Need help getting started? Try this activity to help you think of unique aspects of your life that you might want to write about.
This is an opportunity to begin exploring who you are. Each one of these sentences could be used to start an essay that responses to a College Essay prompt.
Activity:
1. Write a list of 100 things about yourself. Each "thing" should be a minimum of one (1) complete sentence. Use auto-numbering to make creating your list easier.
2. You can free-write the items for your list or, if you can't think of what to write, follow these guidelines:
A. Write 10 sentences about yourself.
B. Write 5 sentences about yourself when you were under 6 years old.
C. Write 5 sentences about yourself between the ages of 6 and 13.
D. Write 5 sentences about a time when you did something intentionally (as opposed to accidentally or without overt forethought).
E. Write 5 sentences about yourself that begin with "Unfortunately, "
F. Write 10 sentences about yourself that are about your future.
G. Write 10 sentences about yourself and your family.
H. Write 10 sentences about yourself that discuss times when you have faced a challenge, failed, or not succeeded.
I. Write 5 sentences about yourself that reference food.
J. Write 5 sentences about what you want to do after high school.
K. Write 5 sentences about what really scares you.
L. Write 5 sentences about what makes you laugh.
M. Write 5 sentences about things you love as compared to things you hate.
N. Write 5 sentences about how or where you fit into the world as a whole, either now or in the future.
NOTE: Think about all the ways in which you have a relationship with the people and their structures (human structures) around you:
Are you a daughter/son/sister/brother/friend/student/citizen/shopper/library patron/public-transit rider/taxpayer/voter/volunteer?
Do you participate in religions/school clubs/organizations/teams?
How do you imagine doing/fitting into these groupings when you are older?
O. Write 5 sentences about things that make you unique or an individual (what makes you you?).
P. Write 5 sentences about yourself that use a metaphor.