For the essay prompts, I’m mostly leaning toward #1 (personal background/identity/Interest/Special Talent) and # 5 (transition from childhood to adult). I came up with ideas I thought that I could passionately write about…but after going through other threads and helpful sites that gave writing tips, I feel that all the topics I chose are too cliche, unoriginal, and could bore the college admissions officer. These are the topics:
For Prompt #1
- The young Chinese American girl that experienced the ‘best of both worlds’; lived in city and then moved to countryside (where I am now); expressing both cultures in an environment that only expressed one.
- Artistic Development; loved drawing as a child, but was discouraged to pursue hobby further than needed; grades were ‘more important’ and drawing was ‘waste of time’; I decided that drawing was my gift and could express what I could not with words.
- Imagination (Escape From Reality Me only To Find A True self); I always have a vivid mind so when troubles come up in life, I created heroines in other worlds that represented the me I wanted to be (through writing and drawing); however, I wanted to be like the heroine in real life and so my imagination and creativity pushed me to move forward.
For Prompt #5
- Sister Leaves For College; was the only child left in the house, felt a little lonely and more pressure was put on academics, chores, and responsibilities to family; learned to become more independent and responsible.
- Moved to the 'Boro when I was 11; matured in an unfamiliar environment that I at first despised but learned to cope with for the sake of father’s situation; now I find good memories in the small country town that shaped me from an incoming middle-school student to a graduating high-school senior.
Being Asian is not easy, but I’m sure there are a ton of essays out there that want to touch this tempting topic! Also, I feel like drawing is such a simple hobby–I didn’t dance my way to the stage, earned a black belt, or raised horses for a passion. Moving to another city also may be cliche as well and I wonder if my ‘Imagination’ topic will seem strange to admission officers. I’ll keep thinking for more ideas but PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK about the ones I already have and if there is an interesting one I should take a shot at writing for! Thank you!
You could definitely start out very uniquely…like describing a brief scene from one of these heroines’ adventures.