Describe a life experience that has shaped you. The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally.

Sample One

Ever since I was young I loved music. I would listen to my mother play the piano and be so engaged in the music I forgot where I was. I started with my own piano lessons at the age of 5, and continued to take lessons and play recitals throughout elementary school. In high school and college my piano lessons fell away as I became more involved in sports and academics. I continued to listen to music, both popular and classical, but my own playing became less important to me than achieving on the field and in the classroom.

In college, as an engineering major, I was challenged by my coursework and involved in learning as much as I could. I enjoyed the academic rigor and my social life at University of Michigan. However, I realized I missed being able to escape my everyday reality though music. During my junior year I decided to challenge myself and take up the cello. This was an instrument I always enjoyed, but had never played. To keep myself committed I joined an amateur orchestra in town, which was composed of everyone from high school kids to older adults with an interest in music.

My cello lessons were a welcome stress reliever from my academic responsibilities, and I found that my piano training helped me pick the instrument up quickly. I was soon performing well enough to become a leader in the cello section of the orchestra. As an instrument that typically does not have the melody of an orchestral piece (that’s usually the violin section) many of the cellists simply pretended to play the part, or missed the rhythm, when a piece had a different cello part. My musical background allowed me to pick up the difficult parts more easily, and I started to play louder to lead my fellow cellists. Many of the members started to look at me as the leader of the section, which was gratifying to me. By the end of the season our section had vastly improved and we found ourselves one of the strongest instruments in the orchestra.

Music is still one of my passions in life. Along with listening and attending musical performances, I continue to be involved in the amateur orchestra in Chicago, where I now live. I find myself mentoring younger musicians and encouraging them to remain committed to their passions.

Sample Two

My aunt was like a second mother to me, and watching her struggle with breast cancer when I was young was a defining moment for me. I was touched by her resilience, determination, and the help she had from doctors, family and friends to overcome the disease. When she had been cancer free for three years we celebrated her health with a family cruise vacation. Many women are not so lucky, and in gratitude, I have devoted much of my free time outside of work to raising money for low income women to support their fight against cancer.

I see my fundraising activities as a high impact way to create tangible change in my community and leave a legacy. In 2008, I became the president of the NYC chapter of my non-profit organization and was charged with setting the vision and goals, and restructuring the leadership team.

Through this work, I have learned crucial lessons about the power of personal relationships and leading by example. In one instance, my team of volunteers had worked hard for months, yet had neglected to hire an audio-visual team to run the microphones and projector for the speakers who were set to thank large donors at the event. While this was a minor oversight, it could have derailed our planned event. I was able to call a few of my work contacts and secure a company at the last minute.

I realized the minimal structure and accountability in the team had led to our near disaster. I decided to actively assign each member of the team to delegated tasks and responsibilities, and have honest conversations with each team member about their level of involvement. After I coached new leaders and delegated tasks, the team dynamics improved greatly. Since involvement was voluntary, one tremendous challenge was to overcome competing priorities to achieve our goals.

Our next large fundraiser was our best ever – going forward smoothly and allowing everyone to feel involved and empowered.

Sample Three

I have been a mentor and tutor for years as part of an organization that focuses on children in south Florida. Tutoring the children has been completely gratifying for me, as I have seen young people grow, aided by my efforts. I have been instrumental in changing attitudes about education, and the concept of continuing on to college. I have developed extremely special relationships with children and their families, and have gained as much from them as they have from me. I was recently elected to the board of directors and assumed the task of raising money for a drive to recruit more much needed mentors. I was excited to make an impact on ACSF at a more global level.

The team I assembled included two entrepreneurs and five other members from the executive council. While discussing our vision and mission, it became apparent that Luis and David, two prominent entrepreneurs, were willing to donate a considerable amount of money and time to recruiting new mentors. They also pledged thousands of dollars toward the implementation phase. The two were passionate and enthusiastic supporters of the project but had completely different approaches to tackle the issue. This dichotomy on my team created a challenge that ultimately taught me a great deal about leading a group, which can be all the more challenging with a group of volunteers as opposed to paid employees.

Ultimately, I decided that the best approach was to gather the team and meet with both entrepreneurs to set a course towards a successful implementation of our mentor drive. We sat in a room for several hours and ultimately came to consensus. The team decided to focus on creating a shared vision and mission and to apply a project management framework. The mentoring project was a success under the newly united leadership of Luis and David, and I was thrilled to see my personal project enabling the organization to reach far greater numbers of children.