Module Content

A great challenges-based essay describes:

• Challenges + Effects that are clear

• Challenges + Effects that are compelling

Put another way, the reader needs to know:

• What the challenges are

• Why we should care

Let's start with clarity.

Here are two great questions to ask yourself:

1. Are my challenges clear?

2. Are the effects of my challenges clear?

Q1: Are my challenges clear?

It may be that the challenge in your essay isn't super clear (i.e., we don't yet understand what the challenge was).

Here's an example of a clear challenge:

At age three, I was separated from my mother. The court gave full custody of both my baby brother and me to my father. Of course, at my young age, I had no clue what was going on. However, it did not take me long to realize that life with my father would not be without its difficulties.*

To read the rest, check out the "Raising Anthony" essay.

Notice that this essay begins with the moment the challenges began. That's one way to do it.

Here's another example of a clear challenge:

It was Easter and we should've been celebrating with our family, but my father had locked us in the house. If he wasn't going out, neither were my mother and I.

To read the rest, check out the "Easter" essay.

Notice that this essay begins not when the challenges began, but at a point of high tension that happened later. In the second paragraph, the author provides some context. This can work too.

What works less well is when the challenge is vague.

Here's an example of vague challenges:

In my life there have been many difficulties, some of which have been so painful I don't like to think about them. They are things that no person let alone a child should have to go through.

Here, we're left wondering: What's the author talking about? What were the actual challenges? We don't really know.

Why It's Important to Clarify Your Challenges

If we don't know what the challenges are in a challenges-based essay, it's hard for us to care about you or your story.

How to Make Your Challenge More Clear

If you haven't already, try writing out, in a very simple and straightforward way, what your challenge was (or what your challenges were). I know that sounds basic—and it may feel really vulnerable to just write it out—but it's a great way to clarify things for yourself. And don't worry about sounding "interesting" at this point—for now, just write.

Take however much time you need for this. It could be a sentence, a paragraph, or a page.

BTW: If you're having difficulty clarifying your challenge, or figuring out how to say it, you might try:

• Talking to someone (a friend, confidante, someone you trust) to see if they can help you put it into words.

• Recording yourself talking. Open up the voice memo feature in your phone (if you have one) and say out loud what the challenge was. See where that leads.

• Montage Structure. It could be that this Narrative (challenges-based) Structure isn't for you, or isn't for you right now. And that's okay too. Some students are still very much in the challenge, which can make it difficult to define a challenge or write about it with any perspective. As Catherine Burns says, stories should come "from scars and not wounds." If your wounds are still open, it can be worth processing with a counselor or therapist.

Q2: Are the effects of my challenge(s) clear?

It may be that you've clarified your challenge, but we don't yet know what the effects of that challenge were ... on you.

Below is an example of a paragraph that clearly shows the effects of the author's challenge. This is by the student whose mother left when she was young and had an absent father:

Legally, we had all the necessities to survive, but in truth our home was devoid of structure. Schoolwork went unchecked. Bedtimes were unregulated. Dust accumulated in thick layers on the paperwork that overflowed on the dining table. Often times, Anthony and I would spend hours waiting at school for someone to pick us up, and most of our dinners were served well past eleven at night.

To read the rest, check out the "Raising Anthony" essay.

Notice all the specific details she includes. And notice how visual they are—we can see what she is describing as we read about them.

Here's an example of vague effects:

After the incident, my life would never be the same. Never could I have imagined that things could be so difficult. But they were.

Why It's Important to Clarify Your Effects

Clarifying the effects or impacts of your challenge can help us understand why your challenge was a big deal. It can also help set you apart from other students who may've experienced the same challenge or challenges.

How to Make the Effects of Your Challenges More Clear

How did your experiences impact you?

Here are some questions to consider:

1. How did your life change based on your challenges? Were there new disruptions in your life?

2. What barriers arose that didn't exist before, or what became more difficult for you, if anything?

3. Were there any opportunities you had less of or less access to? Any important activities you could no longer do?

4. Did any key relationships change for the worse?

5. Was your health affected? Did your grades suffer?

6. How was your life different from other people you knew?

7. Which of your needs wasn't being met during this time? See this list for ideas.

And yes, I'm aware that a few of these questions repeat from elsewhere in this tool. I'm doing this on purpose, as sometimes a question doesn't resonate until we've heard it a second time, or after a student has written a first draft.

Again, it may be useful to talk it through with someone—a trusted friend, counselor, or mentor.