Where to start?

Hi! I am in my junior year of high school and I will be applying to college in the coming fall. I have done research this past year but I am confused as to where to start. I know I need to start preparing my essay but I am not sure how to start. How do I choose a topic? How do I write without feeling awkward or embarrassed about what I am writing?

College applications usually have a couple of essay prompts to select from. The common application prompts should be out this summer. UC application prompts should be the same as last year, so you can look those up on the UC website. For the Other schools not using the Common app, you can look up their application essay prompts individually on their websites. Just start writing and have a few trusted friends, family members or teachers critique as you go. Most students will go through several drafts so don’t worry to much at beginning. Just get some ideas on paper

@Gumbymom thank you for your response! Do you know if the new Common App prompts are out yet? I heard they are but I wasn’t too sure.

Here is a link with the prompts for the common app:
http://blog.commonapp.org/2015/03/31/2015-2016-essay-prompts/