I’m struggling to see this process as a necessary evil. Any advice?
Make the essay like a madlib https://hobbylark.com/party-games/How-to-Make-Your-Own-Mad-Libs This is just like brainstorming exercise.
Have fun with it. Use bad words… This is to get your brain thinking. When you start to create this and ideas come… Start just jotting down ideas that come.
Then sit down and start to write. The first draft doesn’t have to be perfect…
Make it about you, make it interesting and how you will be part of the campus community.
free write about something fun and that will get you thinking about stuff you didn’t even know - then writing naturally becomes fun. In order for this specific style of writing to become fun you must actively attempt to enjoy writing in general. I promise you writing essays will be fun and easy if you write in a journal or write poetry for fun.
I like to think of writing as a form of thinking. Also if you don’t like it then scrap it - I usually have a hard time keeping my essays within the word min, and have to cut out lots of writing. So if you just write even if it sucks you can just keep going until something good comes out and throw away what you don’t like - that’s editing and can be really fun as you put together a piece that feels like a work of art.
I also agree with everything Knosstuff said
If you like to write, you may enjoy it. I love writing, and for me at this point, it would be no big deal.
But the reality is that not every thing is “an enjoyable experience.” As you get older, you’ll realize that that’s OK. Some things have to be done, and done well, and done with enthusiasm and attention to detail and concentration, but not necessarily with enjoyment.
I’m a high school math teacher. And grading my student’s work is a good example of what I’m talking about. I need to spend lots of time doing it, it has to be done accurately, it has to be done reasonably quickly, it has to be done consistently.
But I don’t have to enjoy it. And that’s OK.