Transfer Application Essay/Answer Help

[adaptation]

I'm completing my transfer application to Towson University. The "essay prompt" is the following:

In the space below, supply additional information you feel will be of assistance in our consideration of your application. Please list your school and community activities. For example: class officer, community volunteer, multicultural activities. Be sure to include information about any leadership roles. If you decide to submit an essay, the topic is up to you.

I'd like to highlight the fact that I spent about six years teaching English in China. I learned a lot about the culture, I can speak (and read a bit) of Mandarin, I studied kung fu... Lots of stuff. I'd also like to talk about why I gave all that up to come back to the States to go back to school to study science.

Could anyone give me an idea of what you think they're looking for in this essay? I'd rather not just list the stuff I've done. Can I make it like an introduction to me and my goals at TU? How long is too long? (I'm not worried about it being too short.) I'm having a bit of difficulty getting started.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Highway]

the idea is to "show" via a story, instead of "telling" by listing examples, but i wouldn't go into too much detail.

write something in word and see how many words / characters it is and go from there . . .

 

[adaptation]

Thanks for your input Highway.

the idea is to "show" via a story, instead of "telling" by listing examples, but i wouldn't go into too much detail.[

Yes, agreed. Like I said, I don't want to make a list. I would like to set it up in a narrative format. I've read that can be effective. I guess I'll brainstorm some "plots".

write something in word and see how many words / characters it is and go from there . . .

Since there are no guidelines about length, I have no idea how long it should be. I know it needs to be long enough to tell the story, I'm just not sure how to know whether it's too long.