Would You Ever Write About A Controversial Change-Of-Heart In An Application?

[Blu]

To be more specific: would you ever write about, for example, overcoming a prejudiced attitude (e.g. distrust of refugees) after a meaningful experience with that group? This is assuming you have a 'strong' narrative, for example showing self-criticism, self-reflection, personal development, definite change in attitude etc., despite the subject matter.

 

Would you be worried about outing yourself as an 'ex-bigot', who adcoms might suspect would 'reoffend'? Any other concerns?

 

Under what conditions would this topic be appealing to you to write about?

 

Note: I'm not referencing myself or anyone I know who is considering this, just interested in opinions.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Fresh fry]

I don't know of a situation where this would be applicable nor can I think of any benefit that can be gained by it.

[ellorie]

I don't know what this obsession is with writing about "controversial" topics.  Why would you even go there?  Why not, instead, NOT go there?

[Blu]

I didn't mean "going there" with an off-topic answer that is intentionally controversial for the sake of raising eyebrows.

 

I was just wondering what people's opinions are about writing about overcoming biased beliefs, in the context of, say, answering something along the lines of "describe an instance of personal growth you've achieved".

 

If you had a profound experience regarding such a situation where you can show a change in attitude, the progression towards that change, and how the new outlook helps you see things differently (i.e, you had a solid all-around essay on personal attitude development), why wouldn't you write about it? And can you be more specific with what your reservations would be?

[m_jacob_45]

I would be very careful if you're going to do this. It could come off as really showing a lot of personal growth, but depending on how you present it, may also give a very negative impression to the reader (i.e. you are telling someone that you previously had some anti-refugee inclinations which could bring up concerns about racism, not being open to a diverse patient population)...I would probably not recommend going this route due to the risk.

[Fresh fry]

Ok here is your problem:

 

"describe an instance of personal growth you've achieved" does not equal "tell me about how you used to be a terrible person but are now slightly less terrible". The question appears wide open but here are some equally horrible responses (besides claiming how you used to be a bigot and are now maybe less of a bigot because of reason xyz) to put this in context:

1) I used to poop my pants everyday but around age 3 I learned to use the toilet 

2) I used to pull the hair of girls I liked until I got on Tinder

3) I used to be scared of the water but then I learned to swim

Etc

 

learning not to be a bigot is not "personal growth" its basic crap that every decent human being is supposed to have at a baseline. You don't get points for something you are supposed to do anyway. To borrow from Chris Rock it is like bragging about how you are not in jail, "you are not supposed to go to jail".

 

So to reiterate there is nowhere that this is applicable. You will gain nothing by trying to use this as an example. It is a horrible, horrible, idea.

 

If you want something about personal growth talk about how your eyes were opened to the plight of the refugees, the hardships they have underwent, the difficult journey, the effects of PTSD, how this inspired you to reach out and help them. That is not the same as "I used to hate them but now I don't".

[Bambi]

Well, you can show your personal growth and development in a more tender way by giving examples of how you became more compassionate to the plight of refugees after xyz experience (without saying how you felt before).

[Arztin]

You don't want to make yourself sound like a bigot like others mentionned. 

If you just change it to something like ''I wasn't really aware of their situation. After meeting some of them I realized xyz from a personal standpoint, and then plug something health related....''' That would already sound much more mature, and it would be a much better answer.

[Intrepid86]

As others have already alluded to, it would be better to begin at indifference and then use your experiences to describe personal growth & change.

 

At least this way you're not starting down 50 points and working your way back up to zero.

[ralk]

You don't want to make yourself sound like a bigot like others mentionned. 

If you just change it to something like ''I wasn't really aware of their situation. After meeting some of them I realized xyz from a personal standpoint, and then plug something health related....''' That would already sound much more mature, and it would be a much better answer.

 

Yeah, if you're going to go that route, claim ignorance that you overcame with education, not prejudice that you overcame with experience. 

[freewheeler]

Save your unsavoury worldviews for after you get into medicine 

[fastrunningfish]

I think you could talk about this. But I wouldn't start with "I was prejudiced". For myself I actually used learning about racial issues in institutional, financial etc places on my applications. I showed what I learned and it's impact with me. This was beneficial for me in that I already knew there were issues I just didn't realize how pervasive they were.

 

So I think there is a way to include this but I definitely wouldn't start out in the red just to break even. If this led you to start doing certain types of work, or volunteering or got you excited about certain types of advocacy you'd liek to do, it could be a great topic.

[Wasteman]

This is a pretty interesting topic. I didn't realize that past bigotry could be an obstacle. I guess the world is changing.