My first semester of college was a definite challenge, as it is for many people. On top of the stress of classes, being in a new environment, and making friends, I was trying to figure out what medications I needed to manage my bipolar disorder. Come finals week of that semester, I had figured out the right dosages and was feeling better than I had in years, but the process had been stressful enough that I had to drop down from four classes to three classes and move out of the room I shared with two other students into my own single room. Basically, during my first semester of college I was fighting my own brain, and it was a terrible experience.

What you just read is the raw material for the story that I used on my last job application when asked, “What is a struggle you have overcome?” Now, how can you spin that story so it’s ultimately a tale of overcoming something? Here are a few tips!

• Make your answer all about how you solved a problem. The moral of the story needs to be how you solved a problem, whether that problem was the faulty wiring in your brain or the heavy workload, or anything else. Just think about how you “fixed” whatever struggle you were facing.

• Don’t stray too far from the truth. I’m a writer, so I absolutely understand the impulse to make your story seem more intense than it truly was. However, when it comes to these stories, don’t  stray too far from the reality of what happened. Avoid the possibility that you might be caught in a lie. In any case, everyone has overcome something in their lives; I’m sure you can think of some problem you’ve had to solve. My own story about coping with my mental illness certainly doesn’t make me sound particularly heroic, but it doesn’t have to: it just has to be about how I applied a skill to a difficult situation.

• Rephrase the question. If you’re having a hard time thinking of how to answer the question, try rephrasing it in your head before answering it. A question along the lines of, “What is a struggle you have overcome?” can be rephrased in a few different ways. For example, “How did I make my tough situation less tough for myself?” or “How did I use my skills to solve a problem I faced?”

• Highlight an important skill you learned or demonstrated. Make sure the reader knows that your story taught you something that is relevant to the job you’re applying for, whether it was how to manage your time, how to prioritize, how to put your trust in a coworker, or basically anything. Alternately, show how the situation gave you the chance to apply a skill you already had.  I “fixed” the problem I faced during my first semester of college by knowing when to ask for help, which was a skill I already had, but was able to apply in that situation.

I hope these tips have been helpful, and can help you write a better answer to the ever-so-popular question along the lines of “Describe how you have solved a problem.”