First of all please ignore these people or at least take their opinions with a grain of salt. These are the kinds of people that suggest writing about an after school activity or winning an international competition yet don’t realize that 1000s of people are going to be writing about the same activity.
Its almost impossible for everyone to write an essay that has a completely unique topic. It’s not possible. What colleges want to see is how your topic made you who you are today and how it will inspire who you are tomorrow. Don’t feel compelled to talk about something that you are not passionate about because THAT is what will be a true turn off to colleges.