I have struggled with creating my college essay, I believe I have a good idea and outline but I’m unsure how to tie it in to say something about me. Due to some health reasons, I was out of school for a few months and took a full-time job in the meantime. A customer who all the other staff hated, I ended up getting to know and really liked them. I feel passionate about writing about this, but im unsure how this will end up saying anything “deep” or impressive.
It doesn’t have to be “deep”, and it doesn’t have to be a contender for a national short story competition.
The point of the essay is to show the AOs why you are a good choice for their college. The point of the essay is to let your best personality traits shine through.
That is a great essay topic, and by simply showing how the story unfolded will tell something about you. After all, there was something about that costumer that made your coworkers hate them, but there was also something about the costumer that caused you to make the decision to look beyond the negative traits and behaviors. Or, if it wasn’t a conscious decision, but just the result of you being pushed into being the staff member who was dealing with the costumer. You can describe how the costumer-staff member relationship became closer, and how the way you felt about that costumer developed.
In your essay, you are presenting a story as well as a point of view. Remember the old mantra, “show, don’t tell”. Do not narrate fact after fact. Describe what was happening (do not, however, use too many details - it’s an essay, not a Dickens novel).