For my personal essay, I am thinking to write about how the four types of card (heart, spade, clubs, and diamond) represent my culture as a Japanese, an American, my values and personal strengths/qualities, and my weaknesses. So in the card game the Old Maid, the matching of two numbers with different types of card with the same number indicates my influence of, for example, my Japanese culture and the values, and something like that. The only card that remains at the end is myself, indicating the my qualities and experiences that shape my life… etc.
Will my idea above show my identity as something that was influenced by a mixture of US and Japan culture/values and a lot of outside factors that shape my current self? Is my idea unique enough?
Sorry but it sounds convoluted and hard for an adcom to follow, as he/she loks for the traits and strengths they wantin their class. You do not need to be unique- it’s next to impossible, considering they read thousands of essays each year. Just put this in your own voice. Try not to be too clever.
Adding. Imo, the old challenge prompt worked best. Find something relevant you encountered and a nice narrative has it’s own timeline. Easy to follow as you write. Show a turning point and the good you now practice, having learned something. Show, not just tell. Not something negative about you or family.
Use your culture, if you wish. But the goal is to make it work for adcoms, holding your admit decision in their hands.