A recent survey asked if you wouldn't mind serious harm to someone from a different political ideology.
The majority said – Yes. This is not a new phenomenon.
Humans have been fighting over religion, color, caste, and ethnicity for centuries. Most of my history lessons from Grade 7th to Grade 9th have been about wars – all positioned as struggles for values. But many were simply tribal wars scaled to a large arena.
Modern tribal war has been fueled by social media, political analysts, and anyone with a book to sell – often villainizing the tribal leader of the other team. Such maneuvers are fun to pass the time, but there are serious issues that affect everyone across the political aisle that get neglected.
For anyone daring to use a political narrative for Darden's Inclusive IMPACT essay, focus on a positive aspect of bipartisan thinking.
Rural vs Urban Economy
In America, the rural economy is in shambles. Not just from ignoring the citizens for political reasons. A 20-year period from 2000 to 2020 has moved most manufacturing jobs to developing economies. Even the fossil fuel industry has been deprioritized to fight climate change, which has affected this economy the most. Under such limiting job conditions, government aid like SNAP becomes a source of relief for a large cross-section of the community. It is easy to make fun of the oversized rural folk in Walmart queues, but unhealthy eating conditions weren't a laughing matter for an applicant passionate about bringing healthy eating to cities and suburbs. An article about the rural health crisis motivated him to study the market.
The journey of the applicant – questioning his assumptions about the populous and witnessing their struggle to balance budget, childcare and eating healthy- is the narrative's core.
Read: Sample Darden MBA Inclusive IMPACT Essay (Beyond Political Aisle)
Opioid Crisis
The switch to recognize that killing half of the population is not a political win but a destruction of the country put the focus on talking about the opioid crisis. Even Netflix has three movies/documentaries on the issue – 7 years too late. Now, it is a bi-partisan agenda.
One of my clients used the Opioid crisis to highlight a larger issue of lobbies in D.C. The narrative expanded on the limitations of crowd-funding a campaign and the high marketing cost that keeps the vicious cycle of lobbying and its influence on campaign financing going. The client's political leaning was liberal, but still, she could see the challenges politicians across the aisle face from taking on bi-partisan issues. By sharing a pilot program to increase revenue for issue-based narratives on social media platforms – the applicant has a vision to disincentivize media bubbles.
Any narrative on reinventing media should start with a relevant social cause fresh in the memory of the Darden MBA admissions team.
Climate Change and Pollution
Another challenge for a client working in rural America through a non-profit was educating the population about the ill effects of decades of pollution often isolated to their neighborhoods– due to regulations on distance from the city.
The effects have been noticed now when the water tables are unpotable. Even recognizing the condition was tough for regulators from the region as it could contradict the political narrative that man-made pollution had a negligible impact on climate change.
Recognizing the impact of pollution became a game of chess for those in one political bubble. Breaking the political bubble was a challenge for the applicant.
The narrative was heartfelt, with one line showing the serious harm continuing to consume water from the polluted sources had on the children in the family.
If you have experience working with beneficiaries on the opposite side of the political spectrum, include them with care.
Don't write with a judging tone.
Acknowledge your assumptions – to show that you are also influenced by political bubbles. That will humanize the journey.
