<p>hey..
i'm a class of 08er and im trying to push myself to finish my essays (at least the bigger ones) before school starts.. (someone please smack me upside down and tell me i need to write it)</p>
<p>i think im either going to apply to georgetown/uchicago ea or cornell ed if that matters at all</p>
<p>and im having trouble finding an appropriate topic for me that will reveal my personality and not being cliche.. </p>
<p>i guess to me the three main things that define me are journalism, community service, and theology</p>
<p>i feel like the more i study theology the more it leads me to do community service but im kinda worried that that'll come off as cliche as well and i really don't want to give a laundry list of what i've done. how exactly do i "paint a picture"? </p>
<p>Topics themselves are not inherently cliched - what matters is how you write about them. It might help you to think about the most cliched essay you could possibly write about the topic, and then brainstorm ways that your experience is different, so you know exactly what to highlight to make your essay fresh and unique. See if there are particular moments or memories that embody what you're trying to say. If it's hard for you to find ways to distinguish yourself from the cliche, that's a sign you should write a different essay.</p>
<p>(I'm an '08er in the same situation. Lucky CC is here so I can procrastinate and pretend to be doing productive, college-related things :))</p>
<p>Perhaps if you wrote about why you are interested in one or two of those interests, rather than stating that you are and where it has taken you. Start at the very very beginning, rather than the recent past. The why is so much more interesting than the what, in my opinion</p>