Lehigh: Celebrate the good

200 words

At Lehigh, we believe in pausing to celebrate the good, meaningful moments that bring joy, pride or motivation. What's something great happening in your life right now? It could be an accomplishment, a personal win (big or small) or something you're genuinely excited about. If it matters to you, we'd love to hear about it.

What it’s really asking

Lehigh wants a sincere look at what is genuinely good in your life at this moment. It can be small. The prompt is measuring warmth, self-awareness, and authenticity, not the size of the win.

Why they ask it

This prompt is a personality and culture check. Lehigh values community and well-being, and it wants to know what brings you joy and what you choose to celebrate. The trap is treating it as another achievement essay; the reward goes to genuine, specific, present-tense joy.

Three ways in

Choose something current

Pick something actually happening now, even if it is ordinary, and explain why it matters to you.

Go small and real

A small win that is honestly yours beats a big trophy you feel you should mention.

Let your voice in

This is the prompt where humor and personality should be loudest. Sound like a person, not an applicant.

✕ Weak opening

“Something great happening in my life right now is that I was named captain of my varsity team, which has taught me leadership.”

✓ Strong opening

“For the first time in two years, my grandmother's sourdough starter is alive in my kitchen, and it has a name.”

✦ Annotated example · The community fridge that filled itself. Written by EssayLens to teach, not a real applicant’s essay. Tap a highlighted line →

Right now there is a refrigerator humming on the sidewalk outside Khoury's grocery, and I helped put it there.¹It started as a complaint. My neighbor mentioned that the food pantry only opens twice a week, and people get hungry on the other five days. I'm not patient enough to wait for a committee, so I asked Mr. Khoury if I could plug a free fridge into his outlet.²He said yes before I finished the sentence.The part that genuinely thrills me is that I did almost nothing after that. I painted the rules on the door, take what you need, leave what you can, and the neighborhood took over.³A woman I've never met restocks eggs every Friday. Someone leaves bread that is still warm. Last week a kid taped a drawing of the fridge to the fridge.I used to think doing good meant carrying the whole thing yourself. This taught me the opposite, that the best thing I can build is something other people are eager to keep alive. I check on it every morning, and most mornings it's already full.⁴

1Opens with a vivid, concrete image and a small personal stake, exactly the genuine, joyful tone this prompt asks for.
2Shows initiative and a real, slightly impatient personality rather than a polished saint narrative, which reads as authentic self-awareness.
3The pride is aimed outward at the community rather than at the applicant's resume, which signals the humility and joy Lehigh celebrates.
4Ends on an earned, specific reflection that turns a small win into genuine self-awareness, landing the prompt's emotional ask without overstating it.

Stuck? Start here

If a close friend asked what is going well this month, what would you say first?
What small, ordinary thing are you genuinely excited about right now?
What recent moment made you want to tell someone about it?

Before you submit

Is your subject genuinely current rather than a past trophy?
Does it sound like you talking, not a resume?
Does the reader come away knowing what you value?

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