How to be the Real You in Writing
by Kathleen M.
As Oscar Wilde famously quipped, “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” If only this advice were easy to follow when you are writing a personal essay to be included in your college admission portfolio. But it is necessary because the college of your dreams wants an authentic and honest sense of who you are.
Authentic you. When you write and add in words you don’t fully understand, you don’t sound like yourself. The thesaurus can only offer you similar words, but it doesn’t always fully explain that the word may not work in the way you intend it.
A funny example of this is in the TV show Friends when Joey drafts a letter to help Chandler and Monica’s adoption case. Joey uses the replace function with most of words and ends up with nonsense! (you can watch a clip here).
Honest you. When you tell a story about yourself in language you fully understand, you will be much better able to engage the audience.
When you show off or aim to impress, it is really easy to miss the mark. I know that lots of writers feel a sense of imposter syndrome, but you have to fight the urge to sound like an expert when you are still learning and have to trust that you are capable of completing the task as yourself.
So my advice is to sit down when you are ready to compose a draft and write.
For this initial draft, you are just writing for yourself. Then as you revise, you can address audience concerns and think about possible readers and wonder if they will “get” you. But chances are pretty good that if you are genuine, any reader will see that.
If you need some inspiration, read some sample personal statements, or personal essays by famous people. You might try Oliver Sacks or Rebecca Solnit.
And remember the thesaurus is a wonderful tool but shouldn’t be overused!
Other posts that can help guide you on how to write authentically in a college essay:
Can I Use ChatGPT for my Application Essays?
