a disappointing experience essay

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Dealing with Disappointment

• Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries

There are more- and less-healthy ways to cope with it.

Disappointments are inevitable, and how we cope with them is often a defining moment in our lives. How we respond to disappointment is often influenced by our upbringing; some people seek to avoid disappointment by underachieving (setting their expectations permanently low) while others seek to avoid it by overachieving (setting their expectations unattainably high). Regardless of which way we lean, we can learn to respond healthily to disappointment by adopting a coping style that seeks to understand what happened, checks whether our expectations were reasonable, reevaluates our perceptions and behaviors, and seeks positive solutions instead of dwelling on the past. Introspection can be helpful, but rumination is often not. Although disappointment is inevitable, being discouraged is always a choice.

Robert didn’t know what to think. How could he have misjudged the situation so badly? He felt angry, sad, and betrayed.

• MV Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries is a management scholar, a psychoanalyst, and an executive coach. He is the Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organizational Change at INSEAD.

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How to Answer "What Has Been Your Biggest Disappointment?" (With Sample Answers)

December 15, 2023 by Daniel Wolken

When preparing for an interview, you may encounter the question, "What has been your biggest disappointment?" This inquiry is not meant to trip you up, but rather to glean insight into your resilience and ability to navigate challenges. It's an opportunity to showcase your problem-solving skills and your growth mindset.

Thoughtful reflection on your experiences, focusing on constructive outcomes rather than the disappointment itself, will result in a balanced and impactful response.

It is vital to choose an example that led to personal or professional development, ensuring that your answer communicates self-awareness, reflection, and a proactive stance toward overcoming setbacks while working from home .

Why Employers Ask This Question?

When you're in an interview, employers often ask about your greatest disappointments to gauge your self-awareness and resilience . Understanding how you perceive and overcome challenges is crucial to them, as it can illustrate your:

• Problem-solving skills: How effectively you can navigate through tough situations.
• Growth mindset: Your ability to learn from your setbacks and use them to improve.
• Emotional intelligence: Your recognition and management of emotions---yours and others'.
• Professional maturity: How you handle feedback and constructive criticism.
• Honesty and Accountability: To determine if you can be transparent about your experiences and if you take responsibility for your actions and their outcomes.
• Alignment with company values: Whether your attitude and learning experiences match the company culture.
• Future potential: How your past disappointments have primed you for future roles, particularly in challenging or high-pressure situations.

How to Answer "What Has Been The Greatest Disappointment In Your Life With Examples"?

When approaching the question, "What has been your biggest disappointment?" focus on transforming a negative scenario into a reflection of your resilience and capacity to grow.

• Choose a Relevant Example: Select a disappointment that is relevant to the context of the interview . Ideally, it should relate to your professional life, but if the question is asked in a personal context, you can choose a disappointment from your personal life.
• Keep It Professional: If you're in a job interview, focus on professional disappointments rather than personal ones. Avoid discussing highly personal or sensitive issues unless it's relevant to the job or the interviewer encourages such discussions.
• Provide Context: Start by briefly explaining the situation or circumstances that led to the disappointment. Provide enough context so that the person you're speaking to can understand the situation.
• Explain Your Feelings : Describe how you felt when the disappointment occurred. Be honest about your emotions, but avoid being overly negative or critical. Use language that conveys your feelings without making it sound like you're dwelling on the disappointment.
• Highlight What You Learned: The most important part of your response is to explain what you learned from the disappointment. Emphasize how you turned the disappointment into a valuable learning experience. Discuss the skills , insights, or personal growth that resulted from the setback.
• Show Resilience and Adaptability: Discuss how you bounced back from the disappointment and adapted to the situation. Employers value candidates who can handle setbacks and challenges with resilience and a positive attitude.
• Connect It to the Job : If you're in a job interview, tie your response back to the position you're applying for. Explain how the lessons you learned from your biggest disappointment have made you a stronger and more suitable candidate for the remote job .
• Stay Positive: Maintain a positive and constructive tone throughout your response. Avoid blaming others or dwelling on negativity. Focus on the personal and professional growth that resulted from the disappointment.

Sample Answers For Interview Question "What Is Your Greatest Disappointment"?

When addressing the interview question about your biggest disappointment, it's essential to show personal growth and the ability to learn from challenges. Here are three sample answers that demonstrate resilience and positive outcomes from disappointing experiences.

Sample Answer 1: Missed Promotion Opportunity

"I was eager to advance to a managerial role, but when the opportunity arose, the position was given to a colleague. At first, I was deeply disappointed. However, this experience taught me to communicate more effectively about my career goals. I enrolled in a leadership course, which not only improved my skills but also showed my commitment. When I reapplied for a promotion six months later, I was successful."

Sample Answer 2: Unsuccessful Project

"In my previous role as a Sales head , a project I led did not meet the desired outcomes, despite my team's hard work. Initially, it felt like a significant setback. Reflecting on this, I understood the importance of flexibility and proactive risk management. I implemented these lessons in subsequent projects, leading to a series of successes and an award for innovation."

Sample Answer 3: Project Cancellation

"My team was working on a project I was particularly excited about, but it got unexpectedly canceled. I was responsible for the initial research and presentation to stakeholders. After the cancellation, I repurposed some of our work for a finance project. This helped us salvage our efforts and maintain team morale."

Sample Answer 4: Overlooked for a Leadership Role

"I was passionate about taking on a leadership role within a volunteer organization, and when I wasn't chosen, I was disappointed. Instead of letting this hold me back, I sought feedback and learned the value of showing consistent dedication in my role as a content writer . I continued to volunteer with enthusiasm, and within a year, I was not only given a leadership position but also recognized as Volunteer of the Year."

If you are searching for a remote job and need help finding where to look? DailyRemote is a remote job board with the latest jobs in various categories to help you. Join like-minded people in our LinkedIn and Facebook community.

Explore Other Interview Questions

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How to Answer "What is your Experience with Customer Service"?

How to Answer "Describe Your Experience Working With Diverse Teams Or Different Cultures"?

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A disappointing experience.

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                          There are times when you do not feel like going out with your friends. You just want to stay home watching one of those boring tv shows, or talking to your mother about the importance of your dreams, which is measured against the importance of reality. However, a little crazy voice in your insides commands your mind to do the opposite of staying home. My descriptive skills began one Saturday nigh at Sunset Place.              The main entrance was far away from the parking lot. So, we had to walk for almost ten minutes to get to the mall. Finally, we saw JC. Penny, which is the first store you encounter. The movies is located on the second floor; but first you have to walk all the way until you see game Works, another store for kids to play with computers. Well, my three friends and I finally got to the movies. The line was huge. We had to wait half hour to buy the tickets. In the meantime, and all of a sudden, the sweet scent of some perfume tickled the tip of my nose. That definitely made me look back. My eyes opened after several watery blinks. I saw one of the most attractive men I had ever seen. He was about seven feet tall. You could perfectly see his well-defined big muscles. I felt the sun scorching my skin in that moment. That was a surprise since I was at a mall one Saturday night. I could even smell the air caressing my pale face. I was just not there anymore.              I honestly thought he would be nicer. I was wrong. His name was Alex and he was twenty-two years old. Alex told me that he was obsessed with his physical appearance. That disappointed me a lot. The minutes became hours as we kept conversing. Light voices occasionally reached my ears, probably coming from one of the couples strolling the crowded place. The omnipresent night seemed to be absorbing the fury of his bright green eyes like spring; but then the glaring lights of the mall reflected in his face helped him get that fury back, and his eyes would turn bright again.

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Personal Narrative Examples of A+ Papers and More

• Icon Calendar 25 August 2024
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Personal narrative examples are texts that allow readers to understand some aspects of writer’s life experiences. In writing such documents, students get a unique opportunity to perfect their writing, critical thinking, and reflection skills. Unlike research essays that require students to investigate subjects, such compositions allow authors to write thoughtfully. In turn, one’s life experiences without external evidence are a main content in personal narrative essay examples.

General Aspects

Writing personal narrative examples is an academic activity that enhances one’s writing, critical thinking, and reflection skills. When students get assignments to write a personal story, they get an opportunity to reflect on their life experiences and take one or several aspects of it to share. In this case, a narrative essay introduces a student as an individual and a writer to readers. Therefore, a principal challenge for students is to find a story to tell, one that they can recall clearly and tell through writing thoughtfully. In other words, detailing one’s experience is essential to meet the criterion of a “show, do not tell” technique, meaning authors should focus on giving an intended audience some details of their life experiences vividly rather than just talking about them. As a result, a target audience must be able to visualize those experiences for emotional intensity.

What Is a Personal Narrative Example and Its Purpose

According to its definition, a personal narrative example is a type of writing where authors share stories from their own lives. Basically, such a composition must be written in the first person, and an author must focus on a specific event or experience, including his or her thoughts, feelings, and reflections (Griffin & Mayhew, 2019). The purpose of writing personal narrative examples is to engage readers and fulfill their purposes, whether to entertain, inform, or express people’s experiences. Moreover, expressive writing requires developing narrative formation skills in people to share their experiences and encourages them to write freely, focusing on personally meaningful and emotional content (Danoff-Burg et al., 2010). In turn, the main 5 examples of narrative writing include:

• Autobiographies: Detailed accounts of a person’s life, written by themselves.
• Memoirs: Focused on specific experiences or periods in the author’s life.
• Personal Essays: Shorter pieces that reflect on personal experiences or insights.
• Short Stories: Fictional narratives that can draw from personal experiences.
• Diaries and Journals: Daily records of personal experiences and reflections.

Three Samples of a Personal Narrative Essay

1. personal narrative example: the most disappointing day of my life.

My love for racing cars started when I was a child. The mere fact that these cars moved at lightning speed seemed to excite me, and I couldn’t tell why. As I grew older, I found myself engaging in things to do with racing cars, such as watching episodes of car races on television and the Internet. I even went a step further and used my pocket money to buy car racing-themed magazines and merchandise. Therefore, it didn’t come as a surprise when one of my uncles decided to take me to a car racing event in Africa, specifically Kenya.

Safari Rally was an episode of the global yearly car racing competition, and it seemed to stand out from the rest for several reasons. One of these, which inspired many people from the West, was the fact that the racing track went through game reserves and national parks. As such, fans were sure to get a double treat- watch racing cars as they maneuver the tough African terrain and enjoy the beauty of African wildlife. Hearing stories about this experience increased my desire to visit Kenya and witness the forthcoming Safari Rally event. The year was 1989. How can I forget?

Life has a way of turning expectations into painful memories. My friends knew how prepared I was to travel to Kenya. I had even bought a camera using my pocket money; I intended to document the entire experience through photography. To cut the story short, I never made the trip. It never occurred to me that, as a military man, my uncle was not in charge of his life per se. As the world was preparing to witness the African Safari Rally, Panama was in a crisis. US President George W. Bush sent over 10,000 American troops to Panama City on December 20, 1989, one week before the Safari Rally kick-off date. My uncle was recalled from his one-month leave.

I am not sure what was most devastating to me – the fact that my beloved uncle informed my mother and not me about his recall or that I was never going to Kenya to witness the marvelous Safari Rally. I must admit, although I was in perfect health, I felt sick, literally. I became moody, lost my appetite, developed a headache, and withdrew from family and friends. My mother had to take leave from work to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid. December 20, 1989, I must admit, stands out as the most disappointing day of my life.

Today, almost two decades later, I look back to December 20, 1989, and wonder about the power of aspirations. Dreams are powerful, and no matter how long it takes, life always finds a way to bring them to bear. Indeed, I visited Kenya after graduating from High School, but not to witness the Safari Rally. This time, my visit was sponsored by a community organization dedicated to making the world a better place for orphans. Visiting Kenya brought back memories of a missed opportunity and the mark it left in my life. Indeed, dreams are powerful!

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2. Example of a Personal Narrative Essay: My Greatest Life Lesson

Growing up, I always heard people say work hard pays; that working hard is a virtue. I never really understood the meaning of these words until I reached the age when my parents allowed me to have my first job. My dad always insisted that I should learn how to give and not ask. What could I possibly give? I always thought. Although my mum was an undisputed defender, I think she had come to see sense in my father’s argument. She stopped giving me my monthly allowance and asked me to look for a job.

Christmas is a season of good tidings for merrymakers and entrepreneurial characters. My childhood friend was one of the latter. Although we grew up together and got in trouble together, Mike and I were two sides of the same coin. I was an introvert and a bookworm, and Mike was an extrovert and a merrymaker. His added advantage over me was that he came from a family of entrepreneurs. Therefore, while I saw the festive season as another time of the year when people overindulge, he saw it as a perfect time to make money. Ironically, I needed this side of him, given my present predicament.

Mike was not of the “work hard pays” school of thought. He subscribed to the “work smart” school of thought. If anyone asked me the difference, I couldn’t tell. When I told him about my predicament, he saw a business partner. He confided in me about his business idea- making Christmas trees and selling them on credit. I thought, “I didn’t hear him well,” so I asked him to repeat what he had just said. Of course, he noticed my disbelief and lack of enthusiasm in his idea. At this point, he told me he had researched and realized that only one shop sold Christmas trees, and the price was exorbitant. This meant that there was room for competition. Before he could go further with his “story,” I reminded him that starting a business, leave alone competing with an established enterprise, required capital. He told me, “not really.” That word got my attention. He said to me that all we had to do was cut down some trees and use our creativity to make beautiful Christmas trees. Mike “volunteered”—whatever that meant—to supply any needed material from the family supermarket. To make the story short, we made our Christmas trees and hit the road running.

News about our Christmas trees spread like wildfire. Mike’s decision to publish pamphlets advertising our product was a genius marketing trick. Although we were willing to give people the product on credit, a majority ended up paying in cash. Within three days, we had sold about 20 Christmas trees, and as they say, the rest is history.

My parents’ decision to stop my monthly allowance served to teach me the value of work. However, it was my entrepreneurial adventure with Mike that taught me that working smart is better than working hard.

3. Personal Narrative Essay Sample: Memorable Experience

It was about two decades ago when, at the age of 16, I traveled a distance of approximately 100 miles to get to see a great holy personality. For almost a month, the media had been advertising the arrival of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, the founder of Sahaja Yoga Meditation. This religious fraternity has attained a reputation as a global movement of spiritual practices. Since my mother was a committed faithful, I decided to tag along as she made a journey she considered a religious obligation. Little did I know that, by volunteering to accompany my mum, I set myself up for one of my most memorable experiences.

When we arrived at the scheduled venue, an auditorium of a state university, I got nervous for some reason. Since the media had advertised her arrival, the place was a sea of humanity, as faithful and curious individuals like me fought for a space to see this revered lady. One could tell a religious adherent from a curious attendee- it was a tradition that everywhere Shri Mataji visited, people gifted her flowers as a sign of their admiration and reverence.

In light of this, I was carrying a flower under the instructions of my mother. Probably, some also took flowers under the direction of those they accompanied. As soon as it was announced that Shri Mataji was about to enter the auditorium, my heartbeat started racing. The crowd seemed to go on a frenzy, as some tried to move closer to the podium. As Shri Mataji made her way into the packed venue, people approached her in an unrushed way, giving her flowers, one by one. In return, she gave short comments to each person like, “Thank you,” “Oh, such a lovely dress,” and such. I must admit, her stance caught me off-guard. I always thought a holy person never smiles; that they are always serious with a face that tells you they can see your sins, even the hidden sins of the soul. On the contrary, Shri Mataji was lovable and human in every bit.

When it was my turn to give a flower, I was confused. Lovingly, my mother, looking at me with kind eyes, prompted me to offer her my bunch of flowers. Unlike the tradition of offering flowers to a person by giving them to their hands, the present occasion required one to offer them at Shri Mataji’s feet. I later learned that this was the custom in Indian society relating to gurus or persons of significant stature. Although Shri Mataji uttered some words to me, I can recall them; I was excited to listen. I wasn’t sober. My mum tells me that I was smiling as the revered lady commended me for the beautiful gift. All I know is that I was thrilled and highly satisfied, practically indescribable feelings. Indeed, the occasion stands out as one of the most memorable days of my life.

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Personal Stories in Narrative Essays

Indeed, all three stories above are personal narrative examples. The key characteristics of creativity in narrative writing include meaning, relevance, reader’s immersive experience, development, control, distinctiveness, voice, and originality (D’Souza, 2021). Firstly, each of the stories describes personal experiences. Secondly, in each story, an author gives accounts of how events transpired to make described experiences memorable. Lastly, each of the three stories ends with a life lesson or experience that forms part of personal memories. In short, these three stories do not describe what a person has read somewhere. Basically, they describe what an author has gone through as an individual at one point in personal life. As a result, the main 5 parts of narrative essay examples are:

• Introduction: Sets the scene and introduces the main event or experience.
• Rising Action: Builds up to the main event, describing other events leading up to it.
• Climax: The most intense or crucial moment of the narrative.
• Falling Action: Describes the events following the climax, leading toward the resolution.
• Conclusion: Reflects on the experience and its impact on the author.

Note: Some parts can be added, deleted, or combined with each other. However, the reader must be engaged when reading a personal story.

“Show, Not Tell” Method

When writing personal narrative essay examples, writers focus on giving vivid descriptions of their experiences and not just telling the audience about them. In these three stories, an author has offered such descriptions, such as a personal state of mind, to enable readers to either be emotionally involved. For example, in the first story, an author talks about how he became “moody, lost appetite, developed a headache, and withdrew from family and friends.” In turn, this description makes readers empathize with a personal situation. To make a good personal narrative example, consider the next:

• Authenticity: Write from your heart and be honest about your experiences and emotions.
• Clear Structure: Provide a well-organized story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
• Descriptive Details: Use detailed descriptions to bring your story to life for the reader.
• Emotional Engagement: Connect with the reader on an emotional level through your experiences and reflections.
• Reflective Insight: Include personal insights or lessons learned from the experience to give the narrative depth and meaning.

Techniques for Writing Better Personal Narrative Essays

• Use simple language. While research essays require students to use complex words, this feature is not beneficial for all compositions. Basically, authors must write with passion because their readers need to experience empathy for the target character or person after going through the text (Bientzle et al., 2021). In turn, the language should provide rather than hinder clarity.
• “Show, not tell.” The goal of personal narrative examples is to inform readers about the life experiences of writers. As such, students should not write it as they would a research essay (Howell, 2014). In turn, they must incorporate vivid descriptions that enable readers to become emotionally involved.
• Make an essay “personal.” Narrative essay examples can be considered “personal” only by providing personal details of authors. Basically, students should avoid using the second-person language but cover the first-person language (Spencer, 2005). In turn, experiences should introduce readers to a specific aspect of a writer’s life.

Writing personal narrative essay examples is an academic exercise of great importance. Basically, it allows students to perfect their writing, critical thinking, and reflection skills. For example, one of the most effective techniques is the “show, not tell” approach. In turn, this method means that authors should focus more on giving vivid descriptions of their experiences and not just writing about them. Moreover, the audience must be emotionally involved in the story for it to be effective. Hence, some essential tips in writing are:

• Choose a memorable story to tell.
• Follow the “show, not tell” approach.
• Be authentic by avoiding exaggerations.
• Ask for input from family and close friends.
• Proofread personal narrative essay examples before publication or submission.

Bientzle, M., Eggeling, M., Kanzleiter, M., Thieme, K., & Kimmerle, J. (2021). The impact of narrative writing on empathy, perspective-taking, and attitude: Two randomized controlled experiments on violations of Covid-19 Protection Regulations. PLOS ONE , 16 (7), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254501

Danoff-Burg, S., Mosher, C. E., Seawell, A. H., & Agee, J. D. (2010). Does narrative writing instruction enhance the benefits of expressive writing? Anxiety, Stress & Coping , 23 (3), 341–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615800903191137

D’Souza, R. (2021). What characterises creativity in narrative writing, and how do we assess it? Research findings from a systematic literature search. Thinking Skills and Creativity , 42 , 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2021.100949

Griffin, M., & Mayhew, J. (2019). Storycraft: How to teach narrative writing . Crown House Publishing Limited.

Howell, S. (2014). How to write a narrative . PowerKids Press.

Spencer, L. (2005). A step-by-step guide to narrative writing . Rosen Pub. Group.

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Where's the Real Learning?

By  Karen Symms Gallagher

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I admit it – from kindergarten on, I was teacher’s pet.  I got an assignment. I labored over it, made it perfect, turned it in early, got the A.

Until now.  Let me confess: I am a MOOC noncompleter. I had heard the hype that massive open online courses (MOOCs) are transforming higher education, and I wanted to see for myself.

I enrolled in the University of Edinburgh’s MOOC on e-learning and digital cultures, offered through Coursera. With enthusiasm I joined my 260,000 fellow students, whom I assumed shared my interest in a rigorous and rich college experience online.

On day one, I got a form e-mail welcoming me. I was to watch a few videos each week, do a few readings, and do my homework – maybe: "There are no weekly 'assignments,' although we do recommend trying at least two of the suggested activities. These are not assessed, but will help you to prepare for the final assignment."

I started out eagerly, watching the videos, skimming the readings, and participating in the online discussion forum. I could do this late at night at home or while traveling for my day job. But after two sessions, my interest waned. Maybe it was the lack of real-time interaction with classmates or professors. Maybe it was the lack of accountability. I soon wasn’t watching all the videos, and I certainly wasn’t doing the practice homework that no one would ever grade. Honestly, I felt more like an audience member than a student.

The final assignment would determine if I passed or failed, but I didn’t feel connected enough to the class to complete the project. And what would have been my reward? A noncredit statement of completion of truly questionable value.

My MOOC experience is pretty typical. Passing is about showing up, not doing the kind of quality work that meets any standards of academic rigor. Even with bare minimum standards for passing, classes have huge rates of attrition.

At the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, we pride ourselves on delivering high-quality master's-level programs online. I don’t think the problem is with online learning. Rather, we should see MOOCs for what they are so far: an easy way to dabble in a subject, maybe learn new material, maybe not, and sometimes with highly respected faculty. In my MOOC,  I never saw my professor live online.

We must do more than put a camera in a lecture hall and put professors in a loosely moderated discussion forum. We must offer real-time interaction between professors and students, and between classmates. There must be learning objectives, not just topics to be covered, so students know where they’re headed academically. We must require students to be accountable and expect them to show a mastery of a subject beyond a "showing up" standard.

Those of us who deliver a real college experience online for credit are happy to share the many lessons we’ve learned. Because nobody wants to be a noncompleter.

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Common Essay Topic: Describe a Time When You Experienced Failure. How Did That Failure Impact You?

David Jun 29, 2020

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Writing scholarship essays is one of the most difficult parts of the scholarship application. For this reason, it might be tempting to only apply for scholarships that don’t require essays. Of course, you’d be limiting your options as some of the best scholarships with the biggest awards require an essay. 

While writing a scholarship essay can be stressful, there is a way to approach it that will make things easier and less stressful. 

In this guide, we’re going to break down one of the most common essay topics: “Describe a time when you experienced failure. How did that failure impact you?” Many scholarships include this question in their application. It is also one of the questions in the Common App .

We’re going to explain what this question is asking you to write about, how to write a great answer and we’ll even give you a sample essay. 

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Understanding the Question

This question might make you feel uncomfortable. It’s not easy to talk about weaknesses.

You shouldn’t worry though! 

Failure is part of life. What’s important (and what the committee is looking for) is the way in which you handled the failure. (Spoiler alert! This is going to be the real heart of your essay).

The scholarship committee wants to know how the failure impacted you and what you learned from the experience. This is your opportunity to show how you deal with failure and respond to challenges.

Dealing with failures in a constructive manner and growing from them are key ingredients to succeeding in college. 

How to Write a Great Answer

After you understand the essay question, it’s time to start planning what you are actually going to write.

We suggest starting by brainstorming. Write down failures that you’ve experienced in life. Not sure where to start? Think about ‘failures’ that happened in school, during extracurricular activities, or even with family and friends. 

Once you have a list of ‘failures’ think about which one with an outcome you are most proud of. Why are you proud of it? If that failure was in school, did you end up working harder and ace the class? If it was in an extracurricular activity, did you show good sportsmanship? If it was with family or friends, did you end communication well and come out stronger on the other side? 

The first step in the process is to look for ‘failures’ with silver linings. Think of it not about getting knocked down but how you evaluated the situation and got up stronger than ever. 

What Failure Should You Write About? 

If you can help it, try not to write about failing a test or losing a sports game. These are some of the most common experiences that students write about. Remember, thousands of other students will write about the same topics. Your essay should be about an experience that you and only you had.

If you absolutely can’t come up with something else, at least make the experience sound unique and meaningful. Failing a test can be meaningful if it changes your perspective or your approach to studying. But, if it didn’t have such an impact on you, you’ll want to choose another experience to write about. 

Meaningful does not mean a grand failure. You don’t need to burn your house down or get expelled from school. Failures come in many shapes and sizes. You just need to show the failure impacted you and taught you an important lesson. 

To sum things up, the exact failure that you experienced is less critical in your essay. What’s more important is to show how you rose up from the failure and grew from the experience. 

Some Final Tips Before Our Sample Essay

• Don’t write an essay that’s overly sad. The focus should be more about taking responsibility, learning, and less about self-pity. The scholarship committee wants to see how you took weaknesses and turned them into strengths. How did this experience impact you moving forward? How did you grow? 
• Like all scholarship essays, you’ll want to engage your readers from the very beginning. Your introduction should grab their attention with a good hook and make them want to continue reading. Good hooks can include personal stories, rhetorical questions, misconceptions, or stating an overly strong opinion.  
• To prevent sounding like other students, use a lot of details throughout your essay. This helps differentiate you from other students and single you out from the crowd. It also helps readers envision being in your shoes. 

Sample Essay Example

I’ll never forget watching Nastia Liukin win gold in the 2008 Olympics when I was four years old, thinking that’s going to be me one day. I had been doing gymnastics for a year, and despite my small size, I had big dreams and every intention of achieving them.

I excelled quickly at the sport and invested a lot of hours at the gym. High school came along and I continued to train vigorously. Practice, school, practice, school, like I was on a hamster wheel with no ability to stop. It wasn’t until I had to miss my first school dance that I realized what a toll the sport had taken on my body and my mental health. 

I was forced to make a decision I never thought I’d make. I chose to leave my sport at my prime, despite that it had been my world for as long as I had known. 

I realized that I was no longer that little girl with the big dream. I was becoming a young adult, with new dreams and aspirations. I allowed myself a period of mourning and then got to work. I got involved with the school journal, something that I had been itching to do for the first two years of high school but didn’t have the time for it. 

Joining the school journal has allowed me to discover my love for writing. This year, I am even the president of the club! I cannot wait to take my new skills and passion for college, where I plan to study journalism. 

I have learned that sometimes life goes very differently than originally planned. But, that doesn’t mean it’s time to throw in the towel. I may not be as strong as I used to be physically, but mentally, I’m stronger and more excited than ever before. 

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What Has Been the Greatest Disappointment in Your Life?

• What the Interviewer Wants to Know
• How You Should Answer

Examples of the Best Answers

Tips for giving the best answer, what not to say, possible follow-up questions.

A  common question asked in job interviews is, "What has been the greatest disappointment in your life?"  Your response to this question  will help the interviewer determine how easily you are discouraged, how you recover from difficult experiences, and whether you take responsibility for  navigating challenging circumstances .

Interviewers also use this type of question to probe for failures in your personal or professional life that might reveal  weaknesses that would limit your effectiveness on the job.

What the Interviewer Really Wants to Know

Interviewers ask this kind of question to understand how you perceive adversity. The way in which you moved through a tough personal situation points to your approach in professional situations as well. Employers want their team to see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. Convince them you possess that mentality through this answer, and you will have won this round.

For example, all businesses experience ebbs and flows, and there is often a great deal of uncertainty - that is just how the business world works. If you are someone who has persevered in the most challenging and uncertain of times, then you have what it takes to help a business do the same. 

The interviewer will also note how comfortable you appear  answering open-ended questions . This will speak to your ability to think quickly on your feet, as well as indicating your readiness to conduct important conversations at work.

How to Answer the “What Was Your Greatest Disappointment?” Interview Question

Employers may give you some leeway by leaving the context of your disappointment open-ended. In this case, one viable strategy is to avoid referencing a disappointment that happened at work. You could speak about a more personal disappointment, e.g., the early death of a parent, or an event that changed your academic or career goals.

If you mention a work disappointment, don't use an example that's closely related to the responsibilities of the job for which you are applying.

Believe it or not, it is also okay not to have had a "greatest" disappointment. However, in that case, provide an example of one particularly disappointing experience, or speak more generally about how you would handle a frustrating moment.

My biggest disappointment is that I wasn’t able to follow my dream of being a professional dancer. I was injured as a teenager during a performance and was never able to move quite as fluidly again. Even though I was disappointed at the time, I realize now that if I had taken that direction, I would not have achieved my advanced degrees and developed a career that I love.

Why It Works:  This answer shows your ability to be vulnerable and thus can help to create a strong rapport with the interviewer. It also alludes to your creativity, an attribute that is valuable in many fields. And importantly, the answer concludes on a positive note. 

I set a goal to be on the dean's list every semester in college and was very disappointed when I missed the mark during the first semester of my junior year. I was working 25 hours a week and took 21 credits that semester. I reduced my work hours to 15 and took 18 credits the next semester and achieved highest honors.

At the time, not being able to go straight to college out of high school was the greatest disappointment. However, the two years I spent working helped me to focus on what I wanted to study and ultimately made my college experience more fulfilling. Having a little extra time to figure things out allowed me to prepare to decide what I wanted to study for my chosen career.

Why It Works:  The answer shows that you have a good perspective on life’s hurdles and saw this one as an opportunity to discover the things you really like, as opposed to going straight to school with little to no direction, like most high school graduates. This growth mindset is invaluable in the workplace.

I was very disappointed when I was hired for a top retailer's training program and was placed in the store management track, when I had my heart set on the buyer track. As it ends up, my strengths in employee engagement, inventory planning, and sales have enabled me to progress rapidly to my assistant store manager position, so the disappointment was a blessing in disguise. 

Why It Works:  In addition to conveying who you are as a professional, it shows that you adapt to change well. In an ever-changing business world, being flexible and seeing the positives when things don’t go to plan makes the difference between collapsing and thriving when problems arise. 

Transition to professional from personal.  This is a personal question by nature, so your answer can also be. Just remember to connect it back to the job itself. You could pivot to mentioning some  key professional skills  that would help you to add value if you were hired for your target job.

Choose situations which can be viewed as successes . You can respond directly to this type of question by mentioning a disappointment where you fell short of a very high expectation that you set for yourself. By doing so, you establish that you are a driven employee who strives for a high level of achievement.

Be honest.  You may feel afraid to share your answer out of fear of judgment, but this question is meant to open the door to vulnerability. We all have experienced disappointment. If you're authentic about yours, it will create an answer far better than one that is made up or emotionally superficial. 

Share how you overcame the obstacle.  No matter what your answer, be sure to explain how you recovered from (or how you would recover from) your disappointment. Try to emphasize how your ability to recover displays a particular quality that is important for the job. For example, if you say you were unable to afford college right after high school, explain how you worked hard over the next year to save up money. It will demonstrate your perseverance and dedication to your goals.

Don’t share too much or too little information.  The interviewer doesn't want to know everything about you, but disclosing too little can make him or her wonder why you aren't more open.

Avoid potentially contentious subjects such as political or religious leanings,  unless you are absolutely positive that your opinions would be well-received by your interviewer. It's better to keep your views to yourself.

Don't be too negative. Try to show how you made the best of difficult circumstances rather than how terrible your disappointment was.

• What is your greatest strength? –  Best Answers
• What is your greatest weakness? –  Best Answers
• What motivates you? –  Best Answers

Key Takeaways

BE HONEST: Don’t give a surface-level response to this personal question. Embrace being vulnerable.

TIE YOUR ANSWER TO THE JOB: Use your response to demonstrate skills and qualities that are valuable in the role.

AVOID CONTROVERSY: Don’t talk about politics, religion, or anything that could cause offense.

SHOW YOUR RESILIENCE: Explain how you bounced back and learned from the disappointment.

My Experience with Disappointment and How I Overcame It

• by Celes     |    
• Emotional Mastery
• , About Celes

This is the  last part  of a 4-part series on how to deal with disappointment.

• Part 1 :  3 Reasons Why Disappointment Is Good
• Part 2 :  Are You Letting Your Disappointments Destroy You?
• Part 3 :  How to Deal With Disappointment
• Part 4 : My Experience with Disappointment and How I Overcame It

(Image: Geir Yngve Tro )

(Published in January 2009, one month after I started Personal Excellence)

Whenever I write my articles, I draw inspiration from the events that are unfolding in my life. This one is no different. Here, I will be sharing a past experience with disappointment which led to my lessons in this disappointment series . My purpose of sharing this is for you to benefit from my experience. As you read, see if you can draw any parallels between what I went through and what you are going through now.

Beginning of a Journey: Hopes and Expectations

In Oct 2008, I left my full-time job to pursue my passion to help others grow .

Before I quit, I had a clear vision of my end goal. I decided that I wanted to start a personal development business , and this would involve using different mediums to reach out to others, such as being a coach, blogger, and speaker. This site would be the first step in my plans.

I gave myself a 6-month period to focus on pursuing my purpose (where I would live off my savings), and see where it would take me. Depending on how things go at the end of the 6 months, I would either continue to pursue it full time, or return to corporate (for a few more years) and pursue my purpose at the side.

In my mind though, I was secretly hoping that everything would work out and I could do this full time.

A State of Happiness and Fulfillment

Life pursuing my purpose was  phenomenal . For the first time, I could dedicate my full attention to my goals and dreams without conflicting demands from my day job.

Just imagine waking up every morning and  doing anything you like . I’ve always been enthusiastic about life, but after leaving my day job to start my business, I was literally bouncing around every day in exuberance. :D My friends can attest to this! In  my purpose series , I repeatedly mention how passionate I am about my purpose and how much it drives me. The feeling is incredible, unlike anything I have felt before.

Conflicting Demands of Reality

However, after a few weeks of working on my goal, I realized that 6 months was not going to be enough for things to take off. For starters, I would need to establish a high level of awareness for my business. I would also need to build credibility and expertise for my skills as a coach and trainer.

By simply being 24 years old, people would naturally cast doubt on my ability, even though I have the skills to give value to others. Awareness, credibility, and expertise take time to build, and 6 months is not a reasonable time frame.  In fact, 2 months had passed while I was working on my plans, before launching my business in Dec 2008. Studies have shown that it takes at least 18 months before a blog fully takes off. This lead time doesn’t factor in the ability to make a living from your blog.

In the meantime, I had other issues to deal with. For example, financial limitation . While I could live each day frugally, I was limited in many decisions and they were all  tied to money .

• When my friends suggested taking a holiday trip, I opted out due to the cost.
• Whenever I went out, I would be conscious of how I spent my money.
• I started reducing / cutting out all expenses where possible, such as on clothes, more costly dining choices, transportation (I started religiously taking the public transport vs. cab), entertainment (movies, social activities that cost money), etc. I also noticed that I would unconsciously flinch whenever money was involved.

This was a stark contrast from my usual self when working in corporate. I was by no means a spendthrift, but I never allowed myself to be held back by money. That’s because I always feel that money should be a means, not an end , and I don’t like money to hinder me in my decision making, especially regarding protecting my needs and well-being.

There is also my family. I need to support my family.  Here in Singapore, it is common to give a monthly allowance to your parents after you start working. After leaving my job, I stopped giving them money — this was meant to be temporary until I started earning money. By the way, I come from a low-income family — my pay in my previous job was more than double the combined pay of my parents. Quitting my job meant cutting off a key income source in the household. While my parents were supportive of my decision to quit, it was always in my plans to reinstate some level of my income within 6 months of quitting, one way or another.

The money issues did not end there. As part of my plans to be a coach, I researched taking a formal coaching course to solidify my coaching skills. After checking the courses available, they cost at least four grand and above. Considering I’m not earning anything, this is a sizable sum of money. I wasn’t sure about investing so much in a course I didn’t know much about, and whether it would have any effect on my new career.

All in all, my key issues seemed to revolve around money .

Contemplation, and Decision

In November 2008, I laid out all my options and narrowed them to two:

• Return to corporate at the end of the 6 months and run my personal development business at the side, until it is established enough to be run full time.
• Focus fully on running my personal development business, with the faith that I would start earning sufficient money within two years (I would be out of savings by then).

I assessed the two options.

Option 1 seemed  more realistic and logical . With this, I would no longer be bound by monetary constraints. But if I return to the workforce, I would not have as much time for my blog and coaching. The nature of my corporate work is highly demanding and time consuming; in the past I was constantly traveling and spending late nights, sometimes weekends, working. I would likely be miserable if I return to corporate.

Option 2, on the other hand, is emotionally rewarding since I would continue to pursue my purpose full time. However, it would be  financially risky . Not only would I still be facing the same financial limitations, but I would be banking my life on the success of my business within a certain time frame. What if I can’t earn money after a year? What if it takes longer than a year for things to fully take off? I would be scrambling to secure my basic needs then.

When I looked within for answers, the idealist in me screamed to go for Option 2. Just throw everything you got and everything will turn out fine! This is what you truly want and it’s what makes you the happiest!

My logical side advised me that Option 1 was the better choice. If you want to help people grow, you need to secure your needs first. How can you be of service otherwise?

It tore me apart, to have the decision essentially boil down to between these two things: purpose or money.

For money to be  the single pressing concern as I pursued my purpose — it was a bitter irony. Instead of focusing on living my purpose and letting the money flow in in its own time and space, I felt pressurized to identify ways to earn money through it. By tying a monetary value to my purpose, I felt like I was making a travesty out of it. I hated being caught in a situation where I had to keep thinking about money, when I was pursuing something much higher in value than that. I felt really frustrated.

Eventually, I asked myself the deal-breaker question: “ Which option would ensure the long-term success of my pursuit? Which option would guarantee that I would successfully pursue my purpose in the long run? ” When I thought about it in this manner, it is clear that Option 1 is the winner.

A State of Deep Disappointment

When I came to the realization, a feeling of emptiness overcame me. When I quit my job, I was sincerely hoping to run ahead with my purpose forever. Instead, now I would have to return to a corporate career I’m no longer passionate about. I felt like I had dropped all the way down to deep, dark pit, and I was alone inside.

While I had no doubt that I would eventually reach my end goal given time and effort, I just felt so… tired all of a sudden. I felt tired thinking that I was already at my goal, then seeing it being suddenly pulled far, far away into an ambiguous future. I felt tired realizing that there were so many things standing between me and my goal. I felt tired having to figure out ways to secure a living, when I’m trying to pursue a higher purpose. I felt tired with the thought of returning to a job I don’t love, after quitting it to pursue my life passion.

Suddenly, everything I had been doing and fighting for felt meaningless.

Dealing with My Disappointment

For the first few days, I wasn’t in the mood to think, feel, or do anything. While I was functioning on the outside, I felt dead on the inside. I would live my day on auto-pilot, not caring or feeling much. When I was doing other things or out with friends, it would partly take my mind off the topic. But when I was by myself, I would feel a deep void. It was a very empty feeling. It wasn’t even about feeling bad or negative. It was just a feeling of emptiness; like a state of apathy.

After a few days of living in a void though, I decided it was enough. I am usually a vibrant, upbeat person and it was sick feeling so empty. I started to pick myself up and think about how I could improve my emotional state.

I did a lot of introspection regarding my situation. I shared my thoughts with several good friends and talked through the issue with them. It was interesting, getting different perspectives. One thing I love most about talking to others is the diversity of thoughts you get. Their responses reflect a certain aspect about themselves.

After deep thought, I received these key insights.

My Revelations About My Situation

I realized the reason I was so disappointed was because I had become overly attached to my end goal. I had narrowly defined ‘living my purpose’ to only happen when I’m running my personal development business full time.

But this should not be the case at all. If I had to go back to corporate given my circumstance, it would not mean that I wasn’t living my purpose. If anything, going back to work allows me to live my purpose , since it gives me financially security in the meantime. It is the best course of action to live true to my purpose within my circumstance.

I was getting too caught up in the belief that ‘living my purpose’ would only happen when I have my business up and running. That’s defining it too simplistically. Living my purpose is a way of being ; it’s something that translates into many actions, from my day-to-day decisions, to my interactions with people, to my thoughts and feelings, and so on. As long as I ensure everything I do each day is in alignment with that , nothing else really matters.

When I came to this realization, my end goal suddenly lost its significance. I mean it’s nice and all when everything takes off, but it doesn’t matter much since I’m already living my purpose right now.

Additionally, while I initially saw returning to work as a setback in terms of my goal to pursue my passion, I realized that it really isn’t. Being aware of these barriers is a progress in itself . Instead of carrying my original belief that everything can be up and running in 6 months, I can now better act towards my goals with what I have learned. This experience gave me new knowledge, new insights, and a new perspective. As I incorporate these lessons into my plan, I am in fact progressing towards my goals, and not moving away from it as I had initially thought.

The epiphanies shook me out of my void. I found out that my feeling of disappointment was totally redundant and misplaced. Suddenly, I began to regain my passion for life. If anything, I’m now more optimistic about life. :)

Life after the Experience

In the past few weeks since shaking myself out of my disappointment, it feels like I’m operating at a higher consciousness level. I feel an increased sense of awareness and clarity about myself and everything around me.

This experience has made me realize many lessons and blind spots that I was previously not privy to. This has helped me grow as a person. It is a very empowering feeling, like nothing can ever get me down anymore. This feeling is extremely, extremely liberating. If you have overcome a stage of deep disappointment before, you will know what I mean. It’s like what Henry Ward Beecher meant with, “One’s best success comes after their greatest disappointments,” and what Friedrich Nietzsche meant with “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

If you are wondering about the future of this blog after I return to work, don’t worry – I will continue to write and work on my personal development business in full force, whether I return to corporate or not. This is my purpose, this is my life. In a matter of time, the foundations of this business will strengthen to the point where I can do this full time, as my career. :)

Update #1 (Mar 2009):  A month after I wrote this post, I decided to work on my personal development business full time and not return to a corporate day job. :) For more details, read the post Embracing My Passion .

Update #2 (Dec 2017):  Since writing this post, I’ve built PE into my full-fledged career. I share the steps of my journey in my passion series .

Hi! I’m Celes. Thanks for reading. Personal Excellence is where I write about how to live our best life as we tackle life’s challenges. About Me »

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8 Overcoming Challenges College Essay Examples

The purpose of the Overcoming Challenges essay is for schools to see how you might handle the difficulties of college. They want to know how you grow, evolve, and learn when you face adversity. For this topic, there are many clichés , such as getting a bad grade or losing a sports game, so be sure to steer clear of those and focus on a topic that’s unique to you. (See our full guide on the Overcoming Challenges Essay for more tips).

These overcoming challenges essay examples were all written by real students. Read through them to get a sense of what makes a strong essay. At the end, we’ll present the revision process for the first essay and share some resources for improving your essay.

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Essay 1: Becoming a Coach

“Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one.

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we competed with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

This essay begins with an in-the-moment narrative that really illustrates the chaos of looking for a coach last-minute. We feel the writer’s emotions, particularly their dejectedness, at not being able to compete.

Through this essay, we can see how gutsy and determined the student is in deciding to become a coach themselves. The writer shows us these characteristics through their actions, rather than explicitly telling us: To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side.

One area of improvement of this essay would be the “attack” wording. The author likely uses this word as a metaphor for martial arts, but it feels too strong to describe the adults’ doubt of the student’s abilities as a coach, and can even be confusing at first.

Still, we see the student’s resilience as they are able to move past the disbelieving looks to help their team. The essay is kept real and vulnerable, however, as the writer admits having doubts: Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

The essay comes full circle as the author recalls the frantic situations in seeking out a coach, but this is no longer a concern for them and their team. Overall, this essay is extremely effective in painting this student as mature, bold, and compassionate.

Essay 2: Starting a Fire

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the garb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire. 

Furiously I rubbed the twigs together—rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers. No smoke. The twigs were too young, too sticky-green; I tossed them away with a shower of curses, and began tearing through the underbrush in search of a more flammable collection. My efforts were fruitless. Livid, I bit a rejected twig, determined to prove that the forest had spurned me, offering only young, wet bones that would never burn. But the wood cracked like carrots between my teeth—old, brittle, and bitter. Roaring and nursing my aching palms, I retreated to the tent, where I sulked and awaited the jeers of my family. 

Rattling their empty worm cans and reeking of fat fish, my brother and cousins swaggered into the campsite. Immediately, they noticed the minor stick massacre by the fire pit and called to me, their deep voices already sharp with contempt. 

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame. 

In the tent, I pondered my failure. Was I so dainty? Was I that incapable? I thought of my hands, how calloused and capable they had been, how tender and smooth they had become. It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive. And I’d gotten glasses, having grown horrifically nearsighted; long nights of dim lighting and thick books had done this. I couldn’t remember the last time I had lain down on a hill, barefaced, and seen the stars without having to squint. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to squash him. 

Yet, I realized I hadn’t really changed—I had only shifted perspective. I still eagerly explored new worlds, but through poems and prose rather than pastures and puddles. I’d grown to prefer the boom of a bass over that of a bullfrog, learned to coax a different kind of fire from wood, having developed a burn for writing rhymes and scrawling hypotheses. 

That night, I stayed up late with my journal and wrote about the spider I had decided not to kill. I had tolerated him just barely, only shrieking when he jumped—it helped to watch him decorate the corners of the tent with his delicate webs, knowing that he couldn’t start fires, either. When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.

This essay is an excellent example because the writer turns an everyday challenge—starting a fire—into an exploration of her identity. The writer was once “a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes,” but has since traded her love of the outdoors for a love of music, writing, and reading. 

The story begins in media res , or in the middle of the action, allowing readers to feel as if we’re there with the writer. One of the essay’s biggest strengths is its use of imagery. We can easily visualize the writer’s childhood and the present day. For instance, she states that she “rubbed and rubbed [the twigs] until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers.”

The writing has an extremely literary quality, particularly with its wordplay. The writer reappropriates words and meanings, and even appeals to the senses: “My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame.” She later uses a parallelism to cleverly juxtapose her changed interests: “instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano.”

One of the essay’s main areas of improvement is its overemphasis on the “story” and lack of emphasis on the reflection. The second to last paragraph about changing perspective is crucial to the essay, as it ties the anecdote to larger lessons in the writer’s life. She states that she hasn’t changed, but has only shifted perspective. Yet, we don’t get a good sense of where this realization comes from and how it impacts her life going forward. 

The end of the essay offers a satisfying return to the fire imagery, and highlights the writer’s passion—the one thing that has remained constant in her life.

Essay 3: Last-Minute Switch

The morning of the Model United Nation conference, I walked into Committee feeling confident about my research. We were simulating the Nuremberg Trials – a series of post-World War II proceedings for war crimes – and my portfolio was of the Soviet Judge Major General Iona Nikitchenko. Until that day, the infamous Nazi regime had only been a chapter in my history textbook; however, the conference’s unveiling of each defendant’s crimes brought those horrors to life. The previous night, I had organized my research, proofread my position paper and gone over Judge Nikitchenko’s pertinent statements. I aimed to find the perfect balance between his stance and my own.

As I walked into committee anticipating a battle of wits, my director abruptly called out to me. “I’m afraid we’ve received a late confirmation from another delegate who will be representing Judge Nikitchenko. You, on the other hand, are now the defense attorney, Otto Stahmer.” Everyone around me buzzed around the room in excitement, coordinating with their allies and developing strategies against their enemies, oblivious to the bomb that had just dropped on me. I felt frozen in my tracks, and it seemed that only rage against the careless delegate who had confirmed her presence so late could pull me out of my trance. After having spent a month painstakingly crafting my verdicts and gathering evidence against the Nazis, I now needed to reverse my stance only three hours before the first session.

Gradually, anger gave way to utter panic. My research was fundamental to my performance, and without it, I knew I could add little to the Trials. But confident in my ability, my director optimistically recommended constructing an impromptu defense. Nervously, I began my research anew. Despite feeling hopeless, as I read through the prosecution’s arguments, I uncovered substantial loopholes. I noticed a lack of conclusive evidence against the defendants and certain inconsistencies in testimonies. My discovery energized me, inspiring me to revisit the historical overview in my conference “Background Guide” and to search the web for other relevant articles. Some Nazi prisoners had been treated as “guilty” before their court dates. While I had brushed this information under the carpet while developing my position as a judge, i t now became the focus of my defense. I began scratching out a new argument, centered on the premise that the allied countries had violated the fundamental rule that, a defendant was “not guilty” until proven otherwise.

At the end of the three hours, I felt better prepared. The first session began, and with bravado, I raised my placard to speak. Microphone in hand, I turned to face my audience. “Greetings delegates. I, Otto Stahmer would like to…….” I suddenly blanked. Utter dread permeated my body as I tried to recall my thoughts in vain. “Defence Attorney, Stahmer we’ll come back to you,” my Committee Director broke the silence as I tottered back to my seat, flushed with embarrassment. Despite my shame, I was undeterred. I needed to vindicate my director’s faith in me. I pulled out my notes, refocused, and began outlining my arguments in a more clear and direct manner. Thereafter, I spoke articulately, confidently putting forth my points. I was overjoyed when Secretariat members congratulated me on my fine performance.

Going into the conference, I believed that preparation was the key to success. I wouldn’t say I disagree with that statement now, but I believe adaptability is equally important. My ability to problem-solve in the face of an unforeseen challenge proved advantageous in the art of diplomacy. Not only did this experience transform me into a confident and eloquent delegate at that conference, but it also helped me become a more flexible and creative thinker in a variety of other capacities. Now that I know I can adapt under pressure, I look forward to engaging in activities that will push me to be even quicker on my feet.

This essay is an excellent example because it focuses on a unique challenge and is highly engaging. The writer details their experience reversing their stance in a Model UN trial with only a few hours notice, after having researched and prepared to argue the opposite perspective for a month. 

Their essay is written in media res , or in the middle of the action, allowing readers to feel as if we’re there with the writer. The student openly shares their internal thoughts with us — we feel their anger and panic upon the reversal of roles. We empathize with their emotions of “utter dread” and embarrassment when they’re unable to speak. 

From the essay, we learn that the student believes in thorough preparation, but can also adapt to unforeseen obstacles. They’re able to rise to the challenge and put together an impromptu argument, think critically under pressure, and recover after their initial inability to speak. 

Essay 4: Music as a Coping Mechanism

CW: This essay mentions self-harm.

Sobbing uncontrollably, I parked around the corner from my best friend’s house. As I sat in the driver’s seat, I whispered the most earnest prayer I had ever offered.

Minutes before, I had driven to Colin’s house to pick up a prop for our upcoming spring musical. When I got there, his older brother, Tom, came to the door and informed me that no one else was home. “No,” I corrected, “Colin is here. He’s got a migraine.” Tom shook his head and gently told me where Colin actually was: the psychiatric unit of the local hospital. I felt a weight on my chest as I connected the dots; the terrifying picture rocked my safe little world. Tom’s words blurred as he explained Colin’s self-harm, but all I could think of was whether I could have stopped him. Those cuts on his arms had never been accidents. Colin had lied, very convincingly, many times. How could I have ignored the signs in front of me? Somehow, I managed to ask Tom whether I could see him, but he told me that visiting hours for non-family members were over for the day. I would have to move on with my afternoon.

Once my tears had subsided a little, I drove to the theater, trying to pull myself together and warm up to sing. How would I rehearse? I couldn’t sing three notes without bursting into tears. “I can’t do this,” I thought. But then I realized that the question wasn’t whether I could do it. I knew Colin would want me to push through, and something deep inside told me that music was the best way for me to process my grief. I needed to sing.

I practiced the lyrics throughout my whole drive. The first few times, I broke down in sobs. By the time I reached the theater, however, the music had calmed me. While Colin would never be far from my mind, I had to focus on the task ahead: recording vocals and then producing the video trailer that would be shown to my high school classmates. I fought to channel my worry into my recording. If my voice shook during the particularly heartfelt moments, it only added emotion and depth to my performance. I felt Colin’s absence next to me, but even before I listened to that first take, I knew it was a keeper.

With one of my hurdles behind me, I steeled myself again and prepared for the musical’s trailer. In a floor-length black cape and purple dress, I swept regally down the steps to my director, who waited outside. Under a gloomy sky that threatened to turn stormy, I boldly strode across the street, tossed a dainty yellow bouquet, and flashed confident grins at all those staring. My grief lurched inside, but I felt powerful. Despite my sadness, I could still make art.

To my own surprise, I successfully took back the day. I had felt pain, but I had not let it drown me – making music was a productive way to express my feelings than worrying. Since then, I have been learning to take better care of myself in difficult situations. That day before rehearsal, I found myself in the most troubling circumstances of my life thus far, but they did not sink me because I refused to sink. When my aunt developed cancer several months later, I knew that resolution would not come quickly, but that I could rely on music to cope with the agony, even when it would be easier to fall apart. Thankfully, Colin recovered from his injuries and was home within days. The next week, we stood together on stage at our show’s opening night. As our eyes met and our voices joined in song, I knew that music would always be our greatest mechanism for transforming pain into strength.

This essay is well-written, as we can feel the writer’s emotions through the thoughts they share, and visualize the night of the performance through their rich descriptions. Their varied sentence length also makes the essay more engaging.

That said, this essay is not a great example because of the framing of the topic. The writer can come off as insensitive since they make their friend’s struggle about themself and their emotions (and this is only worsened by the mention of their aunt’s cancer and how it was tough on them ). The essay would’ve been stronger if it focused on their guilt of not recognizing their friend’s struggles and spanned a longer period of time to demonstrate gradual relationship building and reflection. Still, this would’ve been difficult to do well.

In general, you should try to choose a challenge that is undeniably your own, and you should get at least one or two people to read your essay to give you candid feedback.

Essay 5: Dedicating a Track

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite. 

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin. 

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

While the writer didn’t succeed in getting the track dedicated to Coach Stark, their essay is certainly successful in showing their willingness to push themselves and take initiative.

The essay opens with a quote from Coach Stark that later comes full circle at the end of the essay. We learn about Stark’s impact and the motivation for trying to get the track dedicated to him.

One of the biggest areas of improvement in the intro, however, is how the essay tells us Stark’s impact rather than showing us: His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The writer could’ve helped us feel a stronger emotional connection to Stark if they had included examples of Stark’s qualities, rather than explicitly stating them. For example, they could’ve written something like: Stark was the kind of person who would give you gas money if you told him your parents couldn’t afford to pick you up from practice. And he actually did that—several times. At track meets, alumni regularly would come talk to him and tell him how he’d changed their lives. Before Stark, I was ambivalent about running and was on the JV team, but his encouragement motivated me to run longer and harder and eventually make varsity. Because of him, I approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The essay goes on to explain how the writer overcame their apprehension of public speaking, and likens the process of submitting an appeal to the school board to running a race. This metaphor makes the writing more engaging and allows us to feel the student’s emotions.

While the student didn’t ultimately succeed in getting the track dedicated, we learn about their resilience and initiative: I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Overall, this essay is well-done. It demonstrates growth despite failing to meet a goal, which is a unique essay structure. The running metaphor and full-circle intro/ending also elevate the writing in this essay.

Essay 6: Body Image

CW: This essay mentions eating disorders.

I press the “discover” button on my Instagram app, hoping to find enticing pictures to satisfy my boredom. Scrolling through, I see funny videos and mouth-watering pictures of food. However, one image stops me immediately. A fit teenage girl with a “perfect body” relaxes in a bikini on a beach. Beneath it, I see a slew of flattering comments. I shake with disapproval over the image’s unrealistic quality. However, part of me still wants to have a body like hers so that others will make similar comments to me.

I would like to resolve a silent issue that harms many teenagers and adults: negative self image and low self-esteem in a world where social media shapes how people view each other. When people see the façades others wear to create an “ideal” image, they can develop poor thought patterns rooted in negative self-talk. The constant comparisons to “perfect” others make people feel small. In this new digital age, it is hard to distinguish authentic from artificial representations.

When I was 11, I developed anorexia nervosa. Though I was already thin, I wanted to be skinny like the models that I saw on the magazine covers on the grocery store stands. Little did I know that those models probably also suffered from disorders, and that photoshop erased their flaws. I preferred being underweight to being healthy. No matter how little I ate or how thin I was, I always thought that I was too fat. I became obsessed with the number on the scale and would try to eat the least that I could without my parents urging me to take more. Fortunately, I stopped engaging in anorexic behaviors before middle school. However, my underlying mental habits did not change. The images that had provoked my disorder in the first place were still a constant presence in my life.

By age 15, I was in recovery from anorexia, but suffered from depression. While I used to only compare myself to models, the growth of social media meant I also compared myself to my friends and acquaintances. I felt left out when I saw my friends’ excitement about lake trips they had taken without me. As I scrolled past endless photos of my flawless, thin classmates with hundreds of likes and affirming comments, I felt my jealousy spiral. I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.” When that didn’t work, I started to feel too anxious to post anything at all.  

Body image insecurities and social media comparisons affect thousands of people – men, women, children, and adults – every day. I am lucky – after a few months of my destructive social media habits, I came across a video that pointed out the illusory nature of social media; many Instagram posts only show off good things while people hide their flaws. I began going to therapy, and recovered from my depression. To address the problem of self-image and social media, we can all focus on what matters on the inside and not what is on the surface. As an effort to become healthy internally, I started a club at my school to promote clean eating and radiating beauty from within. It has helped me grow in my confidence, and today I’m not afraid to show others my struggles by sharing my experience with eating disorders. Someday, I hope to make this club a national organization to help teenagers and adults across the country. I support the idea of body positivity and embracing difference, not “perfection.” After all, how can we be ourselves if we all look the same?

This essay covers the difficult topics of eating disorders and mental health. If you’re thinking about covering similar topics in your essay, we recommend reading our post Should You Talk About Mental Health in College Essays?

The short answer is that, yes, you can talk about mental health, but it can be risky. If you do go that route, it’s important to focus on what you learned from the experience.

We can see that the writer of this essay has been through a lot, and a strength of their essay is their vulnerability, in excerpts such as this: I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.”

The student goes on to share how they recovered from their depression through an eye-opening video and therapy sessions, and they’re now helping others find their self-worth as well. It’s great that this essay looks towards the future and shares the writer’s goals of making their club a national organization; we can see their ambition and compassion.

The main weakness of this essay is that it doesn’t focus enough on their recovery process, which is arguably the most important part. They could’ve told us more about the video they watched or the process of starting their club and the interactions they’ve had with other members.

Still, this essay shows us that this student is honest, self-aware, and caring, which are all qualities admissions officer are looking for.

Essay 7: Health Crisis

Tears streamed down my face and my mind was paralyzed with fear. Sirens blared, but the silent panic in my own head was deafening. I was muted by shock. A few hours earlier, I had anticipated a vacation in Washington, D.C., but unexpectedly, I was rushing to the hospital behind an ambulance carrying my mother. As a fourteen-year-old from a single mother household, without a driver’s license, and seven hours from home, I was distraught over the prospect of losing the only parent I had. My fear turned into action as I made some of the bravest decisions of my life. 

Three blood transfusions later, my mother’s condition was stable, but we were still states away from home, so I coordinated with my mother’s doctors in North Carolina to schedule the emergency operation that would save her life. Throughout her surgery, I anxiously awaited any word from her surgeon, but each time I asked, I was told that there had been another complication or delay. Relying on my faith and positive attitude, I remained optimistic that my mother would survive and that I could embrace new responsibilities.

My mother had been a source of strength for me, and now I would be strong for her through her long recovery ahead. As I started high school, everyone thought the crisis was over, but it had really just started to impact my life. My mother was often fatigued, so I assumed more responsibility, juggling family duties, school, athletics, and work. I made countless trips to the neighborhood pharmacy, cooked dinner, biked to the grocery store, supported my concerned sister, and provided the loving care my mother needed to recover. I didn’t know I was capable of such maturity and resourcefulness until it was called upon. Each day was a stage in my gradual transformation from dependence to relative independence.

Throughout my mother’s health crisis, I matured by learning to put others’ needs before my own. As I worried about my mother’s health, I took nothing for granted, cherished what I had, and used my daily activities as motivation to move forward. I now take ownership over small decisions such as scheduling daily appointments and managing my time but also over major decisions involving my future, including the college admissions process. Although I have become more independent, my mother and I are inseparably close, and the realization that I almost lost her affects me daily. Each morning, I wake up ten minutes early simply to eat breakfast with my mother and spend time with her before our busy days begin. I am aware of how quickly life can change. My mother remains a guiding force in my life, but the feeling of empowerment I discovered within myself is the ultimate form of my independence. Though I thought the summer before my freshman year would be a transition from middle school to high school, it was a transformation from childhood to adulthood.

This essay feels real and tells readers a lot about the writer. To start at the beginning, the intro is 10/10. It has drama, it has emotions, and it has the reader wanting more.

And, when you keep going, you get to learn a lot about a very resilient and mature student. Through sentences like “I made countless trips to the neighborhood pharmacy, cooked dinner, biked to the grocery store, supported my concerned sister, and provided the loving care my mother needed to recover” and “Relying on my faith and positive attitude, I remained optimistic that my mother would survive and that I could embrace new responsibilities,” the reader shows us that they are aware of their resilience and maturity, but are not arrogant about it. It is simply a fact that they have proven through their actions!

This essay makes us want to cheer for the writer, and they certainly seem like someone who would thrive in a more independent college environment.

Essay 8: Turned Tables

“You ruined my life!” After months of quiet anger, my brother finally confronted me. To my shame, I had been appallingly ignorant of his pain.

Despite being twins, Max and I are profoundly different. Having intellectual interests from a young age that, well, interested very few of my peers, I often felt out of step in comparison with my highly-social brother. Everything appeared to come effortlessly for Max and, while we share an extremely tight bond, his frequent time away with friends left me feeling more and more alone as we grew older.

When my parents learned about The Green Academy, we hoped it would be an opportunity for me to find not only an academically challenging environment, but also – perhaps more importantly – a community. This meant transferring the family from Drumfield to Kingston. And while there was concern about Max, we all believed that given his sociable nature, moving would be far less impactful on him than staying put might be on me.

As it turned out, Green Academy was everything I’d hoped for. I was ecstatic to discover a group of students with whom I shared interests and could truly engage. Preoccupied with new friends and a rigorous course load, I failed to notice that the tables had turned. Max, lost in the fray and grappling with how to make connections in his enormous new high school, had become withdrawn and lonely. It took me until Christmas time – and a massive argument – to recognize how difficult the transition had been for my brother, let alone that he blamed me for it.

Through my own journey of searching for academic peers, in addition to coming out as gay when I was 12, I had developed deep empathy for those who had trouble fitting in. It was a pain I knew well and could easily relate to. Yet after Max’s outburst, my first response was to protest that our parents – not I – had chosen to move us here. In my heart, though, I knew that regardless of who had made the decision, we ended up in Kingston for my benefit. I was ashamed that, while I saw myself as genuinely compassionate, I had been oblivious to the heartache of the person closest to me. I could no longer ignore it – and I didn’t want to.

We stayed up half the night talking, and the conversation took an unexpected turn. Max opened up and shared that it wasn’t just about the move. He told me how challenging school had always been for him, due to his dyslexia, and that the ever-present comparison to me had only deepened his pain.

We had been in parallel battles the whole time and, yet, I only saw that Max was in distress once he experienced problems with which I directly identified. I’d long thought Max had it so easy – all because he had friends. The truth was, he didn’t need to experience my personal brand of sorrow in order for me to relate – he had felt plenty of his own.

My failure to recognize Max’s suffering brought home for me the profound universality and diversity of personal struggle; everyone has insecurities, everyone has woes, and everyone – most certainly – has pain. I am acutely grateful for the conversations he and I shared around all of this, because I believe our relationship has been fundamentally strengthened by a deeper understanding of one another. Further, this experience has reinforced the value of constantly striving for deeper sensitivity to the hidden struggles of those around me. I won’t make the mistake again of assuming that the surface of someone’s life reflects their underlying story.

Here you can find a prime example that you don’t have to have fabulous imagery or flowery prose to write a successful essay. You just have to be clear and say something that matters. This essay is simple and beautiful. It almost feels like having a conversation with a friend and learning that they are an even better person than you already thought they were.

Through this narrative, readers learn a lot about the writer—where they’re from, what their family life is like, what their challenges were as a kid, and even their sexuality. We also learn a lot about their values—notably, the value they place on awareness, improvement, and consideration of others. Though they never explicitly state it (which is great because it is still crystal clear!), this student’s ending of “I won’t make the mistake again of assuming that the surface of someone’s life reflects their underlying story” shows that they are constantly striving for improvement and finding lessons anywhere they can get them in life.

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A Disappointing Journey Essay | Essay on A Disappointing Journey for Students and Children in English

February 12, 2024 by Prasanna

A Disappointing Journey Essay – Given below is a Long and Short Essay on A Disappointing Journey of competitive exams, kids and students belonging to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. A Disappointing Journey essay 100, 150, 200, 250, 500 words in English helps the students with their class assignments, comprehension tasks, and even for competitive examinations.

You can also find more Essay Writing articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long Essay on A Disappointing Journey 500 Words for Kids and Students in English

Bacon said that the travelling is a kind of education among the younger people. Perhaps, he had a journey in his mind as it gives experience and enables one to develop more courage. Hazelitt, in one of his essays, says that a journey becomes enjoyable if one hopes to get a good meal and good rest after a tiring journey and adds that travelling hopefully gives the maximum happiness. Perhaps, he had no experience of a journey that could have been more instructive.

It was a day of disappointments but being an optimist, I did not attach much importance to bad omens. First of all, the taxi I hired for the station rattled noisily and emitted more smoke than an ordinary vehicle does. But I had limited time at my disposal. So, I decided to travel by it. After a short distance, it started panting like an extremely tired giant and came to a sudden stop. It was the first disappointment. Somehow, I reached the station in a ‘tonga’ (horse-cart) and found a long queue for the tickets. There were only a few minutes for the train to leave but there was no hope of reaching the ticket window. This was the second disappointment. I decided to travel without ticket and pay the fine during the journey.

Boarding the train was itself an ordeal. Despite my healthy body. I was pushed like a shuttlecock and my luggage was mercilessly trampled upon. However, I managed to wriggle into a corner. There, I found some persons smoking cigarettes. As I could neither stand that smell nor budge an inch, I covered my nose with my handkerchief but still felt choked.

As expected, the ticket checker came and I willingly told him about my inability to buy the ticket. He looked at me with strange eyes and all the passengers started staring at me. The ticket checker was not going to allow me to travel but I protested and told him that if a passenger was prepared to pay the fine, he should be allowed to travel. After much argument, I convinced him and heaved a sigh of relief.

When I reached my destination, I thanked God! I thought that I would meet my uncle and aunt with a broad smile and their hospitality would make me forget the ordeals of the journey. I was dreaming of it while the rickshaw-puller was pulling the vehicle in a half- sleepy manner. To my great disappointment, I found that my uncle and aunt had gone to Shimla for a month and the house was locked. This was the greatest disappointment. I did not have much money to return. I do not want to recall this disappointing journey further because it makes me extremely sad.

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Essay on Dealing With Disappointment And Hardship

Students are often asked to write an essay on Dealing With Disappointment And Hardship in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Dealing With Disappointment And Hardship

Understanding disappointment and hardship.

Life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. You may feel sad when you face disappointment or hardship. It’s like missing a goal in a soccer game or getting a lower grade than you hoped for. These tough times are normal, and everyone goes through them.

Feeling Your Emotions

It’s okay to feel upset when things go wrong. Let yourself be sad, angry, or frustrated. Talk to someone you trust, like a friend, teacher, or family member. Sharing your feelings can make you feel better.

Finding Solutions

After you’ve felt your feelings, start thinking of ways to make things better. If you did poorly on a test, maybe you can study more or ask for help. There’s often a way to fix or improve the situation.

Learning from Experience

Every time something doesn’t work out, you can learn from it. Maybe you find out that you need to try harder or change your approach. These lessons help you grow and do better next time.

Staying Positive

250 words essay on dealing with disappointment and hardship, understanding disappointment.

Life is like a road with ups and downs. Sometimes things don’t go as planned, and we feel sad or let down. This feeling is called disappointment. It happens to everyone, whether it’s a bad grade on a test, a lost game, or a broken toy.

Hardship Is Tough

Hardship is a hard word for tough times. It’s when we face big problems that are not easy to solve. This could be being sick for a long time, having no money, or dealing with a storm that damages your house.

Facing Disappointment

When disappointment hits, it’s okay to feel upset. But after some time, we need to get back on our feet. Talk to someone you trust, like a parent or friend. They can help you see things in a new way. Remember, it’s not the end of the world, and there’s always a chance to try again.

Overcoming Hardship

Hardship is harder to beat, but not impossible. It asks for courage and not giving up. When times are tough, find help. This could be from family, friends, teachers, or even groups in your community. They can give support and advice to help you get through it.

Learning From It All

Both disappointment and hardship teach us important lessons. They make us stronger and smarter. We learn to solve problems, to be patient, and to understand that sometimes things don’t work out—and that’s okay. Remember, after a storm, the sun always comes out. In life, after hard times, good times will follow.

500 Words Essay on Dealing With Disappointment And Hardship

Accepting your feelings.

When disappointment or hardship hits, it’s okay to feel bad. It’s important to know that everyone goes through these times. You’re not alone. It’s not wrong to feel upset. Let yourself be sad for a while. Talk to someone you trust, like a friend, family member, or teacher. Sharing your feelings can make you feel better.

Finding the Good in the Bad

Even when things are tough, there can be something good to find. Look for small things that make you happy, like playing a game, reading a book, or spending time with a pet. Remembering the good things in life can help balance the bad feelings. Sometimes, hard times can teach us important lessons, like being strong or learning new ways to solve problems.

Changing What You Can

Setting new goals.

When you face disappointment, it might mean you need to set new goals. If you wanted to be in a play but didn’t get a part, maybe you can try out for another show or join the stage crew. Setting new goals gives you something to work toward and can help you move past your disappointment.

Being Patient and Kind to Yourself

Things often get better with time. Be patient. You won’t feel disappointed or sad forever. Be kind to yourself. Don’t say mean things to yourself that you wouldn’t say to a friend. Give yourself the same kindness you would give to others.

Asking for Help When Needed

Remembering you’re not alone.

Remember, every person faces disappointment and hardship. It’s part of life. But we can learn from these moments and become stronger. When you look back, you might see how these tough times helped you grow. Keep going, keep trying, and know that you’re not alone. There are always people who care and want to help you through the hard times.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Personal Growth and Development — The Negative Experience In My Life

The Negative Experience in My Life

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Describe an experience that left you feeling disappointed IELTS Cue card

Ielts cue card, describe an experience that left you feeling disappointed. please say.

– When it was – What the reason you felt disappointed was – How this affected your life – And explain what you think of that experience now.

Sample Answer

Introduction

There is no denying this conviction that our life is a combination of good and bad experiences. Good moments provide us with much-needed support and motivation to lead our lives towards an impressive growth trajectory . On the other hand, bad moments are a mixed bag, they look devastating in the short run, but in the long run, they provide valuable lessons.

When it was?

During the corona pandemic , our nation was in a state of lockdown. During that time, I lost my job. Since I didn’t have enough money to make both ends meet, I decided to start a business with my cousin.

We had taken a loan from one of our relatives and started a digital marketing agency.

What the reason you felt disappointed was?

The prominent reason for the disappointment was bad debts from our clients. We were doing pretty good business, but our clients were not making timely payments. Due to that, we had to cease our operations.

How has this affected your life?

It was like adding insult to injury. We were already in a state of absolute disarray because of a severe financial crunch. The bad debts from our clients left us with no option but to stop the operations.

  And explain what you think of that experience now.?

That experience taught me a valuable lesson that one should never mix emotions with the profession. Despite the selfish attitude of my clients, I didn’t tell them with authority to make the payments.

Such a lacklustre approach could do massive damage to your career.

Conclusion:

Now I have started a new venture, and my previous experience is helping me to handle the conflicts adroitly .

Follow up Questions

Here are some examples of follow up questions that the examiner might ask during your speaking part 3 related to cue card “ Describe an experience that left you feeling disappointed ”.

1. What do you think of people who achieve success independently?

In this contemporary epoch , people require the unabated support of others to lead their lives towards an impressive growth trajectory. In such a scenario, if a person can achieve success independently, that is an outstanding achievement. Such persons are self-motivated, and they have this uncanny knack for going beyond the conventional domain to solve their issues. Due to this ability, they handle the pressing problems in their lives adroitly . And other people seek flashes of inspiration from them.

2. When do you think people quit their efforts while trying to achieve a goal?

Most people have this habit of not trying hard because they believe in instant success. There is no denying this conviction that success comes from compounded efforts.

A large section of society believes that mediocre efforts could lead to success. Due to this reason, many people quit midway. Because doing challenging things require them to step out of their comfort zone.

3. What is young people’s opinion is the most important thing in school life?

As per youngsters opinion, friendship is the most significant thing in school life. The time spent with the buddies during schooling remains etched in their memories. Moreover, the bonds created during school days get strengthened with time.

Youngsters have numerous dreams and fantasies which they easily share with their amigos.

The Experience of Disappointment in the Context of Interpersonal Relations: an Exploration Using a Mixed Method Approach

• Published: 05 October 2017
• Volume 38 , pages 1476–1489, ( 2019 )

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• Eliane Sommerfeld   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5017-9326 1  

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The present study examined the structure and correlates of the experience of disappointment within interpersonal relationships using a mixed method approach. Participants described their thoughts and feelings during a disappointment-eliciting event with another person. On the basis of statements extracted from these descriptions, a self-report questionnaire (the Experience of Disappointment Questionnaire, EDQ) was constructed and factor analyzed. The associations of the EDQ’s factors and personality and relationship variables were examined. The findings provide initial information regarding the complexity of interpersonal disappointment experiences as well as initial validation of the EDQ.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Prof. Mario Mikulincer, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, for his comments on an earlier version of this paper.

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Sommerfeld, E. The Experience of Disappointment in the Context of Interpersonal Relations: an Exploration Using a Mixed Method Approach. Curr Psychol 38 , 1476–1489 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9703-8

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The Most Embarrassing Day of Your Life Essay

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Every person has embarrassing days that one regrets or does not want to recall under any circumstances. These memories make us feel awkward and blame ourselves for what we have done wrong or not adequately. People prefer not to tell their relatives, friends, and colleagues about these moments as they are afraid that the society’s opinion about them might change in a blink of an eye. As we grow up, our views on life change and these stories become good memories that give us life experience. Nowadays I am glad to share various awkward cases with other people. The following paper will discuss the most embarrassing day of my life and will demonstrate how my views on lives have been changing since childhood.

The most embarrassing day of my life was when I was a child. I did not understand every aspect of people’s relationships and values at the age of seven yet. I believe that there are many people in the world who regret particular events or days of their adolescence (Widen 188). However, it was a regular Sunday when my family and I went to church. While the pastor was preaching, I was searching through his wife’s purse as she was sitting next to me. When I found the lady’s camera, I took it and went to the Sunday school with this device. My friends and I were playing with the stolen camera, and I did not tell my peers where it came from. However, the pastor’s family lived in our neighborhood. When my parents found out about the case described above, they made me go to the pastor’s house, apologize, and return the camera to his wife. When I was a child, I did not feel embarrassed about that incident, but now I realize what my parents felt that day.

Unfortunately, that hapless Sunday went on. I heard my mother talking to her auxiliary on a cellular phone. I remember that she was not satisfied with someone’s work, and told her colleague that she would not receive any bonuses this month. I decided to message her auxiliary as I heard her name during their conversation. As I was angry at the person who made my mother nervous, I was rude to that lady in my text. I offended her by using an abusive nickname and told the woman that she will not ever receive any bonuses from now on. Unfortunately, I got my mother in trouble by sending that message. Moreover, I happened to meet her colleague on the same day, and she already knew that it was I who offended her. I felt embarrassed and always avoided looking into the lady’s eyes.

In the evening of the same day, I went to the groceries store that was situated in our neighborhood. I met my classmate on the way there who told me that he has been stealing chips from that store. My mother gave me money to buy one loaf of bread, milk, and some cereal for the next day breakfast, and it was not enough for a package of chips. Therefore, I decided to steal it from the shop, and my friend taught me how. The storekeeper knew my father and asked him to pay for the chips I stole before I came home. My dad made me go to the store again and give the money to his acquaintance.

Usually, people regret their childhood deeds and realize their mistakes when they become adults. Unfortunately, I had some awkward situations in my life that I feel embarrassed about till the present day. These moments emphasize on children’s careless minds and their wrong perception of the surrounding world.

Widen, Sherri C., et al. “The Development of Emotion Concepts: A Story Superiority Effect in Older Children and Adolescents.” Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , vol. 131, no. 1, 2015, pp. 186–192.

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• Basic site functions
• Ensuring secure, safe transactions
• Secure account login
• Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
• Remembering privacy and security settings
• Analyzing site traffic and usage
• Personalized search, content, and recommendations
• Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

• Remembering general and regional preferences
• Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy .

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy .