Featured Supplemental Essay Prompt For Emmanuel College Applicants:

Diversity, Inclusion, and Democracy is a class on campus that encourages conversation with people from different perspectives. There are several spaces on campus where this class posts questions to the PC community, and dialogue forms from there. One of the questions this class posted recently was “Name a time where you’ve felt empowered or represented by an educator.” What question would you like to pose to the PC community and why? 500 Word Maximum.

Successful Supplemental Essay Example From Our Accepted Alumni Student:

From my childhood church, I began learning lessons of reflection—but I found myself often feeling that I didn’t measure up. How could I be perfect in God’s eyes, when I was the one in my dance class without the “right” body type, the student who logged longer hours studying than my middle school peers?

But this fall, spiritual reflection took on a new meaning for me, as I was posed with new questions. During a spiritual retreat with my fellow high school seniors, we were asked to think about our lives—and to think about when God was there for us. As I reflected on this question, it brought me to think not only of the spiritual pushes I’ve been given, but also why I so badly needed those pushes in certain moments.

If given the opportunity to pose a question to the Providence College community, I would ask my peers how they might channel experiences or feelings of exclusion to make others feel more accepted. The moments we feel insecure allow us to unpack a lot about ourselves—and about society. We can investigate whether our own insecurities led us to feel excluded, which is completely normal growing up. We can also discover, though, if societal influences made us feel inadequate or unaccepted.

I have several past moments that showed me not only that I had God’s support—but also why I needed that support: those feelings of exclusion.

With dance, I was never perfect. At 13, I remember having an emotional breakdown at a dance competition, contemplating quitting, exhausted physically and emotionally. I wasn’t the best student in my academic courses—math always reminded me of that—and I was the last-picked dancer situated in the back row during performances.

But, while crying in the bathroom, I heard our studio name on the loudspeaker, and something restored my composure. Minutes before, I had contemplated leaving the arena. But I dried my runny mascara, adjusted my hair, and performed.

We won our division that day. But ultimately, our trophy was insignificant. Rather, it was the fruit of persisting through insecurity that mattered.

When I volunteered at an academic enrichment summer camp last summer, I met little students convinced that they were inadequate spellers, mathematicians, and readers. Recalling my own struggles, I shone a light on their blindspots—once they embraced these insecurities, they could begin to make meaningful progress.

Finding my true calling in science—especially during high school chemistry and AP chemistry—made me feel certain that these kids would find theirs, too. I taught them facts and figures and embraced varied learning styles and neurodiversity. As a hopeful future science educator, I want to bring my growth--and memory of my own insecurities—to truly make all shine.

As I look toward a diverse and inclusive Providence College community, I think of past moments and new ideas: times God was there for me, societally-influenced reasons why I needed him, and ways that I can channel my own struggles to ensure all feel accepted and understood.