There are three common types of personal statements that people write about when they apply to a school. These three types of personal statements reflect the personal characteristics, struggles, achievements, and goals of an applicant. In addition, these bits of information enable admissions committees to see a human character instead of an applicant defined and characterized by numeric scores and grades.
The three common types of personal statements have been observed from various examples in sample essay about myself blogs. The three types may revolve around ideas suggested by metaphors, themes of quotes, and challenges in an applicant’s life.
Metaphors as central to personal statements
In some personal statements, metaphors are used to describe applicants’ lives. Applicants may take passages from a classic book or compare their lives to a particular object, event, or feeling. Metaphors are used by many applicants as a writing tool to make their personal statements unique because metaphors may give the impression that the applicants are philosophical or creative. In addition, when the personal statements are written well with metaphors as the theme, ideas in the essay become coherent.
What makes metaphors distracting, however, is when they are not used properly. Sometimes, applicants fail to connect the metaphors to the narration of their lives. To avoid doing this in your own personal statement, make sure to refer to the metaphor twice or thrice in your essay. You must show your readers the direct relationship between the metaphor and your experiences.
Quotes in personal statements
Using quotes in personal statements is like using metaphors. A quote that summarizes the life of the applicant is written at the beginning of the essay. Often times, too, the quote is from a famous person.
While it is true that quotes are now overused and that personal statements should be unique, there are ways for you to still make your personal statement different. One way is to use a quote from a less famous person. You may use a line your cousin, friend, or teacher once said. Another way to make your personal statement different is to make sure that you connect the quote to the elements in your essay.
Personal challenges as the theme
When using the approach of writing about personal struggles, the main factor that the admissions committee look for is how the applicant overcomes difficulties. If you plan to use this approach, you must keep in mind to express that you are a strong and persevering person. A bit of drama is acceptable if it is within the context of the essay, but staying in the victim level is never agreeable. In addition, you must have a positive tone all throughout your essay.
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Stories are written with the intention to touch other people’s lives and make a difference in their way of living. The story that touched my life is “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom. It tells the story of a young man who continues to face the challenges of life by keeping in mind all the lessons that his teacher taught him. His teacher, Morrie, is a kind of teacher who gives lessons that go way pass books and journals. He teaches about life and how you should live it.
Like Mitch, I had a special teacher too. Her name was Ms. Parker. Ms. Parker was my high school math teacher. Unlike stereotypical math teachers, Ms. Parker was not scary at all. She was very kind to us and she taught math without making it seem like a whole different language. She explained theorems clearly and she even taught us some new solving techniques. I never taught that I would actually enjoy math. Noticing the vast improvement in my grades, Ms. Parker asked me to join the school’s math club. I was a bit hesitant at first because I was part of the basketball team and in my clique, joining an academic club meant social suicide. Ms. Parker was insistent and she told me that I really have potential. She even told me that I can be a part of the math team if I want to.
I’ve never been the “smart one” in the family. I was always “the jock”. Because of Ms. Parker, I was given the chance to break away from the stereotype that jocks care more about their games than their education. We care about our education but many people find it hard to believe because of our varsity jackets and our cheerleader girlfriends. I joined the math club anyway and I even qualified for the math team. We traveled across the state to represent the school in math contests. Even if we only a won a silver during regionals, I still feel like a winner.
The experience made me re-think my future plans. Back then, I practiced basketball every day to get myself a basketball scholarship to support me through college but now, I actually have a shot at getting a scholarship because of my grades. I learned that it takes a great teacher to help students realize their future. In my case, Ms. Parker made me realize that teaching is my calling. Being a teacher, I know, is not that easy. The role of the teacher goes beyond checking test papers and drawing Carthesian planes. A teacher is a role model. A person who teaches the things that you can’t learn from books.
My grade point average is not as impressive as the other applicants but my grades have improved greatly over the years. Grades, I believe, are not the only basis of a person’s intelligence. I think that it is more important that I learned a lot from all my lessons and that I tried to incorporate them to my life. I wish to extend my love for education to other students by teaching them not only the lessons they need to pass their exams but also those things that they need to get through life. Like Morrie, I want to touch lives. I want to make a difference in this world by helping other students live the good life.
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