Continuing with my analysis, here’s a breakdown of Common Application Essay Prompt #5.
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Tell Me a Story
Common Application Essay Prompt #5 lends itself well to narrative so if your storytelling skills (https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+tell+a+story&oq=how+to+tell+a+story&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.3223j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) are strong, be sure to consider it. It also gives you a lot of leeway in choosing a topic. “Accomplishment,” for example, could mean anything from winning a state championship to learning Chinese so you could communicate with your aging grandfather. “Event” could be a family trip to Italy or being dumped by your first boyfriend. “Realization” could be the moment you recognized you were not going to play in the NBA or that you no longer enjoyed playing chess. Whatever you chose, do not go back too far. Learning how to cut your own meat may have been a big deal at the time but it does not cut it as an essay topic. Finally, be sure your accomplishment, event or realization led to significant changes – “a period of personal growth” – in how you see, and interact with, the world.
Understanding Yourself
Essay Prompt #5 offers a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate your introspection, maturity, and understanding of the impact events can have on you, but only if you know where you are going with it. Again, be specific about this “new understanding of yourself and others” and, if possible, support it with current details and examples. You can also describe how you believe these changes will play out during your next four years in college. Outlining before writing this essay is a must!
In short… 
Common Application Essay Prompt #5 gives you an opportunity to describe a major change you experienced.
For more personal help with the Common Application or any other application essay, please contact Craig Heller at 818-445-4697 or [email protected].