<p>Hello, friends!</p>
<p>So I've just started on my arduous journey towards hopefully being accepted to college, and I've brainstormed a few ideas for my essays. The first is to write about 1) losing the student body president election and through that learning the difference being losing and failing, and discovering that I ran not because of the title, but because I cared; 2) dying my hair and then realizing the value of staying true to yourself, or 3) making the hard decision to choose Governor's School for Visual Arts over an science research internship this summer. </p>
<p>I'm not sure which ones would be too cliche and if they are good topics or if I should keep searching. I'm thinking of applying to probably UNC, Duke, UPenn, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Columbia (maybe others as I research more).</p>
<p>Thank you for your time!!</p>
<p>My counselor recently told me that some of those topics - especially number 1 I think - are very very stereotypical and difficult to write well. That said, he did mention that he has seen various students throughout the years write about such trite topics in unique and fun angles and that it worked brilliantly. My English teacher says this, too. He always tells us it’s not about what you write; it’s about how you write. You could be writing about the same thing that I am, but if you’re a better writer than me, then obviously your essay will come off as the better one.</p>
<p>Try writing for those essay topics with an attention grabbing hook, vivid descriptions, and an insightful reflection about the event, and see which one is easiest to write about and also the one that you can write about with the most voice. Make sure your personality comes through. You really never know how those essays are going to turn out until you start writing them.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>