Is it possible to talk about things that you worked on but never went through?

seb.g.b

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2019
Messages
119
To clarify more on the title, I'm wondering if you can list or talk about something in your application that you had the initiative to start and work hard on, but was not able to go through fully due to circumstances out of your control. For example, I wanted to play water polo, however my school is really small we we don't have one. At the end of last school year, I tried to get a polo team underway and did everything I needed to do. I got all the signatures required, took it to our athletics director for approval, got approval from our principal, and got sent to the district. If the district signed off on it, it would have been official. However, the district didn't sign off on it because of the fact that they didn't want to fund the program, as they were sending funds to other schools in the district, and wouldn't have enough money to fund water polo for us. Despite getting it all the way to the district, and being one step away from making it official, I was able to get all the things needed to get there, and I can get my swim coach to talk about it in his letter of rec to me. Is it possible to list or talk about this anywhere in the app? If so, would it have any positive weight or effect on my app as it shows my intiative and determination?
 
The best examples of leadership entail getting things done, i.e. fully accomplishing the goal you set. But we all know that circumstances do intervene — that’s life. Your story could be a good one, but to ensure that, don’t dwell on the circumstances that prevented achievement. Focus instead on your own actions, and then the lessons you learned and what you would do differently next time if faced with similar challenges. With failure comes growth, so show how you grew from the experience and how you’ll apply those lessons down the road.
 
The best examples of leadership entail getting things done, i.e. fully accomplishing the goal you set. But we all know that circumstances do intervene — that’s life. Your story could be a good one, but to ensure that, don’t dwell on the circumstances that prevented achievement. Focus instead on your own actions, and then the lessons you learned and what you would do differently next time if faced with similar challenges. With failure comes growth, so show how you grew from the experience and how you’ll apply those lessons down the road.

Of course. Thank you for the reply. However I was wondering if there was a place on the app I could talk about it (excluding the essay) or at least list it down? Because i feel as if it eas something that did really show my leadership because of the determination I had to try and get it passed as a sport.
 
On the Candidate Activity Record, you can't check the box for participating in a sport if you didn't actually do that. In your essay, you can certainly talk about your work on the initiative, your leadership, and what you learned from the experience of being shut down due to forces outside your control (something leaders often have to deal with). As mentioned above, focus on the positives, what you brought to the table, and not on the negative - you don't want to sound like a whiner.

But I think the Personal Statement is your only opportunity to do that. There is a section where you can discuss 'unusual hardship' (i forget the exact term), but I don't think this would be appropriate for that.

best of luck
 
In my recollection of the application, I don’t see where this would work in OTHER than essays or remarks. What ‘box’ are you wanting to check? I also believe this is something that didn’t come to fruition, like MidCake said (someone might ask why the first step wasn’t seeing if that fiscal year would be able to fund a sport at the district level. Or why it didn’t get funded for the next FY. Therefore itbe I’d think happen).

It is a great story! And one you said your swim coach can discuss. That makes sense. But I can’t think of a box to check. Perhaps in the remarks section of ‘school club’ (or maybe I am recalling that on the NROTC app)? You could say you were responsible for the laying the groundwork (list the steps) up to district funding of xxx club. But I don’t believe it’s a box checked.
 
Last edited:
I suggest to only mention it if it is possible to do it in a positive light. Keep in mind that many other people have been in the same situation. My son spent countless, and I mean countless hours organizing a 5K to benefit disabled Marines. In the end it did not happen due to things beyond his control. He never mentioned it in his app or essays.
 
Two considerations:
1) Bring up during your BGO interview, if not already completed.

2) If the BGO interview is complete or you feel that you would like some documentation in the record, an extra (brief) letter of recommendation may be appropriate, especially from the athletic director or principal. If you took significant steps to try to get a sport instituted at your school, you did all of the ground/leg work, it was endorsed by your local school leadership, but wasn't ultimately approved at the district level due to funding, I think this might be one of those situations where it would be valuable for USNA to understand the task you were undertaking and it might not otherwise be found elsewhere in your record (unless you bring it up during BGO interview).
 
Were the teachers who will do you evaluation aware of your efforts ? If this was a small school, its likely that know about it, and could comment.

Frankly, I'm really not sure that it matters all that much ...plowing through red tape and hitting a roadblock is a good life lesson, but really not as meaningful as actually getting it approved, and then starting, recruiting and leading the team.
 
Were the teachers who will do you evaluation aware of your efforts ? If this was a small school, its likely that know about it, and could comment.

Frankly, I'm really not sure that it matters all that much ...plowing through red tape and hitting a roadblock is a good life lesson, but really not as meaningful as actually getting it approved, and then starting, recruiting and leading the team.

There are teachers that are aware of what I did and how much work I put into it, however they will not be the ones giving me evaluations.
 
Respectfully recommend abandon this Navy Lawyer argument and focus instead on the actual questions presented in the writing prompt for the Personal Statement. Everything else is a waste of time and energy.
 
I concur in part with Norfolk63, however, at a USNA Admissions forum a few years back, the admissions counselor specifically mentioned a candidate who tried to run for city mayor (small rural town), but legally, was too young. The counselor recalled the positive reception that was taken by the Admissions Board and that candidate did receive an appointment. No one here truly knows the OP's record - but as it has been stated on this forum countless times - a par/sub-par record isn't probably going to be "made up" by one positive item/event. However, it is hard to ever truly know what might tip the fulcrum in a candidate's favor.
 
I agree your Personal Statement should answer the prompted questions and highlight the things you have accomplished. Your competition for an appointment are largely those who have been successful in varsity sports, ECA's and academics. They don't need to explain or rationalize why they were unsuccessful. If your statement focuses on things you did not accomplish, it won't looks good in comparison and only serves to highlight a shortfall in your resume.
 
Back
Top