Challenge essay--mental illness hotline experience?

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scimusicgirl

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I'm brainstorming my adversity/challenge essay options, and one I was considering was writing about a particular conversation I had while working as a crisis text line counselor and god knows how many times I thought I'd failed, the texter's dead, why won't (s)he open up to me, etc. After a couple hours of a very difficult non-conversation, (s)he opened up about the root of the issue. An hour later the texter called 911 of his/her own accord. Supervisor and I were beyond relieved. I've worked with many suicidal/self-harm texters in the past, but this is a case that'll never leave me.

To magnify the stress I felt that day (in case anyone is interested): I had already worked with 4 consecutive suicidal patients. The previous day, not only did I work with 4 consecutive self-harm texters, my keyboard froze in the middle of messaging one of the people in crisis! With the press of a few buttons on my computer, I was able to get that conversation transferred to someone else. But suffice to say, that was an unusually complicated weekend that fortunately, I was able to handle with poise. I thought this would be a good topic to write about compared to my other options because it would show both my ability to handle stress and show empathy as well as talk about a cause that I am very passionate about. Let me know what you think

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It would depend on how the essay question is worded - to me, this sounds fine for a "challenge" essay but not so much for "overcoming adversity". Like, I wouldn't call this you experiencing adversity. A challenge, yes. I think for most of those questions it should work fine, but be mindful of the wording.
 
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