Constructing Transitions: How to Glue it All Together
by Kathleen M.
One of the challenges of the personal essay is writing effective transitions. When we are writing essays, we know to refer back to our thesis statement in order to create transitions, or to look for the connection between ideas and make that connection clear.
These same lessons apply to the personal college application essay. Just remember that transitions are the glue that hold the essay together. In personal essays, you will primarily be working with transitions that suggest addition, contrast, and example.
Take a moment to think about your essay and what you want the audience to understand about you. Now, consider what relationship you want the reader to see between ideas in each paragraph. Then think about how paragraphs can be connected to one another and how that connection can help the reader to stay engaged or to fully understand what you are trying to communicate.
Here is an example from a personal statement without transitions:
I worked in blood drives that lasted approximately 12 to 15 hours. The process went from specimen collection all the way to processing the units of blood by breaking them into components. The days were long and taxing. Our efforts were rewarding.
And revised with transitions added:
As a volunteer with the blood bank, I worked blood drives that could last up to 15 hours. Not only did the process include specimen collection, but I helped to break the blood into its component parts as well. Even though the days were long and taxing, my efforts were rewarding.
There are many online sources for transition words, which you could use with these tips:
- Make sure they fit with the tone and sense of your essay;
- Embrace variety in transition words;
- And use the most concise and clear option to express your idea.
For other tips in addition to transitions and the college application personal essay, students may check out the resources here:
“The Form & Style of Personal Statements”
