"The
best advice I received about writing the application was to 'freewrite.'
I just sat down at the computer and filled up the page. This made
it much easier to tell my story." -
2001 Truman Scholar
The easiest way
to begin is simply to start writing. Don't start with the object of
"writing the personal statement;" and don't worry about making
it the right length-that can come later. Just write honestly and truthfully
about yourself and the significant moments and people in your life.
Understand that
you will write multiple drafts, and give yourself permission to write
very very badly. Chances are the first, second, and even third drafts
will be just awful, and that's OK. Spill it out on the page, let your
sentences romp, pretend you're Faulkner and you've never heard of commas
and periods. Don't worry that if tomorrow you are hit by a truck and
friends read through your papers, that they will find your personal
essay drafts and decide that you are a fraud. The truth is, perfection
is not lovable anyway.
"I
think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run
carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't
have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot
of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a
whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing
it."
-
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Only after you've
written some really terrible drafts will you be ready to begin sifting,
organizing, and revisioning your life story.
Keep some basic
principles in mind as you go:
There is no such thing as a model for a personal statement.
Samples of other applicant's personal statements can help you see how
they tackled the problem of explaining themselves to the world, but
your personal statement is yours alone. Only you can write it, and it
must be specific to you. That doesn't mean it must be absolutely unique
and the ideas you express must be totally original. It does mean that
it must be honest, sincere, and convey something about your ideas, your
beliefs, and your experiences that lists of activities and the praise
of recommenders cannot. Capture the passion you feel, and don't worry
about whether the committee has heard it before.
Everybody has a story.
Maybe you didn't endure a traumatic childhood, or spend a year in Bosnia
working with refugees, but you have had experiences that are interesting
and have been formative to your development as a person and a scholar.
Don't worry about whose stories are most important or most interesting
to committees--just tell yours.
What's your line? Telling your story chronologically may help
you to remember key moments and turning points, but there are more compelling
narrative techniques. What are the threads that tie together the separate
pieces of your life? What questions about the world do you find yourself
consistently attempting to explore? Was there a moment where you just
knew you had discovered what you want to do next?
Think strategically.
You can't reveal everything about yourself in 1000 words, so you must
decide what personal characteristics to emphasize in your statement.
What are the most important life experiences, service activities, values,
and ambitions that define who you are? What do you most want a committee
to know about you?
Questions to
ask yourself:
- What's unusual,
special, and distinctive about me? What events, people, or family
history have shaped and influenced me? What would help the committee
better understand me?
- When did I first
become interested in my field of study? What have I learned since
then? What have I learned about myself?
- What drives me,
motivates me--in my field of study, my projected career, my life?
What makes me tick?
For more excellent
writing advice on personal statements in general, and on the Truman
application in particular, see http://www.truman.gov/advice/.
Adapted from material authored by
Jane Curlin, Program Manager
Morris K. Udall Foundation
