Anaylysis of Common App Essays Prompt #3

Common App Essay Prompt

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

This prompt is an opportunity to showcase your character, humility, and capacity for growth. It’s less about the action someone did for you and more about how you processed that experience and what it inspired you to do next. Your activity list provides the perfect evidence to make this story concrete and believable. It allows you to connect the dots between a moment of gratitude and a resulting commitment.

Activities as the Context for the Kind Act

The setting of your story matters. Placing the act of kindness within one of your listed activities makes it more specific and shows you interacting with others in a real-world environment. It establishes the "before" picture of who you were.

Example 1 (Team Environment): Your activity is "Varsity Soccer Team." The story is about a time a senior, who was competing with you for a starting position, stayed after practice to help you master a difficult drill you were struggling with. His unexpected support taught you that true team success transcends individual rivalry.
Example 2 (Creative Collaboration): Your activity is "Lead Set Designer, School Musical." You can write about the quiet stagehand who, seeing you overwhelmed before opening night, organized a small group to stay late and help you finish a complex set piece, not for credit, but simply because he saw you needed help. This act redefined your understanding of leadership and collaboration.
Example 3 (Workplace Setting): Your activity is "Barista at Local Cafe." The story could focus on a regular customer who, after noticing you were always reading chemistry textbooks during your break, brought you a college-level organic chemistry textbook she had used. This gesture from a near-stranger made you feel seen and validated your academic passions in a surprising way.

Using the Activity to Explain the "Surprising" Gratitude

This is the core of the reflection. Why was this act surprising to you, in that situation? The context of the activity is key to explaining the surprise and showing your initial mindset.

Example 1 (Rivalry Context): On the soccer team, you expected competition, not collaboration, from your direct rival. The surprise came from his ability to prioritize the team's overall strength over his personal ambition, making you thankful not just for the help, but for the lesson in sportsmanship.
Example 2 (Hierarchy Context): In the theater, you held the "lead" title and believed it was your sole responsibility to handle major problems. The surprise was that a volunteer with no official title took the initiative to help you. This made you grateful for the reminder that leadership can come from anywhere and that vulnerability is a strength.
Example 3 (Transactional Context): A coffee shop is a place of brief, transactional encounters. The customer's gesture was surprising because it broke that norm. She stepped out of her role as a "customer" and saw you as an individual with dreams, making you feel a profound sense of gratitude for her unexpected personal investment in your future.

Connecting Gratitude to Motivation (The "How")

This is where you connect the "cause" (the act of kindness) to the "effect" (your subsequent actions). The most powerful essays show a clear link between the gratitude you felt in one activity and a new commitment you made in another, using your activity list as proof of your transformation.

Example 1 (From Recipient to Giver): Inspired by the senior soccer player, the following year you became Co-Captain of the JV team. Your essay can explain that the gratitude you felt motivated you to create a formal mentorship program connecting junior players with experienced varsity members, turning a personal experience into a systemic positive change.
Example 2 (A New Leadership Style): The gratitude you felt for the stagehand’s help directly influenced how you approached your role as President of the History Club. You can describe how you were motivated to shift the club's structure from a top-down model to one based on collaborative projects, ensuring every member felt empowered to contribute ideas.
Example 3 (Paying it Forward): The customer's personalized encouragement motivated you to seek out ways to support others' passions. This led you to a new activity: Peer Tutor at the School's Writing Center. You can write that your gratitude motivated you to not just correct grammar, but to ask younger students about their interests and help them find their voice, just as the customer had done for you.