There’s a lot of chatter about lived experiences these days, especially when it comes to college application essay prompts. Let’s explore.
- Is “lived experience” another way of saying “challenges one has faced in life”? No. A person’s lived experiences encompass much more than challenges they may or may not have faced in their lives. Lived experiences include any direct experience that has helped a person form an understanding of how the world around them works.
- Is “lived experience” the same as racial, ethnic, or gender categorization? No. A person’s lived experiences are unique. What they have encountered and how they have used their experiences to form opinions and make choices is individual, not a group characteristic. No one has the exact same lived experiences as you.
- Why do colleges and universities care about an applicant’s lived experiences? Education happens through much more than classes and homework. We learn from the people around us going about our daily lives. Colleges try to form a campus community with a variety of lived experiences so that students can enrich each others’ lives through their daily interactions.
- I don’t have any lived experiences to write about in my college essays. Yes, you do! Some time spent in reflection might help you discover experiences that have had the most meaningful impact in your life.
Consider the following:
- Activities or hobbies
- People or groups of people/communities
- Different ways you identify
What aspects of those are important to you? Why? What values are represented in the things you do and the communities you belong to?
Still a little unsure? Here are some prompts from, and inspired by, The New York Times Learning Network that might help you get started with reflection and writing (subscription required to access linked content):
- What role does your family’s native tongue play in your life?
- If you made a mixtape for your hometown, what sounds and songs would you include?
- What old technology do you think is cool?
- Do you have any unlikely/surprising friendships?
- What book, movie, song, or piece of art has moved you? If you were to reach out to the creator, what would you say?
- What would you wait all night in the rain to buy? (Or: What would you wait all night in the rain for?)
- Which fandom are you in?
- What songs explain you? (Or: What quotes explain you? What poems explain you? What colors explain you?)
- Doorways (inspired by a picture prompt)
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