How to Write a Personal Essay

Personal essay examples have been provided to help upcoming authors to be able to create an excellent paper that they can present to express themselves in the best way possible. However, writing as a practice is never easy, especially when the writer is not well prepared to partake of the activity. The process itself requires time, and the writing itself also takes a lot of time. In the case of personal essays, it is essential to note that this is a kind of a document that requires the entire writer's attention in addition to his or her knowledge. Unlike the articles that we write frequently, personal essay writing involves self-understanding as well as consideration of the readers if it is to fulfill its purpose.

The reason why we write personal essays is to show our distinctive capabilities as well as to apply for a position that requires people who demonstrate that they are confident and best suited to serve in such areas. The primary reason why students write personal essays is for making an application for scholarships or as assignments given in the classroom by the lecturers. It is therefore essential to state that a great personal essay must either earn the author good graded or must get them the scholarship they are seeking.

To write a good scholarship essay requires adherence to some rules.

However, some rules should be applied for coming up with a good piece. Taking time to make a reflection of oneself is the key to a great start. During that time, the author is involved in what is also known as conceptualization. It is advisable to note down every idea that comes in your mind as you think through the article you want to write. The purpose of penning down such thoughts is to enable the author to make references' and create an excellent personal essay outline before they begin to write the article. For example, if the article is written as an assignment, it is vital to think about all the possible topics and list them down. As the writer does that, it is also essential to think about the thesis statement in advance.

The Topics for Personal Essays

• The Day You Did The Bravest Thing
• The Experience Of Having A Good Friend
• The Best Thing About Your Parents
• Life Changing Moment
• The Moment You Were Scared To Death
• When You Overcame Fear
• You Are A Great Optimist, And You Believe You Will Be Successful
• When You Had To Choose Between Two Alternatives
• Why You Love Your Home A Lot
• Your Worst Fears And Why You Are Voiding Them
• Your Great Disappointment And How A Colleague Messed You Up
• A Life-Changing Event You Attended
• The First Day To Have A Cat As Your Pet
• When Something Made You Change Your Mind And Perception About Life
• When Some Experiences Made No Sense At All But Later You Realized Just How Important They Were
• When Your Grandparent Talked To You Wisely, And You Had To Change Your World View
• People Who Make Life So Difficult For You
• When You Let Your Close Associates Down
• The Memories That You Will Never Forget About
• The Saddest Day In Your Life
• When You First Experienced Biological Changes In Your Life And How You Reacted
• When You Went Away From Home With Your Cousins During The Summer Holidays
• What You Regret The Most And The Time You Should Have Done Something Better
• How You Escaped Drug And Substance Abuse Situation
• People Who Have Changed Your Life Forever And For That Reason, You Will Never Forget About Them
• Your Favorite Food And Why You Like It So Much
• When You Failed Miserably

After settling on a topic to write a personal essay, it is crucial to think about the structure that the article will adopt. More importantly, the writer should take note of the fact that in some cases, a structure is issued by the supervisor for a student or students to follow. If you have been instructed to follow a particular arrangement, it is crucial to focus personal essay writing to the method given. Additionally, it is essential to adopt the document to a specific writing style to avoid cases of plagiarism. Different styles have different ways of acknowledging information sources. Chose only those styles that have been recommended by the institution where one is a learner.

Personal Essay Writing Styles

• American Psychological Association
• American Political Science Association
• American Anthropological Association
• Chicago
• Vancouver
• National Library of Medicine
• Harvard
• Institute of Electronic and Electricians Engineers
• American Chemical Society
• Modern Language Association

Personal Essay Outline

This is the primary document that we should write before any other paper because it offers the guide that we need in writing. All the writers acknowledge the use of a personal essay outline as an essential document where we organize our ideas and thoughts before we transfer them to the final document. The framework is also a representation of the paper we finally come up with.

The Structure of an Outline for a Personal Essay

The Introduction

When we are writing an introduction for the outline, must appreciate personal essay writing as an art that entailing the practice of combining critical elements so that we can be able to find narrative concerning ourselves. The outline should be contextual in the sense that it should reflect the society and enable us to share the experiences we have or associate with within our natural environment. Basically, the introduction as entailed in an outline must, therefore, provide new information to that effect and enable the readers or our target audience to associate the content with us. If our goal is to generate a satisfactory personal essay, then we will indeed have to weave several factors within the outline. Consider the following as a model:

• How do we function as humans?
• What are some of the challenges that we face as humans
• What are the foreseeable solutions to the problems or the challenges?
• How do the solutions result to further conflicts or amelioration of the issues solutions found?

The Body

Here, the writer must give critical information that is useful for personal essay writing. They should explain the relationship between oneself and the society in terms of our actions and the consequences that result from such activities. Importantly, the writer must briefly or better yet list unique talents and skills that are paramount and are held by him or her. Such admission is not only crucial in aiding the audience, or the reader evaluates the content, but it is critical for assessing the writer too. They also get an opportunity to contrast the outline with other useful personal essay examples to have a more precise understanding of human action and relations.

The Conclusion Paragraph

To have a good personal essay conclusion for an outline, it is imperative to look at some good personal essay examples that are informed by equally a good model for human understanding that is exhaustive and reliable. The conclusion of an outline must, therefore, be presented in brief, and it should highlight some of the essential points without divulging the details. The conclusion thus summarizes the points.

Personal Essay Examples

I Will Always Remain a Communication Student

I could not hide my joy when I got an invitation to present an article I had written about corporate communication with my classmates. My joy was informed by the fact that I had always loved communication and was pleased mostly by the lecturer when he told me to consider publishing the article in the University magazine. This reminded me of my attachment and love for communication, even though I was just about to graduate. My journey to communication was, however, not easy because I had to take some moment to reflect and decide if indeed the profession was what I wanted to do.

Having been brought up in a family that did not attain education, the challenge was laid squarely on my face, and I knew I had to take the initiative and change the situation and the best way to do it was to get educated. I had observed that poverty had permeated homes where the families had no education. I did not want to fall to a similar situation or to subject my future children to great suffering; I wanted to be an example by taking charge of my life, and because my friends had always said that I was an excellent communicator, they had set the reason for me to become one. All I needed was to convince my parents that they should support me by paying my first school fee but unfortunately, they could not afford extra cash to put on my tuition fee. My quest was, however, not impeded, my uncle volunteered to help me by paying the tuition fee.

When I made my application for admission into the college I wanted to join, I was disappointed neither did I disappoint. I read as many books and communication notes as possible and posted good grades that made my lectures happy. Even with such effort, I had to opt out when my supply was cut, and there were no more fees coming my way to cater to my education. I had to make several scholarship applications and try out other arrangements which did not work. I was so irritated, and I asked why it a challenge for the poor people to achieve their dreams. However, I realized that no matter hard, I was on myself; my vision could not be stalled by lack. After a short stint outside, I was called by the college to inform me that they had a scholarship for me to continue with my studies because I was the best student. I sprung back to life and went back, this time challenging myself to post even better grades.

I represented our college in various communication conventions, and I must admit I was so impressed by presentations from other universities, especially a presentation from George Doyle, a student from the University of Toronto. He did an excellent summary on corporate communication, and its impact on customer loyalty and I immediately realized that if I was to become a great communicator, I had to organize my presentation just as he did his. As fate would have it, one year later, George and I were invited to another conference where I was to deliver the main speech on behalf of my fellow students, and I was so happy when after my speech George came and congratulated me saying that I had given the best address he has ever heard. I was also amazed by the thunderous applause I got not only from my fellow students but from the professionals attending the conference. Indeed I was on the right track to achieving my dream.

Finally, as a communicator, I have realized that everything we yearn for in life is indeed achievable despite the setbacks that might be there. You cannot get impeded by your situation if you believe in yourself and challenge yourself to take the opportunities that come in your life. I decided to become the best student, not because I was the brightest but because I appreciated the value of hard work. I won the trust of my college, not because I deserved it more than the rest of the student, but because I was confident enough to face the challenges that came my way. I have since posted several articles not only in our college magazine but also in other publications.

Conclusion

Personal essay writing is the means through which we get to express our thoughts and ideas. The challenge of coming up with a successful essay of self does not need any magic other than diligently appreciating the art of writing personal essay outlines and aligning the article to that particular outline. Also, referring to other personal essay examples is a great way to weigh one's article against others to see if the article is interesting enough to read.