Cultivating Core Values for College Admissions Essays
- borgeset
- Jul 15
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 7
The Importance of Core Values
Embarking on your college journey is thrilling yet daunting. Luckily, knowing your unique set of core values can help shape your decisions, aspirations, and ability to overcome challenges. Core values serve as an inner compass, guiding you through life. The central values you hold in your late teens and early twenties will hopefully evolve with every decade of your life. This evolution signifies growth!
In this post, I’ll provide two dozen values to see if any resonate with you. I’ll also share practical tips to cultivate one or two throughout your high school and college career. Your foundational values have already been set, but this doesn’t mean you can’t add new ones or discard those that hold you back from your best self. Welcome to adulting, my dears. It’s hard.
List of Core Values: Identify the Ones That Speak to You Deeply
Integrity
Respect
Responsibility
Empathy
Excellence
Creativity
Innovation
Perseverance
Courage
10. Community
11. Honesty
12. Gratitude
13. Compassion
14. Learning
15. Diversity
16. Sustainability
17. Authenticity
18. Collaboration
19. Service
20. Fairness
21. Joy
22. Growth
23. Kindness
24. Leadership
Knowing your core values is a highly personal process. It is tied to your life experiences, relationships, and aspirations. Consider which values align with how you hope to design your future. Mindfully considering new values will serve you well during the college application process and through future life transitions. If this is the first time you feel uncertain, like you’re feeling your way in the dark, please know that you are not alone. It’s all part of growing up.
Reflecting on Your Values
Think about nurturing your best self:
Which values excite you the most?
How do these values connect with your intended academic program and life goals?
In what ways might these values shape your daily decisions and interactions?
Practicing Your Chosen Values
After you have chosen five or six values, narrow it down to two or three. Integrate these values into your daily life seamlessly. For example, if you choose "Integrity," commit to honest behavior in your studies. This could mean avoiding plagiarism and being transparent with new friends and roommates.
Here are some practical steps to help cultivate your core self-awareness:
Set Clear Intentions: If "Creativity" is one of your values, express yourself through weekly artistic projects or collaborate with like-minded peers.
Engage in Activities: Join clubs that align with your values. If you value "Leadership," seek roles in student organizations or volunteer for community service that allows you to guide others.
Reflect Regularly: Evaluate how you live into your values on a seasonal basis. Consider moments in the recent past when you acted in line with your values. You may already be nurturing new principles without knowing it. This reflective practice helps gain emotional flexibility and self-awareness.
Your Roadmap to Self-Awareness
Cultivating your core values is essential for making meaningful and deliberate choices guided by your inner compass. By choosing values that truly speak to you, you create an informed and purposeful direction for your academic life. Embrace these values as guiding principles that empower you to reach your best self. As you navigate college admissions and beyond, remember that growth is a process. It continues to expand as you trust your decisions, shape your moral character, and design your life.
The Journey of Adulting
By thoughtfully nurturing a new value from time to time, you are adulting in the best possible way! This journey is not just about academics; it’s about becoming the person you aspire to be.
As you prepare your college application, circle back to me, Dr. B, to enhance your narrative writing and ensure your best submission possible.
I founded Effective Admissions Essays to empower young adults with proactive mindsets, enabling you to tackle complex writing tasks in manageable increments. With my actionable routines in place, student writing muscles are better conditioned to sustain collegiate coursework.
EAE's Remote Edits help you get there!
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