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Dashgoer Prompts
Prompt 1
What is a belief you hold that most people around you don't understand?
Prompt 2
Describe a moment when you realized you were capable of more than you thought.
Prompt 3
What is a small decision you made that unexpectedly changed your life?
Prompt 4
What is something you finally learned to stop worrying about, and why?
Prompt 5
Describe a decision you made that required real thought and explain the outcome.
Dashgoer Paragraph Examples
Prompt 1
What is a belief you hold that most people around you don’t understand?
Paragraph
When I was a sophomore at Arkansas, Mullins Library was my home away from home. Once during a random walk down the aisle dedicated to Personal health and hygiene, I saw straight away at eye level a book on fasting. The only thing I knew about fasting were the words I remembered from Sunday school, that people fasted so they could be closer to God. But as I read the book, I got closer to myself, and I proceeded to adopt fasting as a lifestyle that remains with me today. Turns out, books on fasting do fit well in the Personal health and hygiene aisle.
Prompt 2
Describe a moment when you realized you were capable of more than you thought.
Paragraph
I started playing baseball in the summer of 1967 after finishing my fifth grade year. I wasn’t a good hitter which I blame on my poor eyesight, but I was always good with the glove when I played left field. That’s what I played during my senior year in 1973 when the Glynn Academy Red Terrors competed for the AAA Georgia High School State Championship. I surprised even myself during a wild inning when I scooped up consecutive ground ball singles and threw out two streaking baserunners at home plate. When the Red Terrors won the Championship, everybody ran to left field and piled up.
Prompt 3
What is a small decision you made that unexpectedly changed your life?
Paragraph
I remember my parents giving my older sister a Sears guitar for Christmas in 1968. During the summer, our family had moved to Irvine, California, which was a new city being built in Orange County somewhere south of Los Angeles. The gift of the guitar to my 14 year old sister seemed to meet the moment because rock and roll bands and hippies were everywhere. I’m not sure when, but sometime before New Years Day, while my sister was caught up with discovering boys, I decided to steal the guitar. To this day, I can still play Here Comes the Sun on that Sears guitar.
Prompt 4
What is something you finally learned to stop worrying about, and why?
Paragraph
As a teenager on St. Simons Island, Georgia, I worried about getting busted for marijuana. I didn’t smoke much in the early 1970s, but my friends did, and I was afraid I would be with them if they were busted. I was especially worried that my friends would be carrying while I was driving, and I couldn’t see them hide their stash in the car. I made it a habit to check the backseat for papers and contraband before I got back on the road and made my way home. Now, I don’t worry about getting busted since I can buy medical marijuana in Florida.
Prompt 5
Describe a decision you made that required real thought and explain the outcome.
Paragraph
When I went to Arkansas in 1973, my parents paid my tuition and dormitory fees. However, after a few weeks with new friends on and off campus, I realized I needed a job to keep up with my extracurricular expenses. After a time, I was working more than 40 hours a week and taking fewer classes which pushed my graduation date further and further away. Eventually, the stress got to me, so I decided to join the U.S. Air Force where I could get the G.I. Bill to finish college. That decision gave me a wonderful wife, 5 great kids, and a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering.