Which topic should i pick?

College Essays
1

<p>The topic is
Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.</p>

<p>Choice 1:
What I would do here is talk about my school, which is stereotyped as highly academic. I would discuss how I hated it at first, then I met people who thought the same way I did. Because highschool really isn’t about grades, or the number of extracurriculars you participate in, but the quality of your learning experience, and stuff like that.</p>

<p>Choice 2:
Talk about my family
This would be talking about my family. Basically my mom is from south india, my dad is from north india, and that has caused a lotta tension on my moms side of the family (meaning they don’t talk to us at all). But some people on my moms side of the family have completely ignored what their parents, grandparents say. They embrace us for who we are and all that good stuff.</p>

<p>I actually don’t like either topic, but I really cant think of anything else.</p>

<p>Also as a side question, when the prompt asks for a significant experience, would it be all right to talk about a person? In my case, I want to talk about a friend of mine who has a physical disability, but still managed to do the mile every week when i was in his PE class. (slowly, but he still did it). Does this count as an event? (of course, I would reflect on what i learned from it and all that stuff too) Its just one thing that means a lot to me
The actual prompt is:
Write an essay about an event or experience that helped you learn what is important to you and why it is important.</p>

2

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<p>Then neither of these are the right topic.</p>

3

<p>Well i mean, im hoping that i will expand my essay so that itll be more personal as i’m writing it. Which one is better of the two?</p>

4

<p>bump
10charlimit</p>

5

<p>@side question. First of all, there are no bad topics if you’re a phenomenal writer. However, most of us aren’t so… It is beginning to sound like you will describe your friend’s struggles and what not. that’s going to be really really hard to show YOU in a context of an essay without you sounding like you’re writing a recommendation letter for him because he inspired you.</p>

<p>@topic. you could always get creative with the interpretation of the word “world”. don’t ask me how though lol. then it wouldn’t be creative. the things they listed are literally just examples of commonly accepted interpretations of our world</p>

6

<p>If you’re not fond of either topic, that will show in your writing. It may be worthwhile to do a few freewrites. For 10, 15, 20 minutes–somewhere in that range–just write whatever comes to mind. Don’t let pen leave paper. You may very well end up discussing one or both of the topics you mentioned, but allowing your stream-of-consciousness to take over, rather than whatever commitment you may feel to “honor” or “do justice to” your topic, can provide a more interesting approach.</p>

7

<p>Two rules: Remember that this is a person essay, not a term paper. It’s about YOU. Also remember the rule “Show, don’t tell.” For example, on Option 1, do NOT start up with something like “When I started at my school, I hated it. I thought I was alone in that feeling, but…” That is an example of TELLING. Instead, think SHOWING and letting the reader draw his or her own conclusion about your feelings:<br>
As I entered my first class at the new school, I felt every eye turn to assess the new guy - me. Each stare seemed critical, judging whether I was worthy… etc, etc. </p>

<p>See the difference. And then continue to SHOW incidents that began to change your attitude. Don’t say HOW your attitude changed, the reader will discover that, and the discovery will make much more of an impression than yet another essay telling the reader how you changed.</p>

<p>You could end it with SHOWING how, in the next year, YOU were the old pro, and when the new kid came in, you would be sure to avoid that critical look that affected you so much. But don’t SAY that - SHOW it with a story: The door opened and a completely new face came into the class. The student had that same look I must have had when I had first come, but I smiled as I looked at him/her whatever, as if to welcome them… etc</p>

<p>Don’t copy these words (they’ll probably show up in an internet plagiarism checker). But you get the idea. Sounds at first like a boring topic, but not if you do it right - it can illustrate some great things about your personality.</p>