenges that can set you apart.

Table of Contents:

Selection of the Topic and Positioning

What first comes to mind as a possible topic is often the best topic, and one thing to keep in mind is this – how will the topic align with the rest of your packet? Will the challenge you talk about in your essay be something that is reflected in your overall packet? For example, if you are a business applicant, will you be describing a challenge in a professional situation that is referenced on your resume? If you are a Chinese applicant, is your essay about the challenge of learning English? It’s great if your essay helps the reader to understand your overall packet.  

Put the Reader in the Picture and Stay Humble

Your reader is in a hurry. Keep it simple. Use your opening paragraph to concisely explain the nature of the challenge and the particular setting. Keep it to four or five sentences. And keep in mind that your reader may not be familiar with the academic or professional setting that you are talking about in your essay, which means that it is a good idea to avoid any type of academic or professional “jargon” in this essay, because this can make you come across as someone who is trying to sound important.

Here is the thing: In your challenge essay, you’re going to have to convince the reader of how you overcame something, which is a form of promoting yourself. But as you have already learned in the process of developing your essays, promoting yourself can backfire very easily because nobody likes someone who toots her or his own horn. So you are walking a razor’s edge. Just stay humble, and you’ll be fine.

No problem. Everybody loves a challenge. No pun intended.

Don’t Overdo It

In fact, “downplaying” the challenge can be another effective strategy in this essay. This conveys to the reader that you realize that the challenge you are talking about is not a big deal in the overall scheme of things, but it is something that has given you some self insight, which is what you want to share with the reader.

Again, this essay almost always has to take the form of self-promotion. So how are you going to stay humble? Just don’t take yourself too seriously in this essay.

The Language Barrier

Let’s say that you want to write about the challenge of overcoming the language barrier. Think of it this way:

Technically the challenge was this:

• The language barrier

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The challenge behind the challenge was this:

• My pride (the ego’s constraints in a new language)
• My fear (of never conquering the new language, if that would be true for you then or even now)
• The culture (if the language was not the problem at all, which is often the case)
• The timing (if you just were not ready for it)
• The setting (I was in the city, I’d been in the country all my life, for example)
• I was homesick (this can work but don’t let it get too negative)
• I was sick (but did not realize it, another not uncommon scenario)

The thing to do is to take a personal approach to set yourself apart. The way to do this is to consider what the challenge was “behind” or “underlying” your particular challenge with the language. By using this approach you can develop an essay that focuses on a psychological perspective, which works very well in response to this prompt.

We all regularly overcome various challenges. This fact tempts people to think that describing it in an essay is a piece of cake, but this assumption is wrong. If you need someone to assist you in presenting your experience, you can turn to our essay proofreading service .

Another tricky prompt can be “Discuss a time you failed.” Learn how to tackle it!

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, writing a compelling overcoming adversity essay.

I need to write an essay about overcoming adversity for one of my college applications, and I'm still brainstorming ideas for it. What are some tips for writing this type of essay? How do I make a genuine and compelling story? Please share your tips and experiences!

To write a compelling overcoming adversity essay, it's essential to focus on crafting an authentic and engaging narrative. Here are some tips to help you create a genuine and powerful story:

1. Reflect on your personal experiences: Begin by reflecting on moments when you faced significant challenges in your life. These can be personal, family-related, academic, social, or even related to your extracurricular activities. The key is to choose an event or situation that has had a profound impact on you and has shaped your personal growth.

2. Be specific and descriptive: Share detailed information about the adversity or obstacle you faced, explaining what made it particularly challenging for you. Provide context by describing the circumstances and any relevant factors that contributed to the adversity.

3. Emphasize your journey: Focus on how you dealt with the adversity, including the steps you took to overcome it, the resources you used, and the support you received from others. Write in-depth about your growth and the lessons you learned during this process.

4. Show, don't tell: Use vivid descriptions and specific examples to illustrate your story. Instead of saying you learned resilience, demonstrate it through your actions and experiences. This will make your essay more engaging and memorable.

5. Be introspective: Take the opportunity to analyze your thoughts and emotions during your journey and how they have evolved since then. This self-reflection will demonstrate your personal growth, self-awareness, and maturity.

6. Avoid clichés and platitudes: Stay away from overused phrases or ideas that could make your essay predictable or generic. Be authentic and true to your own voice, presenting a unique perspective on your experience.

7. Focus on a positive takeaway: Highlight the positive outcomes that resulted from overcoming adversity. These can include personal development, new skills, or a renewed sense of purpose. Admissions officers appreciate students who have turned challenging situations into opportunities for growth.

8. Revise and edit: Once you have written a draft of your essay, take some time to read through and refine it. Work on clarity, flow, and the overall structure of your story. Eliminate any unnecessary or redundant information and ensure your essay holds the reader's attention throughout.

Also, check out CollegeVine's guide to writing the 'Overcoming Challenges' essay: https://blog.collegevine.com/overcoming-challenges-essay

By following these tips and allowing yourself the time to write thoughtfully and authentically, you will craft a compelling overcoming adversity essay that showcases your resilience, determination, and personal growth. Good luck!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Life Experiences — Overcoming Challenges

Essays on Overcoming Challenges

Prompt examples for "overcoming challenges" essays, personal growth through adversity.

Share a personal experience in which you faced a significant challenge or adversity. Describe the impact it had on your personal growth, the lessons you learned, and how it changed your perspective on life.

The Role of Resilience

Discuss the concept of resilience in the face of challenges. How do individuals develop and demonstrate resilience, and what role does it play in overcoming difficult situations?

Overcoming Academic Obstacles

Explore the challenges students often encounter in their academic journeys. Describe a specific academic hurdle you faced, how you addressed it, and the strategies you used to succeed in your studies.

Challenges in the Workplace

Discuss challenges that individuals may encounter in their professional careers. Share a personal or professional experience in which you faced a workplace obstacle and describe how you navigated it to achieve success.

Health and Wellness Journey

Reflect on a health-related challenge, whether it's a physical ailment, mental health issue, or lifestyle change. Describe the steps you took to address this challenge, improve your well-being, and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Overcoming Adversity in Sports

Discuss how athletes often face physical and mental challenges in their sports careers. Share a personal or sports-related story in which you or someone you know overcame adversity in athletics, highlighting the determination and perseverance required.

Challenges in Relationships

Explore the challenges that can arise in personal relationships, such as friendships, family dynamics, or romantic partnerships. Share a personal experience or case study, detailing how communication and resilience played a role in overcoming relationship challenges.

Obstacles in Pursuit of Goals

Describe a specific goal or dream you have pursued and the obstacles you encountered along the way. Explain the strategies you employed to overcome these obstacles and achieve your objectives.

Contributions to Community

Discuss how individuals can overcome challenges to make positive contributions to their communities. Share a personal or community-based initiative you were involved in that addressed a significant challenge or issue.

Lessons from Adversity

Reflect on the life lessons you have learned from overcoming challenges. How have these experiences shaped your values, beliefs, and approach to future obstacles?

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Narrative Essay about Overcoming a Challenge Example

Writing a narrative essay can be a fulfilling creative endeavor that allows you to share personal experiences, convey a message, or entertain readers through storytelling. Likewise, when you try to write a narrative essay about overcoming a challenge, you need the correct procedures. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to write a narrative essay:

Narrative Essay about Overcoming a Challenge: Steps to Write

Choose a topic: a narrative essay about overcoming a challenge.

Select a meaningful experience or event to narrate. It could be something from your own life, such as a memorable journey, a significant life lesson, or a moment of realization. For example, you can write a narrative essay about overcoming a challenge.

Craft a Thesis Statement

| narrative essay about overcoming a challenge.

Determine the main point or lesson you want to convey through your narrative. This will serve as the central idea around which your essay revolves.

Outline Your Story

Create an outline to organize your thoughts and structure your narrative. Consider including elements such as the introduction, setting the scene, conflict or challenge, climax, resolution, and conclusion.

Start with a Compelling Introduction | Narrative Essay about Overcoming a Challenge

Begin your essay with an attention-grabbing hook that draws readers in. This could be an anecdote, a question, a quote, or a vivid description related to your topic. Provide some background information to set the stage for your story and introduce the thesis statement.

Develop the Plot

Build the narrative by describing the sequence of events in chronological order. Use descriptive language and sensory details to paint a vivid picture for the readers. Show, don’t tell, by letting the actions, dialogue, and emotions of the characters reveal the story naturally.

Create Characters

Introduce the characters involved in your narrative, including yourself if you’re part of the story. Develop their personalities, motivations, and relationships to make them relatable and engaging to the readers.

Include Dialogue

Incorporate dialogue to bring your narrative to life and add authenticity to the interactions between characters. Use quotation marks to indicate when someone is speaking, and ensure that the dialogue reflects the tone and style of the characters.

Build Suspense and Tension

Keep readers engaged by incorporating elements of suspense and tension throughout your narrative. This could involve moments of conflict, uncertainty, or anticipation that drive the story forward and keep readers eagerly turning the pages.

Reach the Climax

Build towards a climactic moment or turning point in your narrative where the main conflict or challenge reaches its peak. This is often the most intense or dramatic part of the story and should hold the reader’s attention.

Provide a Resolution

After the climax, resolve the conflict or challenge in a satisfying way. Tie up any loose ends and show the aftermath of the events, including any lessons learned or insights gained.

Conclude Thoughtfully

End your essay with a reflective conclusion that reinforces the main theme or message of your narrative. Summarize the key points and leave readers with a lasting impression or takeaway.

Revise and Edit

Once you’ve written the first draft, revise and edit your essay for clarity, coherence, and grammar. Pay attention to the flow of the narrative, the effectiveness of your language choices, and any areas that may need further development or refinement.

By following these steps, you can effectively craft a compelling narrative essay that resonates with readers and leaves a lasting impact. Remember to infuse your own unique voice and perspective into the storytelling process to make your essay truly memorable.

Narrative Essay about Overcoming a Challenge Example | The Story

Title: Embracing the Climb: A Journey of Overcoming Adversity

Life, they say, is a journey filled with peaks and valleys, twists and turns. Yet, nestled within these ebbs and flows lie the defining moments that shape our character, test our resilience, and ultimately propel us forward. My own narrative is one of overcoming a significant challenge, a tale of perseverance, growth, and the triumph of the human spirit.

It began on a crisp autumn morning, and the air tinged with anticipation as I embarked on what was supposed to be a routine day. Little did I know, fate had other plans in store. A phone call shattered the tranquility, delivering news that would reverberate through the very core of my being. My heart sank as I absorbed the words spoken on the other end of the line—my wife was facing a life-threatening illness.

In an instant, the comfortable fabric of my existence unraveled, replaced by a cloak of uncertainty and fear. Emotions swirled within me like a tempestuous storm, threatening to consume my every thought and action. Yet, amidst the chaos, a quiet voice emerged—a voice that whispered of hope, resilience, and the unwavering strength within.

The days that followed were a blur of hospital visits, medical consultations, and sleepless nights spent grappling with the harsh reality of our circumstances. Each moment felt like an uphill battle, a relentless climb against the weight of despair. 

“Just take me home,” she insisted.

“I don’t want to lose you. You ought to stay here. I don’t know how to help you.” I stood firm.

Yet, with each passing day, I found myself drawing upon reservoirs of courage I never knew existed, fueled by the love and determination that bound our family together.

As the weeks turned into months, I navigated the labyrinth of emotions with a newfound sense of clarity and purpose. Instead of allowing myself to be consumed by fear, I chose to channel my energy into positive action—researching treatment options, advocating for my wife’s care, and offering unwavering support in their darkest moments.

It was during this time of adversity that I discovered the true power of resilience—the ability to persevere in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Like a tree weathering the fiercest of storms, I found strength in bending, but never breaking, in the face of adversity. Each setback became an opportunity for growth, each obstacle a stepping stone towards a brighter tomorrow.

Yet, perhaps the most profound lesson gleaned from this experience was the importance of community and connection, including my wife’s high school friends whom she had never seen for a long time. In our darkest hours, it was the outpouring of love and support from friends, family, and even strangers that served as a beacon of hope amidst the darkness. Whether through a simple gesture of kindness or a heartfelt word of encouragement, each act of compassion reaffirmed my faith in the inherent goodness of humanity.

In time, as the shadows of uncertainty began to recede, I emerged from the crucible of adversity transformed—stronger, wiser, and infinitely more grateful for the precious gift of life. Though the journey had been fraught with challenges and setbacks, it had also been imbued with moments of profound beauty and grace—a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Today, as I reflect upon that tumultuous chapter of my life, I am reminded of the words of Helen Keller, who once said, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” Indeed, my journey is but one thread in the rich tapestry of human experience, a testament to the indomitable spirit that resides within each and every one of us.

In the end, it is not the challenges we face that define us, but rather how we choose to respond to them. And though the road may be long and arduous, I am reminded that with faith, perseverance, and the unwavering support of those we hold dear, there is no obstacle too great and no mountain too high to conquer. For it is through adversity that we discover the true depths of our strength and the boundless resilience of the human spirit.

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Essay on Overcoming a Challenge

Students are often asked to write an essay on Overcoming a Challenge in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Overcoming a Challenge

Introduction.

Facing a challenge can be tough, but overcoming it brings growth. It’s like climbing a mountain where reaching the top is rewarding.

Challenges in Life

In life, we face many challenges. Some are small like a difficult homework, others are big like moving to a new school.

Overcoming Challenges

To overcome a challenge, we need courage, determination, and hard work. It’s like solving a puzzle, piece by piece.

Overcoming a challenge is a victory. It makes us stronger and wiser, ready to face the next mountain.

250 Words Essay on Overcoming a Challenge

Overcoming a challenge is a profound experience that shapes an individual’s character, resilience, and perspective on life. It is through these trials and tribulations that one learns to adapt, innovate, and persevere, thereby fostering personal growth and development.

The Nature of Challenges

Challenges are an integral part of life. They may appear in various forms, such as academic pressure, personal loss, or societal expectations. These obstacles test our mettle, pushing us out of our comfort zones and compelling us to confront our fears and insecurities.

Strategies to Overcome Challenges

The first step in overcoming a challenge is acceptance. Recognizing the problem allows us to devise a plan of action. This plan should be flexible, adaptable to changing circumstances, and realistic, setting achievable goals.

Resilience and perseverance are critical in this journey. Challenges often lead to failures, but it is through these failures that we learn and grow. Embracing failure, therefore, is not a sign of weakness but a testament to one’s strength and determination.

The Role of Support Systems

Support systems, such as friends, family, or mentors, play a significant role in helping us overcome challenges. They provide emotional support, practical advice, and encouragement, enabling us to face our problems with renewed vigor.

Overcoming a challenge is a transformative process that shapes us into stronger, more resilient individuals. It teaches us the value of perseverance, resilience, and the power of a strong support system. Therefore, we should not be afraid of challenges; rather, we should embrace them as opportunities for growth and self-improvement.

500 Words Essay on Overcoming a Challenge

Introduction: the inevitability of challenges.

Life is a journey filled with ups and downs, and challenges are a significant part of this journey. These hurdles, whether they are personal, professional, or academic, shape our character and our approach to life. The process of overcoming a challenge involves resilience, adaptability, and a growth mindset.

Understanding the Nature of Challenges

Challenges are a natural part of life, and they come in various forms. Some are minor, such as a difficult assignment, while others are major, like a serious health issue. The complexity and difficulty of these challenges can vary, but what remains constant is their capacity to push us out of our comfort zones. They test our resilience, patience, and determination, pushing us to our limits and often beyond.

The Role of Resilience in Overcoming Challenges

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity. It is the mental toughness that allows us to keep going when we face obstacles. Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It involves behaviors, thoughts, and actions that anyone can learn and develop. Building resilience can help us navigate through challenges more effectively and come out stronger on the other side.

Adaptability: The Key to Success

Adaptability is another crucial factor in overcoming challenges. When we face a challenge, the situation often requires us to change our approach or perspective. Being adaptable means being open to new ideas and willing to step out of our comfort zone. It involves being flexible in our thinking and actions, which can help us find unique solutions to the problems we face.

A Growth Mindset: Turning Challenges into Opportunities

A growth mindset is the belief that our abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. This perspective creates a love for learning and resilience, essential for great accomplishments. When we view challenges as opportunities for growth rather than obstacles, we can use them to our advantage. They become stepping stones that lead us to success rather than roadblocks that hinder our progress.

Conclusion: Embracing Challenges

Overcoming challenges is about more than just solving problems. It’s about growing as individuals, developing resilience, adaptability, and a growth mindset. It’s about learning to see challenges not as insurmountable obstacles but as opportunities for growth and development. By embracing challenges and the lessons they bring, we can use them as tools for personal and professional growth. Ultimately, the process of overcoming challenges is a testament to human strength and resilience, reminding us that we are much stronger than we often give ourselves credit for.

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Narrative Essay About Overcoming A Challenge

Nothing grabs readers’ attention more effectively than a strong narrative essay. Even though writing a college essay can be scary, students are usually most concerned about the Overcoming Challenges questions. Students who have been fortunate enough to avoid trauma often believe they have nothing important to say. 

Conversely, pupils who have surmounted more significant challenges might be reluctant to discuss them.  Often, the most powerful and transformative movements are composed of challenges. These are the chapters that mold our stories, leaving a lasting impression of bravery, resiliency, and unwavering resolve. 

A narrative essay is an homage to the triumph of the human spirit over misfortune, not just a tale. It explores the obstacles we encounter and the amazing transformation that takes place when we get past them.

The overcoming challenges prompt appears often in supplemental essays as well as main application essays, such as the Common App. As supplemental essays give students the chance to give schools more details, applicants should make sure the topic of their essays is different from their main essay.

The journey of life rarely follows a clear, unobstructed path. It puts our resolve to the test with its many turns, twists, and unexpected obstacles. It could be an internal conflict, an overwhelming social barrier, or a fight against uncontrollable external forces. 

No matter how difficult the task, it always offers a chance for development and empowerment. Students frequently believe they must describe their prior traumas in detail for the Overcoming Challenges essay. You can write about an event that has had a significant impact on your life, but keep in mind that colleges aren’t judging applicants based on how big of a challenge they overcome.

When telling a story about overcoming adversity, one frequently explores the limits of vulnerability. It’s an honest depiction of the first impression, the moments of uncertainty, and the sheer magnitude of the challenge. By telling the tale honestly, you’re inviting readers to feel the intensity of the experience and to develop empathy.

Select a unique essay format.

Avoid using more conventional essay formats if you want your essay on overcoming obstacles to stand out. The majority of these essays begin with an account of an endeavor gone wrong, followed by an explanation of the measures the author took to overcome the difficulty. You can make a statement by selecting an emotional challenge that encompasses several actions or occasions, or a challenge that you’re still working on conquering.

Choose challenges that show traits you want to draw attention to

Many times, students make the mistake of thinking that to write a good essay, they must have gone through extraordinary experiences like cancer, abuse from their parents, or poverty. In actuality, the best subjects will let you emphasize particular aspects of yourself and expand on your identity.

Pay attention to the internal

When writing about past experiences, you might find it easy to get carried away by describing particular individuals and occasions. However, the purpose of an Overcoming Challenges essay is to concentrate on your feelings and thoughts. Throughout this process, don’t be afraid to share your deepest feelings and ideas with the reader.

Tell us what you discovered. 

The reader should be able to clearly understand what you discovered during your journey after reading your essay. While it’s not necessary to state “this experience taught me X,” your essay should at the very least hint at any lessons you took away from the experience. You can accomplish this through your deeds and spontaneous reflections. Recall that the objective is to demonstrate to admissions committees why you are a strong candidate based on your experiences.

Frequently Asked Question 

How do you start an essay about a challenge you overcame.

Your essay’s opening statement about conquering a challenge should be intriguing and entice the reader to read on. Although it may be tempting to tell the story from the beginning to the end or from a happy memory, there are situations when it is sufficient to start at the end.

How do you start a narrative essay?

Make a compelling opening statement to grab the reader’s interest in your narrative essay. Next, give a brief synopsis of the story in a few sentences. Put a thesis statement at the end of the opening paragraph to summarize the essay’s major idea.

What is the narrative of overcoming?

These individuals become failures in the story of triumph. It claims that they have been defeated because they are unable to overcome this part of their lives that has been labeled as a challenge. This is a widespread defeat that will typify a lot of their upcoming projects.

How did you overcome a challenge example?

Something along the lines of, “I overcame this challenge by reviewing past client presentations that were successful, evaluating their input on our initial presentation, and integrating all of the team’s concepts into the new deck.”

How do you write the biggest challenge essay?

Don’t go into too much detail, but make sure the reader knows enough about what you faced. Next, describe how the experience made you feel, how it affected you, and how you overcame it. The secret to this step is to suggest the attributes you are exhibiting without explicitly stating them.

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Narrative Essay on Overcoming a Challenge

Every individual has a tapestry of experiences that shape their worldview, personality, and life path. Among these, certain moments stand out, etched in our memories for the profound impact they have on us. My personal narrative revolves around such a pivotal experience – the first time I stepped outside my comfort zone to lead a community service project. This journey, fraught with challenges, self-doubt, and ultimately, growth, taught me invaluable lessons about leadership, perseverance, and the power of community.

The Genesis of the Journey

Growing up in a small town, opportunities for leadership were scarce, and my introverted nature didn’t help. I was comfortable in my bubble, shying away from the spotlight. However, the summer of my junior year in high school presented an unexpected opportunity that would alter the course of my personal and professional development.

The Challenge Accepted

It began when I stumbled upon a local advertisement seeking volunteers to spearhead a community clean-up initiative. Moved by the deteriorating state of our local park, a place that held countless childhood memories, I felt a surge of responsibility. After much deliberation and encouragement from my family, I decided to step up. This decision marked the beginning of a transformative journey, pushing me into uncharted territories of leadership and community engagement.

The Learning Curve

Facing the Challenges Head-On

Embarking on this project was like diving into deep waters without knowing how to swim. The initial phase was overwhelming, filled with logistical nightmares, coordination issues, and a palpable fear of failure. Recruiting volunteers, securing funding, and planning the clean-up activities required skills I had yet to develop. Each hurdle seemed like a test of my resolve, forcing me to adapt and grow.

The Power of Mentorship and Teamwork

In these moments of doubt, the guidance of a mentor and the support of a passionate team became my lifeline. A retired teacher, Mr. Henderson, who had led similar initiatives, took me under his wing, teaching me the nuances of effective leadership and project management. His wisdom, coupled with the enthusiasm and hard work of our volunteer team, transformed our project from a one-man mission into a collective endeavor. This collaborative spirit underscored the importance of teamwork and mentorship in overcoming challenges.

The Day of Reckoning

The Transformation of the Park – and Myself

After weeks of preparation, the day of the clean-up arrived. The sight of over fifty community members, from eager children to dedicated seniors, coming together was overwhelming. As we cleared litter, planted new trees, and repaired old structures, the park began to transform before our eyes. More importantly, I saw a transformation within myself. The shy, hesitant individual who had taken on this challenge was now confidently coordinating efforts, solving problems on the fly, and inspiring a group towards a common goal.

The Aftermath and Reflections

A Community Revitalized

The success of the clean-up project went beyond the physical rejuvenation of the park. It revitalized a sense of community spirit, encouraging ongoing involvement and care for our shared spaces. The project, initially met with skepticism, became a testament to what can be achieved when individuals come together for a common purpose.

Personal Growth and Future Aspirations

This experience was a turning point for me. It debunked my self-imposed limitations, unveiling a potential for leadership and resilience I had doubted in myself. The lessons learned in those few months have become foundational to my personal and professional ethos. Embracing challenges, the value of teamwork, and the impact of community service are principles I now live by.

In retrospect, the decision to lead the community clean-up project was a leap into the unknown, a challenge that transformed me in ways I could never have anticipated. It taught me that stepping out of one’s comfort zone, though daunting, is a powerful catalyst for growth and change. This journey of self-discovery and community service has not only shaped my aspirations but has also instilled a lifelong commitment to making a difference, however small it may seem. For students looking to participate in essay writing competitions or anyone aspiring to make an impact, remember that every challenge is an opportunity to learn, grow, and contribute to the world around you. Embrace it with open arms, and let it guide you on a path of endless possibilities.

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Overcoming Challenges Essay Examples

Overcoming challenges: a personal journey.

Life is full of challenges that test our resilience, determination, and character. One particular challenge that I faced taught me valuable lessons about perseverance and self-discovery. It was a turning point that allowed me to grow and transform into a stronger individual. A few years...

Overcoming a Challenge: a Personal Narrative

Life is full of unexpected twists and turns, and it is through facing challenges that we discover our inner strength and resilience. This narrative essay recounts a significant challenge I encountered in my life and the transformative journey that ensued. It was a crisp autumn...

Unique Opportunities and Challenges During High School

High school is a pivotal period in the lives of young individuals, marked by both unique opportunities and challenges that shape their personal and academic development. It is a time of self-discovery, academic growth, and the formation of lifelong friendships. This essay explores the distinctive...

Overcoming a Challenge of Cross-country Run

It was my senior year of high school and I decided to try something new. I had previously played baseball, but due to an arm injury, that wouldn’t heal, I could no longer play. So, I thought I would try a different sport, something that would challenge me, cross-country....

Overcoming Challenges: Dancer's Journey to Achieving Her Dream

Jane had always dreamed of becoming a professional dancer, but when she was diagnosed with a rare condition that caused chronic pain in her legs, it seemed like her dream would never be possible. Jane's unwavering determination and perseverance in the face of adversity are...

Overcoming Obstacles in the Life as Essential Part of It

Life is full of obstacles, challenges, and setbacks that can make it difficult to achieve our goals and dreams. However, it is how we deal with these obstacles that can define us and determine our success in life. Overcoming obstacles is an essential part of...

Adolescent Resilience: Overcoming Life's Challenges

In this age of modernisation, adolescent people are facing additional challenges in life. They're used to compared with other people which are more successful and excellent. Due to this strong stress, some of them yea can not face the challenges and lead to self-destruction at...

Adolescence Challenges: Navigating Mental Health Issues

While the prevalence of depression is negligible prior to the age of 12, it increases exponentially during adolescence, afflicting roughly 17-25% of the population by the conclusion of adolescence. Furthermore, the onset of depression in earlier developmental stages can signal more severe depression in later...

The World is not Equal and It is not Fair

The world is not equal and it is not fair. In this essay, I will explore how the undervaluing of forensic science has an impact on society as a whole. The lack of resources and support for forensic science is not only a disservice to...

Story About Life Obstacles and Challenges: Meet Jane's Experience

Meet Jane, a woman in her mid-40s who has had her fair share of ups and downs in life. The story about her life will be explored in this essay. Jane grew up in a small town in the Midwest, the daughter of a single...

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