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10 Great Essay Writing Tips

Knowing how to write a college essay is a useful skill for anyone who plans to go to college. Most colleges and universities ask you to submit a writing sample with your application. As a student, you’ll also write essays in your courses. Impress your professors with your knowledge and skill by using these great essay writing tips.

Prepare to Answer the Question

Most college essays ask you to answer a question or synthesize information you learned in class. Review notes you have from lectures, read the recommended texts and make sure you understand the topic. You should refer to these sources in your essay.

Plan Your Essay

Many students see planning as a waste of time, but it actually saves you time. Take a few minutes to think about the topic and what you want to say about it. You can write an outline, draw a chart or use a graphic organizer to arrange your ideas. This gives you a chance to spot problems in your ideas before you spend time writing out the paragraphs.

Choose a Writing Method That Feels Comfortable

You might have to type your essay before turning it in, but that doesn’t mean you have to write it that way. Some people find it easy to write out their ideas by hand. Others prefer typing in a word processor where they can erase and rewrite as needed. Find the one that works best for you and stick with it.

View It as a Conversation

Writing is a form of communication, so think of your essay as a conversation between you and the reader. Think about your response to the source material and the topic. Decide what you want to tell the reader about the topic. Then, stay focused on your response as you write.

Provide the Context in the Introduction

If you look at an example of an essay introduction, you’ll see that the best essays give the reader a context. Think of how you introduce two people to each other. You share the details you think they will find most interesting. Do this in your essay by stating what it’s about and then telling readers what the issue is.

Explain What Needs to be Explained

Sometimes you have to explain concepts or define words to help the reader understand your viewpoint. You also have to explain the reasoning behind your ideas. For example, it’s not enough to write that your greatest achievement is running an ultra marathon. You might need to define ultra marathon and explain why finishing the race is such an accomplishment.

Answer All the Questions

After you finish writing the first draft of your essay, make sure you’ve answered all the questions you were supposed to answer. For example, essays in compare and contrast format should show the similarities and differences between ideas, objects or events. If you’re writing about a significant achievement, describe what you did and how it affected you.

Stay Focused as You Write

Writing requires concentration. Find a place where you have few distractions and give yourself time to write without interruptions. Don’t wait until the night before the essay is due to start working on it.

Read the Essay Aloud to Proofread

When you finish writing your essay, read it aloud. You can do this by yourself or ask someone to listen to you read it. You’ll notice places where the ideas don’t make sense, and your listener can give you feedback about your ideas.

Avoid Filling the Page with Words

A great essay does more than follow an essay layout. It has something to say. Sometimes students panic and write everything they know about a topic or summarize everything in the source material. Your job as a writer is to show why this information is important.

Example Of Myself Essay Examples

Show More My name means light and I was named after my great grandmother. I come from an Albanian family, and I know how to speak Albanian and some french. I have three younger sisters and a little maltipoo puppy named Sandy. I currently live with my uncle and grandparents in their condo. I would describe myself as being very introverted and quiet. I’m also very independent. I really don’t like working with partners, unless they’re my friends or I feel comfortable around them. But I generally like to do things on my own. I don’t really know if I’ve accomplished all that much in life. I feel like graduating high school would be one of my accomplishment, and moving out of my parents’ home. Some of my interests are reading novels-more specifically Stephen …show more content… I also like to relax and I have a weak spot for babies and animals. I dislike a lot of things, to be quite honest. I generally dislike anything that has to do with zombies, terrible movies,talking to people, my dad’s singing, traffic, gym class, and being bored. I think some of my strengths would be my independence, calmness, and kindness. I like being independent, and I hate depending on others for things. I’m pretty calm in most situations, I try to not let things stress me out too much and I tend to be very laid back. And I’m a very polite, nice person to anyone I greet and I try to be nice to everyone, even if they’re rude to me. Some weaknesses I have is I’m not so strong physically, I’m very quiet, I’m a procrastinator, and I’m an overthinker. I wish I was more physically stronger, so I can defend myself in case I ever get attacked out of nowhere one day. I tend to be very quiet when talking to people, and it’s either they can’t hear me most of the time, or I have a hard time speaking to them. I’m trying to overcome it, but it’s a very difficult process for me. I was huge procrastinator ever since I started Kindergarten. My motto was “Have fun and do work later.” I’m slowly overcoming …show more content… It’s really hard for me not to overthink. I’m trying to control my thoughts more, and not let it get to me so much. I want to be a more confident, successful person. I really would like to be an author. I have a million stories in my mind, and I would love if my books became really popular and have their own little movie franchise. I guess I want to be an author because I think books can change people’s lives and they can really make a difference. I also want to overcome my anxiety when talking to people and developed a more positive outlook than a negative one on things. I want to be this because I just want to improve myself. I want to be more assertive and stand up for myself more. How I see myself in 10 years is I will be happily married, have a good career, a few kids, and a family dog. For my goals: Besides being an author;I really would like to become a criminal psychologist or a Kindergarten teacher;becoming more confident and assertive; balancing my time better; make new friends; and to stop procrastinating. I haven’t taken much activity to these goals, but it’s slowly getting there. I plan on taking some more psychology and child development classes to figure out which career path I really want to

The Importance Of Conflict In Interpersonal Communication

I stand up for myself and others when they are unrightfully attacked; however, I never go looking for confrontation. I know how to present myself in a confident manner. I never want to look entirely spineless. I know how to be non-assertive and occasionally choose it over being assertive when I feel it is more socially pleasing. I try to be easy going in most situations, especially if others have strong opinions on a subject and I do not.…

What Does Depression Mean To You Essay

(1) Currently, I am not too happy with what is going on with my life right now. I am not too happy because I feel somewhat isolated and alone sometimes. I live on campus and I am in a coed fraternity, but I feel that I am not living a “college student’s life” so to speak. I don’t like to “party” and I can be pretty quiet at times, and I feel like that makes me somewhat of an “outcast” from the world. I don’t want to change myself of course, but I sometimes wish people could accept me more for who I am and respect the fact that I don’t like to do super crazy things.…

My Life Without Regrets

I remember getting complement about how much I would smile. But then something happened and I became this person who doesn’t genuinely laugh much anymore. I find it hard to joke and I’ve turned into this “buzz kill” kind of person. Where before I would have been honest but with a side of humor so that people never were hurt by what I said and it wouldn’t bother anyone. But, now I’m just brutally honest and it tends to hurt people’s feelings, or the way I say things may get misinterpreted.…

Personal Reflection: Keirsey Temperament Sorter Assessment

I always put things in order. I am firm for the most part in conversation. I am not rude, when people ask me my opinion or a question I give them a real answer, and people tend to appreciate that. I notice that for thinkers it is said that we do not do well with showing emotion or are uncomfortable with others emotions (Sharf, 2013). I do not like showing other people my emotions because it makes me feel weak.…

Health Course Reflection

I am actually happier being unsocial, unspiritual, and sometimes unfit (as weird as that last one sounds). I have extreme social anxiety and get terrible anxiety when I think about life and my relationships. I also do not enjoy working out. Even though I am constantly indecisive about my body, working out has never made me happier about myself. I understand that it is critical for my health, which is why I do it anyway, but it in no way contributes to my happiness.…

My Personality Assessments

First, my emotional stability or my “tough-mindedness” tends to not be so high. I often wear my heart on my sleeve and let smaller things bother me. I understand that this will improve with maturity and experience but right now I need to work on not always letting my emotions control the situation. I need to learn to take a minute and process all information before reacting. Another weakness is the fact that I tend to get bored easily.…

The Importance Of Timid Traps

When I was young, I thought I was the only one who was right for everything. I would not accept people’s advice because I always thought I should just do whatever I want to. This perspective has made me not friendly at all. Even though I still had many friends, they did think playing with me was fun, and we sometimes got into fights and broke up. The change of my perspective was not sudden but had a slow progress.…

What Makes Mediocre Movies

Now sometimes these movies can be great, but often times the film is mediocre or even terrible. Classifying movies into three distinct categories, fantastic, mediocre, and terrible, can help people everywhere determine what movies they need to watch. Motion pictures are a great way to entertain company. Fantastic movies need a great storyline, realistic visual effects, and suitable actors. I believe that in order to have a successful movie, it needs an easy to follow yet mind blowing storyline.…

Reflective Essay: The Writing Of Myself As A Writer

I write because my life wouldn 't be the same if I didn’t. I write because my mind would explode if I didn’t. I write because I want to prove myself to everyone. I write because it helps me grow as a person. I write because my life depends on it.…

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Sample Essay about Me

It’s my life.

My name is Ann Smith. I am a senior in high school . Everyone can agree that I am a good student and that I like to study . My favorite subjects are chemistry and biology. I am going to enter the university because my goal is to study these subjects in future and to become a respected professional in one of the fields.

I can say that I am a responsible and a hard-working student . Moreover, being a sociable person , I have many friends since I like to communicate with people and get to know new interesting individuals. I enjoy my time at school : it is really nice to study, the students are very friendly and ready to help. The atmosphere cannot but make me want to go there every time. I like to receive and deal with challenging tasks . I am a very enthusiastic student and I think this is a strong point of mine.

My friends say that I am a very funny and an interesting girl with a good sense of humor. As soon as I meet new people who are happy to meet me, I feel extremely comfortable with them. I believe that friendship is one of the most important values in human life . We exchange new ideas, find many interesting things about each other and experience new things. I appreciate friendship and people who surround me.

Meeting new people who support all my efforts to grow and develop my skills not only in the subjects but also in my hobbies gives me a lot of energy. Many of those friends who surround me now I met on the street while doing my hobby. I’m in love with photography, so the thing I love doing so much became even more enjoyable. I decided to take beautiful pictures of accidental people and share these photos with them by emails or in social media. I feel happiness inside seeing how happy they are looking at the pictures where they are walking or sitting somewhere in the park. In this way, Liza became my best friend and we both believe that we meant to meet because she studies the same classes and we have similar life goals.

The goal I’m currently striving for is to make this world a better place to live in by starting the changes with myself. Sure, I’ve had bad experiences in my life too, but this is exactly what made me the way I am now: grateful, full of love, with a desire to study well because it will help me become a successful person in future and have a high quality of life. I believe that it is manifesting day by day and I feel even more responsibility for what I do and where I go. With all I already have, I know that I’m on the right path and I will do my best to inspire others to live the way they feel like living as well.

Some Essential Tips On How To Write An Essay About Yourself

No matter what’s the purpose of your essay, there is a preset number of points that you will be expected to address.

The main line should be that you are not a robot, and that it is your feelings and emotions that define you as a personality. Do not get stuck with material possessions and what you have achieved in life. That has to do only with a small portion of who you are.

Avoid overly simplified ideas. You are a human being after all, and your life is not as simple as it may seem after years of school. You wouldn’t want to seem or sound too simple. The more substance you create out of your daily activities, the better. Longer sentences will be good.

Include a few dream-like paragraphs to stress the point that you are not a robot. Sometimes it can get hard explaining your feelings and emotions, you may say.

The best way to get to know people is to see how they react to stimuli. Use your essay to pick a few incidents or just more or less regular events to attempt and define what your character is at its core.

Find amusing in ordinary and showcase that. Your job is to present the ordinary stuff that happens to you in a way that will make the reader want to know you better. It’s all a matter of the right perspective. You have to take multiple stands on what you are as a person, and include that all in an ordered form.

How do you fit with your friends, family and just immediate surrounding? Where is your place in the world?

What is the purpose of your life? If a question like that is too global for your work, you can just include the things that you enjoy. Don’t forget to say why or explain any symbolism connected with the things you love.

Avoid Unclear Definitions

It is really easy to get lost when you are writing something as vague and as perspective-oriented as an essay about yourself. People tend to choose a number of themes of who they are and try to describe them all.

That would be very confusing for the reader. Not to mention that it would be hard to write and navigate in between those themes. After all, very few people know you well enough, and it is almost certain that your essay is going to be read mostly by strangers or just people who know you marginally.

What you do instead is pick one theme: which light do you want to be seen in? Once you have answered that question, you are ready to go. Stay true to the theme, and you will get a coherent piece that will get you a good grade.

If you are going to write your own essay from scratch, our manual on « How to write an essay » will be useful for you.

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Personal Essay on When I Function the Best

When Do You Function the Best? There are people who function best in the evening or even at night, but I just don’t understand them. Being an early riser, around 9 o’clock in the evening I can’t think about anything except for reading a book in my bed for about half an hour and falling…

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Sample of Life Essay

Life Is… Different religions offer their own explanation and picture of life. The variety of opinions and perceptions make these pictures even more colourful and explanation even more argumentative. But no one of us in fact knows what life is and where it takes its beginning. There is no universe knowledge about what there is…

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Personal Essay Examples About Yourself

There are times where you want to prove yourself and write an essay about yourself. Well, we’ve got you covered! Check out the already written essays below and use them as a guide to writing your own!

Essay About Myself Helps You To Establish Your Personality And Connect With An Audience

Describing yourself could be a challenging task, but when it comes to an assignment, you can’t skip it. So, are currently dealing with an essay that requires you to describe yourself? Are you finding it challenging to do so? If so, we are here to help. We understand how normal it is to go blank when asked about describing oneself. And, if you’re a student, the pressure to do so could be immense. It is because you know the reader would be marking your write-up rather than reading it for fun. The pressure to write better and follow the right structure can be overwhelming. It can end up making you freeze or feel you’re not good enough. However, the reality is otherwise. Here are a few things you can do to avoid being in that situation:

Following these simple steps will ensure you create an essay that leaves an impression.

Besides, if you’re confused about what to include in your personal essay, here are a few suggestions:

Short Essay Sample About Yourself

Still confused? Here is a short sample essay to help you grab the idea if you’ve been asked to describe yourself in an essay:

personal essay about yourself (short example)

Describing myself is one of the toughest tasks to do, but it’s fascinating too, to put it to words. I believe our traits – be they positive or negative – make us the person we are to the world. When it comes to my personality, people can have different opinions because they see what they want to see in me, and that’s okay. So, I would describe myself from the paradigm I see myself from in different aspects.

As a person, I believe life is an art, and I am the artist of my life. I try to keep it full of colors and as cheerful as possible no matter what life throws at me. I am an enthusiast and a person full of curiosity. Curious to know what life is all about and what it holds in the future.

I like to keep a smile on my face no matter what I am going through, and that smile keeps me going. Besides, I was brought up in a multicultural community. Therefore, I am an extrovert, and I like to meet people, I love to experience their lives, cultures, and traditions, which makes me happy and cheerful.

Moreover, I am reliable but very short-tempered. I lose my calm if not understood properly. I get very irritated internally, but that doesn’t show in my behavior. However, I would like to change this character trait a little because my friends and dear ones often do not notice that I have some troubles. Thus, they do not offer help when I need it.

Good or bad, This is me, trying to contemplate the world as it is, revealing its true colors. I believe life is a gift, and it should be treated like one, with love, care, and respect.

Long Essay Example on “Describe Yourself “

Below is one more example to help you understand the idea of personal essays better.

“Tell something about yourself?” It could be one of the toughest questions when asked impulsively. However, people who like sharing their achievements and personal life with others may find it another opportunity to reveal their unique traits. But with me, the case is quite the opposite. Talking about myself has never been my thing. Yet, I would still try to describe myself in the best way I can. I would like to start with my background and then move to how I am as a student and then how I am inside and how the world sees me.

The first thing that I would like to write to introduce myself is that I am nothing but just a unique kind of ‘substance’ made up of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, trying to leave a positive mark in the world. In the effort to do so, I have been continuously changing qualitatively. Being an only child raised by a single mother, I have had quite a rough childhood. Giving up on my aspirations and wishes was a normal part of my life. Living with limited luxuries and growing up without a father and siblings has a massive role in my personality today. I know how it is like not to have someone to hear you out when you come back home after a terrible day at school. Hence, I always try to be an ear to my friends and make them feel better.

However, I never let my financial constraints and not-so-easy family life get in the way of my academic goals. On the contrary, I have always been keen to learn new things and achieve good grades. As a result, I successfully managed to land in my dream college, that too on scholarship. Getting into college on scholarship was one of my biggest dreams as well as a major goal. Besides, it gave me a chance to make my mother proud of me. Making her a proud mother has always been my dream, and I can’t be happier to achieve some aspect of that dream.

Lastly, I would like to tell you that I may seem like a bright student who is confident and arrogant. But, in actuality, it is the opposite. I am a person that has to deal with social anxiety every day, which means I have to struggle a lot to make new friends, attend social events, and give presentations. I never tend to initiate a conversation or say enough to keep the conversation going with many people I don’t know. This may give them the impression that I am an arrogant teen. But, from the inside, I am as humble as a dove. I can never say no to anyone, and I can never ignore someone who needs help. I am as fragile as glass. My confidence level can go to zero on one uncomfortable remark.

All in all, this is precisely who I am as a person. And, I believe my experiences and relationships with others have a great role in making me what I am today. After all, humans are social animals. So, no matter how introverted or timid I am, I still need real connections that help me experience life at its best.

Essays About Myself: Top 5 Essay Examples Plus Prompts

We are all unique individuals, each with traits, skills, and qualities we should be proud of. Here are examples and prompts on essays about myself .

It is good to reflect on ourselves from time to time. When applying for university or a new job, you may be asked to write about yourself to give the institution a better picture of yourself. Self-understanding and reflection are essential if you want to make a compelling argument for yourself.

Reflect on your life: look back on the people you’ve met, the places you’ve been, and the experiences you’ve had, and think about how they have shaped you into the person you have become today. Think of the bigger picture and be sure to consider who you are based on what others think and say about you, not just who you think you are.

If you are tasked with the prompt, “essays about myself,” keep reading to see some essay examples.

1. It’s My Life by Ann Smith

“Sure, I’ve had bad experiences in my life too, but this is exactly what made me the way I am now: grateful, full of love, with a desire to study well because it will help me become a successful person in future and have a high quality of life. I believe that it is manifesting day by day and I feel even more responsibility for what I do and where I go. With all I already have, I know that I’m on the right path and I will do my best to inspire others to live the way they feel like living as well.”

In her essay, Smith describes her interests, habits, and qualities. She writes that she is sociable, enthusiastic about studying, and friendly. She also touches on others’ opinions of her- that she is funny. One of Smith’s hobbies is photography, which allowed her to meet her best friend. She aims to study hard so she can be successful on whatever path she may follow, and inspire others to live their best life.

2. How I See Myself? by Leticia Woods

“It is this drive that will carry me through my degree program and allow me to absorb the education that I receive and develop solid practical applications from this knowledge. I feel that I will eventually become highly successful in my chosen field because my past has clearly shown my commitment to excellence in every endeavor that I have chosen. Because I remain incredibly focused and committed for future success, I know that my future will be as rewarding as my past.”

Woods discusses how her identity helps her achieve her career goals. First, her commitment to her education is a great asset. Second, prior education and her service in the US Air Force allowed her to learn much about life, the world, and herself, and she was able to learn about different cultures. She believes that experience, devotion, and knowledge will allow her to achieve her dreams.

3. The Truth About Myself by Madeline Dyer

“I’m getting better as I recover from the brain inflammation which caused my OCD, but I want to have a day like that. A day where I can relax and enjoy life fully again. A day where I haven’t a care in the world. And for that, I need to be kind to myself. I need to relax and remove any pressure I place on myself.”

Dyer reflects on an important part of herself- her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Brain inflammation has made her a perfectionist, and she cannot relax. She is constantly compelled by an inner voice to do things she “should” be doing. She wants to be happy, and will try to shut off this voice by practicing self-affirmation.

4. What We See in Others is a Reflection of Ourselves by Sandra Brossman

“Believe it or not, forgiving YOURSELF is the most effective way to disengage from negative interactions with people. We can only love and accept others to the degree that we love and accept ourselves. When you make it a habit to learn from your relationships, eventually you will discover that you can observe negative traits within others without judgment and without getting hooked into someone else’s drama.”

In her essay, Brossman writes how we see what we desire for ourselves in others. Our relationships help us understand ourselves better; we see people’s bad qualities and criticize them, professing that we will not be like them. On the other hand, we see qualities we like and try to imitate them. To become a better version of yourself, you should learn from your relationships and emulate desirable qualities.

5. A Letter To Myself by Gladys Mclaughlin

“I never tell anyone that I am tired of work or study. Success will come to those who get up and go far. This is my life motto which always reminds me of how vital it is to be hard-working and resilient towards failures. I learn that no matter what others say (even mother and father) if their

thoughts contradict my goals, I don’t have to listen to them. Nobody will live your life, and nobody should tell you who you are and what you are.”

Mclaughlin writes a letter to her future self, explaining what she envisions for herself in the coming years. She writes about who she is now and describes her vision for how much better she will be in the future. She believes that she will have great encounters that will teach her about life, a loving, kind family, and an independent spirit that will triumph over all her struggles

Writing Prompts For Essays About Myself

1. introducing yourself.

Essays About Myself: Introducing yourself

Write a basic description of yourself; describe where you live, your school or job, and your family and friends. You should also give readers a glimpse of your personality- are you outgoing, shy, or sporty? If you want to write more, you can also briefly explain your hobbies, interests, and skills.

2. Describing Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses. Reflect on what you are good at and what you can improve on and select 1-2 from each to write about. Discuss what you can do to work on your weaknesses and improve yourself.

3. What Sets You Apart from Others

An essential part of yourself is your uniqueness; for a strong essay about “myself,” think about beliefs, qualities, or values that set you apart from others. Write about one or more, but be sure to explain your choices clearly. You can write about what separates you in the context of your family, friend group, culture, or even society as a whole.

4. Your Beliefs and Values

Your beliefs and values are at the core of your being, as they guide the decisions you make every day. Discuss some of your basic beliefs and values and explain why they are important to you. For a stronger essay, be sure to explain how you use these in day-to-day life; give concrete examples of situations in which these beliefs and values are used.

5. An Experience That Has Defined You as a Person

We are all shaped by our past experiences. Reflect on an experience, whether that be an achievement, setback, or just a fun memory, and explain its significance to you. Retell the story in detail and describe how it has impacted you and helped make you the person you are today.

6. What Family Means to You

Essays About Myself: What family means to you?

More often than not, family plays a big role in forming us. To give readers a better idea of your identity, describe your idea of family. Discuss its significance, impact, and role in your life. You may also choose to write about how your family has helped shape you into who you are. This should be based on personal experience; refrain from using external sources to inspire you.

7. Your Favorite Pasttime

Our likes and dislikes are an important part of who we are as well; in your essay, discuss a hobby of yours, preferably one you have been interested in for a long period of time, and explain why you enjoy it so much. You should also write about how it has helped you become yourself and made you a better person.

Grammarly is one of our top grammar checkers. Find out why in this Grammarly review . If you’re stuck picking your next essay topic, check out our round-up of essay topics about education .

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Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Myself — About Myself

Essay Examples About Myself

Who am i: creative writing, a few words about myself, my plans for a successful future, letter about myself from the 3rd person, how it feels to be an introvert, who am i: discussion of my personality and life, what is your true self: the importance of self-awareness, how my future self is my hero, a life-story about me, myself and i, me, myself and i: ordinary person, real-life experience, the void in my life, admission to the university of adelaide: describe your background, answer on the large-scale question 'who am i', the way my curiosity defines myself and my desires, what makes me me: essay on my personality, that's how my personality defines myself, who am i: a glimpse of my personality development, one day i'll be someone's first choice, analysis of my top-5 personal strengths, self-awareness: my experience on path to better me, analysis of a teenager's personality profile, a look at the benefit of personal encouragement, who am i: answering the question through the body theory, memory theory, and illusion theory, the analysis of my personality tests, a reflection on myself as a writer, my addiction to volleyball, personal writing: why i love winter, personal narrative: myself as a writer, the analysis of my relationships with the roommate, feeling stressed about your essay.

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How To Write an Essay About Yourself (and Cement Your Writing Style)

Student Writing an About Me Essay on Laptop

The “about me” essay is a classic assignment. Part of that comes from its practicality; it’s a good way to introduce yourself to new people. The “about me” essay also helps your teacher get an idea of your writing voice and style, and it involves a lot of elements that you’ll find in other writing, from research papers to fiction. Looking at some creative “about me” essay examples can help you figure out where to get started.

Brainstorming an Essay About Yourself

Before you even open your document, you should take some time to brainstorm ideas for your essay. Aside from your teacher’s instructions, the sky's the limit here. A lot of “about me” essays discuss:

A personal accomplishment of some kind (winning a writing contest, running a marathon, getting a black belt)

A special moment with a family member

A challenging moment in your life

A talent or skill that you developed and the journey you took to gain it

How To Start an Essay About Yourself

Getting started is the hardest part of anything, and essays are no different. The "about me" introduction is ostensibly the most important part of an essay. The intro is the first thing the reader sees, and it gives a reason for the reader to keep reading.

Start With a Hook

The hook is the opening sentence of the introduction. It’s the actual first thing that the reader sees, so it should be engaging and immediately hook the reader in while setting the tone for the rest of the essay.

That can be hard to accomplish, but there are a few different strategies to go with:

Starting with something surprising or unexpected is the best way to go, but try not to overthink it. Even going with a basic statement ( My name is Edna, and I love apples. ) is enough to entice a reader (Why does she love apples? Why is she writing a whole essay about her love of apples?).

Introduce Details

Once you’ve got your hook down, get into what you actually want to talk about in your personal essay. Most “about me” essays highlight a special event or episode from your life that illustrates some larger insight about you. Use sensory details and try to keep things concrete.

The hard part is introducing the event without going too deep into the details (that’s what the rest of the essay is for).

Conclude Your Intro

If this was a research paper or traditional five-paragraph essay , the conclusion of your intro would technically be your thesis sentence . This sentence outlines the whole point of the essay. What are the contents of this essay saying about you? What insights are you revealing about your personality through the whole essay?

It’s okay to work your way backwards here. Start with a pretty basic thesis, write out the body of the essay, and then go back and modify the thesis as you see fit.

What To Include in an Essay About Yourself

Approach a creative essay about yourself the way you’d approach telling your best friend a story. You want to put in enough details that the story makes sense without ending up on weird tangents, all while incorporating a bit of your personality.

Easy, right?

Use Paragraphs

Seems obvious, but make use of paragraphs to break up your story. Exact length will vary based on what your teacher says, but shorter essays should have one to two body paragraphs, while longer essays should have at least three paragraphs.

Unless your teacher says otherwise, stick with at least five sentences per paragraph . Regardless, make sure that each paragraph presents a full thought and leads into the next.

Show, Don’t Tell

This is the type of advice that writers will repeat forever, but it’s even more annoying because it’s true.

Essentially, try to stick with illustrative details that draw from the senses. How did things smell, taste, or physically feel? Specificity and groundedness are more engaging than abstractions. For example:

I’m a really great guitarist.

That’s not super interesting, descriptive, or engaging, and it mostly just sounds like you’re bragging. Compare that to:

When I was five, my dad brought his old guitar out of the dusty attic one spring morning. He held his fingers against the wood of the fretboard and showed me how to strum the strings. I didn’t know then that I’d fall in love with making music. I only knew the safety of sitting in my dad’s lap, my mom holding a cup of coffee and smiling at us plucking away at some strings.

That has images and emotion. It feels concrete while still staying personal, and it urges the reader to want to learn more.

Include Metaphors, Similes, and All That Good Stuff

Use metaphors , similes , and all the other figures of speech available to you to add some creativity to your essay.

How To End an Essay About Yourself

Okay, you’ve got a solid intro, and you’ve finished the body paragraphs. It’s time for your conclusion . The easy part of your conclusion: reiterating your thesis and briefly reviewing your story.

The hard part: thinking beyond the essay. A conclusion addresses the “so what?” of an essay and understands that there is a world outside of the few paragraphs that you just wrote. How do the events of the essay affect who you are now? What did you learn, and how do you plan to apply that to your future endeavors?

Give it some thought, and don’t be afraid to be a little cheesy. As long as you keep it sincere and genuine, a little cheesiness can be effective.

Short "Describe Yourself" Essay Sample

For shorter essays, you generally want to keep things fairly tight and focused, while adding in some creative details and imagery to make it fun to read.

In preschool, the other kids called me "Polka Dot" because of the birthmark on my cheek. I remember coming home crying. My dad told me all the usual sayings about "sticks and stones" and judging a book by its cover, but it was something else he said that really helped me. He said that the people who understand others the best are the ones who haven't always been able to fit in. I still have a birthmark on my cheek, but I've long since become comfortable with it. I think I learned early to accept myself physically, and that's been hugely helpful as I've gone through the teenage years. When everyone else was worrying about whether they had the right shoes or bag or brand of jeans, I've spent my energy on learning about people. My bedroom at home offers a great symbol of who I am and what is important to me. The walls are simply painted and decorated with photographs of my family. My bookcases are filled with psychology texts and sociology journals, and my desk is covered in research papers. I know this isn't the bedroom of a typical teenage girl, but I'm so excited to learn more about psychology and how other people think. I plan to spend my life trying to understand people, and I hope someday to help them in a clinical practice of my own. - Kate Miller-Wilson

Longer Essay About Yourself Example

A longer essay gives you a bit more room to breathe with your details and provides more space for creativity. If you’re not sure how to start, write a shorter essay, then go back and add embellishments where you feel it fits.

Start with a strong introduction , such as an anecdote or specific example of your personality. Follow this with details that help the reader really understand who you are. In a longer essay, you have time to show your skills at descriptive writing .

I remember right where I was sitting the first time I wrote a poem: on the floor of my messy bedroom surrounded by dolls I hadn't played with in months. I couldn't understand why I simply didn't want to play with them anymore. I was getting older, and it scared me. I put my fears on paper, not even really intending to write a poem. I just let the words flow out of my pen, about how I couldn't even remember what my doll's voices sounded like anymore. I tentatively showed the poem to my teacher the next day at school, and I was surprised when she loved it. I hadn't really thought it was anything amazing. My teacher's encouragement gave me the support I needed to keep writing. I began to read books of poetry, and I wrote every single day. I learned that in order to improve, I had to write whether I felt inspired or not. By the end of eighth grade, I had written 200 poems. They weren't all great. In fact, a lot of them were really bad. A few stood out, though, and my teacher helped me enter one in a local contest. When it won, I knew I just had to keep writing. I kept at it all through high school, receiving plenty of rejections. Some of those rejections were devastating, and there were times I felt like quitting. By now, though, I thought of myself as a writer. What would I be if I stopped writing? So, I dug in and wrote. I wrote about teenage things, about heartbreak and existential crisis. I wrote about my world, about my school, and the beauty of our natural surroundings. Often, I just wrote about my perspective and tried to convey that in a way that moved other people. Now, as graduation approaches, I have been published 24 times. I'm certain I want to pursue a degree in creative writing. There's so much to learn about words and the beautiful ways we can use them, and I want to learn all of it. I hope to get a BA in creative writing, and after that, I want an MFA. Some day, I'd like to support others who write too, just as my encouraging teachers helped me. My journey as a writer has taught me a lot of things about myself, but the most important thing I've learned is that I don't give up. It takes more than natural talent to become good at something; you simply have to do it. The old adage is true: Writers write. I write when I know I'm making something I love, but I also write when I'm discouraged and think I have little to say. I write to be read, but I also write knowing sometimes, no one will read my work. My persistence is the secret of my success so far, and I know it will serve me well in college and beyond. - Kate Miller-Wilson