I know it’s hard; that’s why I’m asking you to do it.

I said that to my students over and over yesterday.  We’re working on their college application essays, and I had them do an exercise where they described themselves.  Most of them came up with the same generic descriptions we all would have written down: funny, smart, nice, etc.  Then I asked them to describe how their smart, for example, is different than someone else’s smart.  Are you good at math and science?  Do you know how to tie 12 different kinds of knots?  Can you say “hello” in 10 languages?

They told me it was hard, and they were right.

It is hard to think about how to describe yourself in a truthful, unique way that still sounds humble and that won’t bore the application readers.  But it’s necessary, as so many hard things are.

So far with this class this year, I’ve been challenging myself to write either the same or similar type of essay right along with them.   That means that right now, I’m challenging myself with some hard questions.

A few years ago, Jason Nazar published an article in Forbes titled “35 Questions That Will Change Your Life.”  I’m taking a look at those questions, and a harder look at my life, to try to find some answers.

Some of the answers have come to me very quickly, immediately even, in some cases.  So I wouldn’t describe those questions as hard, necessarily, but wow, my answers demand some serious life changes, and thinking about that is hard.

I’ll leave you with the question that was the easiest for me to answer but the most difficult for me to imagine enacting.

If you weren’t scared what would you do?