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Tips for crafting a compelling and authentic personal essay.

Writing an essay about yourself can be a daunting task, but when done right, it can be a powerful tool to showcase who you are and what makes you unique. Whether you’re applying for college, a scholarship, or a job, a well-crafted essay can help you stand out from the crowd and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

When writing a personal essay, it’s important to strike a balance between being informative and engaging. You want to provide the reader with insight into your background, experiences, and goals, while also keeping them interested and invested in your story. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of writing a compelling essay about yourself, from brainstorming ideas to polishing your final draft.

Essential Tips for Crafting

When crafting a compelling essay about yourself, it is important to think about your audience and what message you want to convey. Here are some essential tips to help you create an engaging and authentic essay:

A Powerful Personal Essay

Writing a powerful personal essay is a way to express your unique voice and share your personal experiences with the world. By weaving together your thoughts, emotions, and reflections, you can create a compelling narrative that resonates with your audience. To craft a powerful personal essay, start by reflecting on your own experiences and exploring the themes that matter to you. Pay attention to the details and emotions that make your story come alive. Be honest and vulnerable in your writing, as authenticity is key to connecting with your readers. Additionally, consider the structure of your essay and how you can effectively organize your thoughts to engage your audience from beginning to end. By following these tips and staying true to your voice, you can create a powerful personal essay that leaves a lasting impact on your readers.

Choose a Unique Aspect

When writing an essay about yourself, it’s important to focus on a unique aspect of your personality or experiences that sets you apart from others. This could be a specific skill, talent, or life experience that has had a significant impact on your life. By choosing a unique aspect to highlight, you can make your essay more compelling and memorable to the reader. It’s important to showcase what makes you different and showcase your individuality in a way that will capture the reader’s attention.

of Your Personality

When writing about your personality, it’s important to showcase your unique traits and qualities. Describe what sets you apart from others, whether it’s your creativity, resilience, sense of humor, or compassion. Use specific examples and anecdotes to illustrate these characteristics and provide insight into who you are as a person.

Highlight your strengths and acknowledge your weaknesses – this shows self-awareness and honesty. Discuss how your personality has evolved over time and mention any experiences that have had a significant impact on shaping who you are today. Remember to be authentic and genuine in your portrayal of yourself as this will make your essay more compelling and engaging to the reader.

Reflect Deeply on

When writing an essay about yourself, it is crucial to take the time to reflect deeply on your life experiences, values, beliefs, and goals. Consider the events that have shaped you into the person you are today, both positive and negative. Think about your strengths and weaknesses, your passions and interests, and how they have influenced your decisions and actions. Reflecting on your personal journey will help you uncover meaningful insights that can make your essay more compelling and authentic.

Your Life Experiences

When it comes to writing an essay about yourself, one of the most compelling aspects to focus on is your life experiences. These experiences shape who you are and provide unique insights into your character. Reflect on significant moments, challenges you’ve overcome, or memorable events that have had a lasting impact on your life.

• Consider discussing pivotal moments that have influenced your beliefs and values.
• Share personal anecdotes that highlight your strengths and resilience.
• Explore how your life experiences have shaped your goals, aspirations, and ambitions.

By sharing your life experiences in your essay, you can showcase your individuality and demonstrate what sets you apart from others. Be genuine, reflective, and honest in recounting the events that have shaped your journey and contributed to the person you are today.

Create a Compelling

When crafting an essay about yourself, it is essential to create a compelling narrative that captures the attention of the reader from the very beginning. Start by brainstorming unique and engaging personal experiences or qualities that you want to highlight in your essay. Consider including vivid anecdotes, insightful reflections, and impactful moments that showcase your character and achievements. Remember to be authentic and sincere in your writing, as this will resonate with your audience and make your essay more relatable. By creating a compelling narrative, you can effectively communicate your story and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Narrative Structure

The narrative structure is crucial when writing an essay about yourself. It helps to create a compelling and engaging story that showcases your unique qualities and experiences. Start by introducing the main theme or message you want to convey in your essay. Then, build a coherent storyline that highlights significant events or moments in your life. Use descriptive language and vivid details to bring your story to life and make it more relatable to the readers. Include a clear beginning, middle, and end to ensure that your essay follows a logical progression and captivates the audience throughout.

Emphasize the lessons you’ve learned from your experiences and how they have shaped your character and outlook on life. Connect these insights to your personal growth and development, demonstrating your resilience, determination, and self-awareness. End your essay on a reflective note, highlighting the impact of your journey on who you are today and what you aspire to achieve in the future. By following a strong narrative structure, you can craft a captivating essay that showcases your authenticity and leaves a lasting impression on the readers.

Highlight Your

When writing an essay about yourself, it is essential to highlight your unique qualities and experiences that set you apart from others. Consider including personal anecdotes, achievements, strengths, and challenges that have shaped your identity. Focus on showcasing your authenticity and individuality to make your essay compelling and engaging.

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How to Write About Yourself in a College Essay | Examples

Published on September 21, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on May 31, 2023.

An insightful college admissions essay requires deep self-reflection, authenticity, and a balance between confidence and vulnerability. Your essay shouldn’t just be a resume of your experiences; colleges are looking for a story that demonstrates your most important values and qualities.

To write about your achievements and qualities without sounding arrogant, use specific stories to illustrate them. You can also write about challenges you’ve faced or mistakes you’ve made to show vulnerability and personal growth.

Table of contents

Start with self-reflection, how to write about challenges and mistakes, how to write about your achievements and qualities, how to write about a cliché experience, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Before you start writing, spend some time reflecting to identify your values and qualities. You should do a comprehensive brainstorming session, but here are a few questions to get you started:

• What are three words your friends or family would use to describe you, and why would they choose them?
• Whom do you admire most and why?
• What are the top five things you are thankful for?
• What has inspired your hobbies or future goals?
• What are you most proud of? Ashamed of?

As you self-reflect, consider how your values and goals reflect your prospective university’s program and culture, and brainstorm stories that demonstrate the fit between the two.

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Writing about difficult experiences can be an effective way to show authenticity and create an emotional connection to the reader, but choose carefully which details to share, and aim to demonstrate how the experience helped you learn and grow.

Be vulnerable

It’s not necessary to have a tragic story or a huge confession. But you should openly share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences to evoke an emotional response from the reader. Even a cliché or mundane topic can be made interesting with honest reflection. This honesty is a preface to self-reflection and insight in the essay’s conclusion.

Don’t overshare

With difficult topics, you shouldn’t focus too much on negative aspects. Instead, use your challenging circumstances as a brief introduction to how you responded positively.

Share what you have learned

It’s okay to include your failure or mistakes in your essay if you include a lesson learned. After telling a descriptive, honest story, you should explain what you learned and how you applied it to your life.

While it’s good to sell your strengths, you also don’t want to come across as arrogant. Instead of just stating your extracurricular activities, achievements, or personal qualities, aim to discreetly incorporate them into your story.

Brag indirectly

Mention your extracurricular activities or awards in passing, not outright, to avoid sounding like you’re bragging from a resume.

Use stories to prove your qualities

Even if you don’t have any impressive academic achievements or extracurriculars, you can still demonstrate your academic or personal character. But you should use personal examples to provide proof. In other words, show evidence of your character instead of just telling.

Many high school students write about common topics such as sports, volunteer work, or their family. Your essay topic doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, but do try to include unexpected personal details and your authentic voice to make your essay stand out .

To find an original angle, try these techniques:

• Focus on a specific moment, and describe the scene using your five senses.
• Mention objects that have special significance to you.
• Instead of following a common story arc, include a surprising twist or insight.

Your unique voice can shed new perspective on a common human experience while also revealing your personality. When read out loud, the essay should sound like you are talking.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

First, spend time reflecting on your core values and character . You can start with these questions:

However, you should do a comprehensive brainstorming session to fully understand your values. Also consider how your values and goals match your prospective university’s program and culture. Then, brainstorm stories that illustrate the fit between the two.

When writing about yourself , including difficult experiences or failures can be a great way to show vulnerability and authenticity, but be careful not to overshare, and focus on showing how you matured from the experience.

Through specific stories, you can weave your achievements and qualities into your essay so that it doesn’t seem like you’re bragging from a resume.

Include specific, personal details and use your authentic voice to shed a new perspective on a common human experience.

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15 Tips for Writing a College Essay About Yourself

What’s covered:.

• What is the Purpose of the College Essay?
• How to Stand Out Without Showing Off
• 15 Tips for Writing an Essay About Yourself
• Where to Get Free Feedback on Your Essay

Most students who apply to top-tier colleges have exceptional grades, standardized test scores, and extracurricular activities. How do admissions officers decide which applicants to choose among all these stellar students? One way is on the strength of their college essay .

This personal statement, along with other qualitative factors like teacher recommendations, helps the admissions committee see who you really are—the person behind the transcript. So, it’s obviously important to write a great one.

What Is the Purpose of the College Essay? 

Your college essay helps you stand out in a pool of qualified candidates. If effective, it will also show the admissions committee more of your personality and allow them to get a sense of how you’ll fit in with and contribute to the student body and institution. Additionally, it will show the school that you can express yourself persuasively and clearly in writing, which is an important part of most careers, no matter where you end up. 

Typically, students must submit a personal statement (usually the Common App essay ) along with school-specific supplements. Some students are surprised to learn that essays typically count for around 25% of your entire application at the top 250 schools. That’s an enormous chunk, especially considering that, unlike your transcript and extracurriculars, it isn’t an assessment of your entire high school career.  

The purpose of the college essay is to paint a complete picture of yourself, showing admissions committees the person behind the grades and test scores. A strong college essay shows your unique experiences, personality, perspective, interests, and values—ultimately, what makes you unique. After all, people attend college, not their grades or test scores. The college essay also provides students with a considerable amount of agency in their application, empowering them to share their own stories.

How to Stand Out Without Showing Off 

It’s important to strike a balance between exploring your achievements and demonstrating humility. Your aim should be to focus on the meaning behind the experience and how it changed your outlook, not the accomplishment itself. 

Confidence without cockiness is the key here. Don’t simply catalog your achievements, there are other areas on your application to share them. Rather, mention your achievements when they’re critical to the story you’re telling. It’s helpful to think of achievements as compliments, not highlights, of your college essay.  

Take this essay excerpt , for example:

My parents’ separation allowed me the space to explore my own strengths and interests as each of them became individually busier. As early as middle school, I was riding the light rail train by myself, reading maps to get myself home, and applying to special academic programs without urging from my parents. Even as I took more initiatives on my own, my parents both continued to see me as somewhat immature. All of that changed three years ago, when I applied and was accepted to the SNYI-L summer exchange program in Morocco. I would be studying Arabic and learning my way around the city of Marrakesh. Although I think my parents were a little surprised when I told them my news, the addition of a fully-funded scholarship convinced them to let me go. 

Instead of saying “ I received this scholarship and participated in this prestigious program, ” the author tells a story, demonstrating their growth and initiative through specific actions (riding the train alone, applying academic programs on her own, etc.)—effectively showing rather than telling.

15 Tips for Writing an Essay About Yourself 

1. start early .

Leave yourself plenty of time to write your college essay—it’s stressful enough to compose a compelling essay without putting yourself under a deadline. Starting early on your essay also leaves you time to edit and refine your work, have others read your work (for example, your parents or a teacher), and carefully proofread.

2. Choose a topic that’s meaningful to you 

The foundation of a great essay is selecting a topic that has real meaning for you. If you’re passionate about the subject, the reader will feel it. Alternatively, choosing a topic you think the admissions committee is looking for, but isn’t all that important to you, won’t make for a compelling essay; it will be obvious that you’re not very invested in it.

3. Show your personality 

One of the main points of your college essay is to convey your personality. Admissions officers will see your transcript and read about the awards you’ve won, but the essay will help them get to know you as a person. Make sure your personality is evident in each part—if you are a jokester, incorporate some humor. Your friends should be able to pick your essay from an anonymous pile, read it, and recognize it as yours. In that same vein, someone who doesn’t know you at all should feel like they understand your personality after reading your essay. 

4. Write in your own voice 

In order to bring authenticity to your essay, you’ll need to write in your own voice. Don’t be overly formal (but don’t be too casual, either). Remember: you want the reader to get to know the real you, not a version of you that comes across as overly stiff or stilted. You should feel free to use contractions, incorporate dialogue, and employ vocabulary that comes naturally to you. 

5. Use specific examples 

Real, concrete stories and examples will help your essay come to life. They’ll add color to your narrative and make it more compelling for the reader. The goal, after all, is to engage your audience—the admissions committee. 

For example, instead of stating that you care about animals, you should tell us a story about how you took care of an injured stray cat. 

Consider this side-by-side comparison:

Example 1: I care deeply about animals and even once rescued a stray cat. The cat had an injured leg, and I helped nurse it back to health.

Example 2: I lost many nights of sleep trying to nurse the stray cat back to health. Its leg infection was extremely painful, and it meowed in distress up until the wee hours of the morning. I didn’t mind it though; what mattered was that the cat regained its strength. So, I stayed awake to administer its medicine and soothe it with loving ear rubs.

The second example helps us visualize this situation and is more illustrative of the writer’s personality. Because she stayed awake to care for the cat, we can infer that she is a compassionate person who cares about animals. We don’t get the same depth with the first example. 

6. Don’t be afraid to show off… 

You should always put your best foot forward—the whole point of your essay is to market yourself to colleges. This isn’t the time to be shy about your accomplishments, skills, or qualities. 

7. …While also maintaining humility 

But don’t brag. Demonstrate humility when discussing your achievements. In the example above, for instance, the author discusses her accomplishments while noting that her parents thought of her as immature. This is a great way to show humility while still highlighting that she was able to prove her parents wrong.

8. Be vulnerable 

Vulnerability goes hand in hand with humility and authenticity. Don’t shy away from exploring how your experience affected you and the feelings you experienced. This, too, will help your story come to life. 

Here’s an excerpt from a Common App essay that demonstrates vulnerability and allows us to connect with the writer:  

“You ruined my life!” After months of quiet anger, my brother finally confronted me. To my shame, I had been appallingly ignorant of his pain. 

Despite being twins, Max and I are profoundly different. Having intellectual interests from a young age that, well, interested very few of my peers, I often felt out of step in comparison with my highly-social brother. Everything appeared to come effortlessly for Max and, while we share an extremely tight bond, his frequent time away with friends left me feeling more and more alone as we grew older.

In this essay, the writer isn’t afraid to share his insecurities and feelings with us. He states that he had been “ appallingly ignorant ” of his brother’s pain, that he “ often felt out of step ” compared to his brother, and that he had felt “ more and more alone ” over time. These are all emotions that you may not necessarily share with someone you just met, but it’s exactly this vulnerability that makes the essay more raw and relatable. 

9. Don’t lie or hyperbolize 

This essay is about the authentic you. Lying or hyperbolizing to make yourself sound better will not only make your essay—and entire application—less genuine, but it will also weaken it. More than likely, it will be obvious that you’re exaggerating. Plus, if colleges later find out that you haven’t been truthful in any part of your application, it’s grounds for revoking your acceptance or even expulsion if you’ve already matriculated. 

10. Avoid cliches 

How the COVID-19 pandemic changed your life. A sports victory as a metaphor for your journey. How a pet death altered your entire outlook. Admissions officers have seen more essays on these topics than they can possibly count. Unless you have a truly unique angle, then it’s in your best interest to avoid them. Learn which topics are cliche and how to fix them . 

11. Proofread 

This is a critical step. Even a small error can break your essay, however amazing it is otherwise. Make sure you read it over carefully, and get another set of eyes (or two or three other sets of eyes), just in case.

12. Abstain from using AI

There are a handful of good reasons to avoid using artificial intelligence (AI) to write your college essay. Most importantly, it’s dishonest and likely to be not very good; AI-generated essays are generally formulaic, generic, and boring—everything you’re trying to avoid being.   The purpose of the college essay is to share what makes you unique and highlight your personal experiences and perspectives, something that AI can’t capture.

13. Use parents as advisors, not editors

The voice of an adult is different from that of a high schooler and admissions committees are experts at spotting the writing of parents. Parents can play a valuable role in creating your college essay—advising, proofreading, and providing encouragement during those stressful moments. However, they should not write or edit your college essay with their words.

14. Have a hook

Admissions committees have a lot of essays to read and getting their attention is essential for standing out among a crowded field of applicants. A great hook captures your reader’s imagination and encourages them to keep reading your essay. Start strong, first impressions are everything!

15. Give them something to remember

The ending of your college essay is just as important as the beginning. Give your reader something to remember by composing an engaging and punchy paragraph or line—called a kicker in journalism—that ties everything you’ve written above together.

Where to Get Free Feedback on Your College Essay 

Before you send off your application, make sure you get feedback from a trusted source on your essay. CollegeVine’s free peer essay review will give you the support you need to ensure you’ve effectively presented your personality and accomplishments. Our expert essay review pairs you with an advisor to help you refine your writing, submit your best work, and boost your chances of getting into your dream school. Find the right advisor for you and get started on honing a winning essay.

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How to Write an Essay About Yourself

Gabriel Jimenez-Ekman is a content editor and writer at Scholarships360. He has managed communications and written content for a diverse array of organizations, including a farmer’s market, a concert venue, a student farm, an environmental NGO, and a PR agency. Gabriel graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in sociology.

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Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

Writing an essay about yourself is no easy feat — although you may know yourself better than anyone, it can be tough to get the perspective needed to write about yourself in essay form. Despite its challenges, writing essays about yourself is one of the most crucial skills in the college application process, and we have some key tricks to make it easier. Keep on reading to learn about some of our best techniques to write about yourself naturally!

• Outline your experiences

Ask friends and family for input

• Don’t be too humble…
• Let your personality shine!

Try journaling

Read more: How to start a scholarship essay (with examples)

Outline your impactful experiences

Before you dig into prompts, try writing out a bullet-point list of meaningful experiences you’ve had. Underneath each bullet point, reflect on what they might demonstrate. Here’s an example:

• Working as part of a team
• Learning to balance school and work responsibilities
• Honing communication skills
• Developing writing skills
• Fostering a passion for my school community
• Learning to meet deadlines and balance responsibilities
• Learning to balance school and volunteer responsibilities
• Gaining an attention to detail

This is a little different than a typical resume — rather than focusing on your specific duties, try to focus on how the experience shaped your character. If you notice a lot of overlap between the experiences, that’s perfect! You can point out these recurring themes to make for an effective essay with a strong overarching point. Making lists like this early on in your writing stage can be helpful, and you may find yourself coming back to consult the list for many future essays.

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When writing about yourself, it is important to reflect on your strengths, and who is better to do that than a supportive team of family and friends?

Consulting family and friends is a great way to learn about strengths that you might not even know you had. Your friends choose to hang out with you for a reason, and they often notice your good qualities that you take for granted. Having your friends point these out can be useful for an essay, as well as a general pick-me-up!

And if you’re looking for a perfect anecdote to answer a prompt like “How have you demonstrated a commitment to your community ,” who better to remember your past acts of kindness than your parents? 

Also recommended: Top essay & writing scholarships

Is it okay to ask friends and family to read my essay and offer feedback?

Some students may be wondering, is it okay to ask for additional help from friends and family? And the short answer is: absolutely. Additional essay reviewers can offer valuable feedback as you write your essay. With this said, students should make sure that they are maintaining their own voice in the essay. Outside reviewers should not be rewriting the essay or having a heavy hand in changing the written voice.

Don’t miss:  How to respond to the Common App essay prompts

Don’t be too humble

There is a time and a place for humility. But don’t worry if you feel like your essay is verging on the braggadocios. These essays are an opportunity to showcase your best qualities, and you should not be worried about putting your best foot forward and telling the reader all the reasons why they should be impressed by you.

What makes these essays effective is that they both include your relevant experiences and demonstrate why they are so significant. You may feel as though you are making mountains out of molehills, but it’s important to emphasize the importance of your experiences. This is the main objective of writing about yourself.

Also recommended: How to write a 500 word essay

Let your personality come through

Most essays written about yourself will be written in first-person. This provides a perfect opportunity to add some flair to your writing. While your first priority is to include impactful examples and communicate your points effectively, it is also important to leave a lasting impression on the reader.

If you see an opportunity to show off your sense of humor or use a more personal tone, don’t be afraid to do it. As long as your remarks are appropriate, on-topic, and not too frequent, they can help put you ahead of the pack.

Recommended:  How does an admissions officer read your application and essays?

A great trick for becoming comfortable writing essays about yourself is to try keeping a journal. Journaling helps eliminate the pressure of writing an essay while helping you become comfortable writing about yourself in an informal setting. Spending 10 or 15 minutes every night writing about your day, or answering some informal prompts can help you to get more in touch with yourself and jog your memory about past events that could be useful for an essay. 

Don’t miss:  Scholarships360’s free scholarship search tool

Next steps for students

Now you’ve learned about the goals and techniques for writing an essay about yourself. Your next step should be to focus on making your writing effective and efficient. Make sure that your conclusion ties everything together impactfully . And once you’ve finished your draft, ask family members, friends, or college counselors to read over it and provide suggestions. Good luck, writers!

Related:  Overview of common scholarship essay prompts

Frequently asked questions about how to write an essay about yourself

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How to Write About Yourself

Last Updated: July 31, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Lucy Yeh . Lucy Yeh is a Human Resources Director, Recruiter, and Certified Life Coach (CLC) with over 20 years of experience. With a training background with Coaching for Life and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at InsightLA, Lucy has worked with professionals of all levels to improve the quality of their careers, personal/professional relationships, self marketing, and life balance. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 5,711,345 times.

Whether you're writing an essay about yourself for a scholarship, a self-introduction, or a personal bio for a job application, coming up with the right words to capture what makes you unique can feel challenging. Fortunately, there are tips and tricks that can make writing about yourself a breeze. Want some help getting across just how impressive, interesting, and skilled you really are? Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about putting yourself into words effectively, complete with examples.

Writing of the Autobiographical Nature

• Who are you?
• What is your background?
• What are your interests?
• What are your talents?
• What are your achievements?
• What challenges have you faced?

• What is your most interesting or unique quality? What word(s) describes you the best? Choose that topic.

• Bad: I like sports.
• Ok: I'm a fan of basketball, football, tennis, and soccer.
• Good: My favorite sport is football, both to watch and to play.
• Better: When I was growing up, I would watch Big Ten football with my dad and brothers every Saturday, before we'd go outside and toss the football around. I've loved it ever since.

• Braggy: I'm the best and most dynamic worker at my company right now, so you should want to hire me for my talents.
• Humble: I was lucky enough to be awarded three employee of the month awards at my current job. Turns out it was a company record.

Writing Personal Essays for School

• Common themes or prompts for autobiographical essays include overcoming obstacles, great successes or spectacular failures, and what you learned about yourself.

• Depending on the assignment, you may need to connect a personal anecdote to a reading or an idea from class. Start brainstorming topics that are connected to that idea, to give yourself a variety of options to choose from.

• Common autobiographical essay cliches include sports stories, mission trips, and dead grandmothers. While these can all make for excellent essays if done well, it is difficult to stand out when telling the story of how your lacrosse team lost a big game, then practiced hard, then won. It has been written before.

• If you want to tell the story of your nasty break-up, start with the break-up, do not start with the star-crossed way you met. You have got to get immediately to the tension in the story.

• When you have an idea of your topic, start writing a "memory list" of specific things that you remember about the event. What was the weather like? What did it smell like? What did your mother say to you?
• Your opening paragraph will set the tone for the rest of the essay. Rather than telling the dull biographical details (your name, your place of birth, your favorite food), find a way to express the essence of the story you are going to tell and the themes you are going to explore in your essay.

Writing a Cover Letter for an Application

• Outline your qualifications and highlight your talents in a cover letter.
• Write about who you are.
• In a cover letter, describe how your education and experience qualifies you for this position.
• Explain how this opportunity will benefit your career goals.

• When in doubt, keep it brief and serious. If you are unsure whether or not telling an amusing anecdote about your friend's bachelor party is appropriate in a cover letter, it is probably best to leave it out.

• "I'm writing to apply for the entry-level position with Company Inc. advertised on your website. I think my experience and training makes me an ideal candidate for this position."
• Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to include your name in the body of the letter: "My name is John Smith and I am applying...." Your name will be included in the signature , as well as the header of a cover letter, so there is no need to put it in the text itself.

• Who you are and where you come from.
• Where you want to go.
• How this opportunity would potentially help you get there.

• Be as specific as possible. It is alright to note that you are "A passionate leader in all walks of life" but it would be much better to write about an example of a time you lead in a surprising way.
• Stay focused on skills and talents that connect specifically to the thing you are applying for. Extracurricular involvement, leadership roles, and other types of outstanding achievement may be important to you personally, but it may be totally extraneous. If you include something, ensure to connect it specifically to the goal of the cover letter.

• Be as specific as possible. If you are writing a university cover letter, it is obvious that you have to have a degree to get a job as a doctor, but how did you come to choose this field? Why did you choose this school? What, specifically, do you want to take away from the experience?

• Be careful about using a cover letter to critique a business. It is not the time to describe the suffering of a particular brand over the previous fiscal quarter, then promising that you will be able to turn it around with your ideas. That might not go over well if you are hired, and then you are unable to live up to the promise.

• Even if it is impressive, a high GPA or class ranking does not belong in a cover letter. Highlight it on your resume, but do not include it in two different places of the application.

• Mailing address
• Telephone and/or fax number

Expert Trick : Save time and effort by creating one generic format that you can use for many different job applications by tweaking the specific content for each one. Start with a general introductory paragraph , then a section or two fleshing out your resume and expertise as it relates to the job, and finish it off with a closing paragraph and a note of thanks.

Writing a Short Biography Note

• Pretend you are writing about someone else. Write your name and start describing that person like a character or a friend: "John Smith is the Executive Vice President of Company Inc..."

• If you are a jack of all trades, say so. Do not be afraid to list "actor, musician, mother, motivational speaker, and professional rock climber" if they all apply equally.

• It is common to list degrees that you have received. Pay particular attention to anything that ties into the work you are writing about. If you have special training, include it here.

• "John Smith is the Executive Vice President of Company Inc., in charge of marketing and overseas acquisitions. He received an MBA with distinction from Harvard and lives in Montauk with his cat Cheeto."
• Do not overshare. It can seem funny to immediately start with "John Smith loves rafting and hates eating Cheetos. He's a total boss" and such bio notes can be appropriate for some venues, however be careful to avoid awkward oversharing. Telling everyone about your killer hangover might be best left for after work talk.

• Stephen King, who is one of the most successful and popular authors in recent history, has a bio note that just lists the name of his family members, his hometown, and his pets. Consider leaving out the self-congratulation entirely.

Community Q&A

• Remember that you’re supposed to talk about yourself, it’s the main topic. Don’t talk about your friends or family, even though you may feel tempted to. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
• If you are having a difficult time writing about yourself, search online for examples of personal writing, in order to get some ideas and inspiration. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
• Don't think about how others feel about you. Everyone thinks from a different perspective. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/how-to-write-about-yourself
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/brainstorming/
• ↑ https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/choosingsources/chapter/narrowing-a-topic/
• ↑ https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/essay-about-self-writing
• ↑ https://writingcommons.org/article/using-first-person-in-an-academic-essay-when-is-it-okay/
• ↑ https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/6-unconventional-ways-start-cover-letter/
• ↑ https://english.washington.edu/writing-cover-letter
• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/career-goal-statement-examples
• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/resume-vs-cover-letter
• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/whats-the-ideal-cover-letter-length
• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/how-to-format-a-cover-letter-example
• ↑ https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/first-vs-third-person
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-bio/

About This Article

If you have to write an autobiographical description of yourself, write down a list of your talents, interests, and accomplishments. Use this list to help you choose one specific topic for your description, such as your academic achievements or your leadership qualities. Use specific, unique details to support your topic, such as being awarded an academic scholarship or the fact that you were president of the newspaper in high school. You can list bits of your personal life, but be careful not to overshare. If you want to write about yourself a cover letter or personal essay, keep reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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9 Tips for Writing an Essay About Yourself

You know yourself better than anyone else, but writing about yourself can still be tough! When applying for scholarships or to college, essay prompts  can feel so general (and yet so specific!) that they leave us stumped.  So we’ll show you 8 tips to write an essay about yourself, so that you can land more scholarships. (Psst – Going Merry makes applying easy .)

1. Create a List of Questions

2. brainstorm and outline, 3. be vulnerable, 4. use personal examples, 5. write in the first person, 6. don’t be afraid to show off…but stay on topic, 7. show personality , 8. know your audience, 9. proofread and edit.

Let’s start with some examples of personal essay prompts:

• Tell me about yourself.
• Describe a challenge or event that made you who you are today.
• What are your short and long-term goals, and how do you plan to achieve them?
• Write about a time you failed at something. How did it affect you?

These are just a few of many scholarship essay prompts that require you to look internally, to answer a question, solve a problem, or explain a scenario in your life.  

We get it. You might not be a big fan of bragging about yourself, or you might want to keep your personal stories to yourself. But by opening up and sharing your story, you can show scholarship providers, colleges and universities who you are, and why you’re deserving of their scholarship.

(Don’t just take our word for it – check out our scholarship winners page full of students like you who were brave enough to share their stories with us).

To get started, check out these 9 tips on how to write an essay about yourself:

After reading through the scholarship essay prompt, breathe, and make a list of smaller questions you can answer, which relate to the big essay prompt question. 

Let’s say the main essay prompt question asks you, “What were challenges or barriers you had to work to overcome?” Then the smaller questions might be something like:

• What is your background? Family, finances, school.
• What was challenging about that background?
• What’s your greatest accomplishment? How did you get there? How have previous challenges influenced your goals?

Think of these questions as mini-prompts. They explain your story and help you answer the main essay prompt with more details than if you just answered it without a plan in place.

After considering smaller questions, it’s time to brainstorm your answers.  Take out a pen and paper – or open up a document on a computer – and take your time in answering each mini-prompt. Organize your responses in order:

• Intro to main essay prompt.
• Answer about 3 mini-prompt questions.
• Conclude by rewriting the answer to the main essay prompt with a summary of your mini-prompt answers.

This organization will help you stay on topic and answer the prompt directly. (Or check out these 6 scholarship essay examples for alternative essay structures.)

Don’t be afraid to let your strengths, challenges, and personal stories shine through in your essay! Scholarship and admissions committees love to see that you’re self-aware how you can improve as a person, or how you’ve grown because of your experiences. Honest writing can help tell the best stories (in this case, YOUR story).

Since this essay is all about you , you should make your answer as specific as possible! Avoid using generalizations (e.g., “I’m really good at music). Instead, go for more personalized statements (e.g., “My fourth-grade teacher Ms. Matay really inspired me to pursue my interest in the clarinet”). Your personal examples are what will help your scholarship essay stand out among the thousands of applicants..

 You’re telling your story, so write from your perspective! You can narrate your story. You can provide an overview of what you learned from your experiences. However you choose to answer the prompt, we recommend writing in an active tone, and using “I” and “me” throughout your essay.

Most students worry about bragging in their essay, but we say go for it! This is your time to shine, so highlight your accomplishments and strengths.  Review your essay to make sure that you’re keeping the tone informative and that you’re still on topic. (Brag while answering the essay prompt; don’t just mention random, unrelated but impressive facts about yourself!)You can use this brag sheet where you can brainstorm your accomplishments. While the worksheet is geared toward requesting letters of recommendation , you can still use it to write out your hobbies, interests, college list , and strengths to help you answer your scholarship essay prompt.

Just because it’s an essay doesn’t mean it has to be dry and boring. This essay is all about you, so let your personality shine through. If you’re the class clown, you can use a bit of humor. If you wear your heart on your sleeve, don’t be afraid to show emotion. Trying your best to express who you are as a person will have a huge effect on the admissions or scholarship committee!

If you’re applying for a scholarship, research the scholarship provider. If you’re applying to college, research the school. Understanding what makes the provider/college unique and what their motivations are, will allow you to incorporate that information in your essay. For example, many scholarships are funded by private companies that sell products. You might want to reference those products in your essay. A good example of this is Emily Trader’s essay for the Life Happens organization , where she uses her personal narrative to explain the importance of insurance planning, since that is the mission of the organization (which is funded by insurance companies).

The last step in answering your essay prompt is to double-check your work! One typo can be distracting and cause scholarship providers to scratch their head while reading the essay. ( Psst, humble brag: Going Merry’s application platform includes spellcheck because we’ve got your back .) In addition to proofreading for typos and grammatical errors, also consider whether the sentence or paragraph structure makes sense. Are you breaking paragraphs in the right place? Are you using topic sentences well to signpost your main ideas? Does the essay flow? Consider these “bigger” structural questions too.  You might also want to ask a friend, family member, teacher, or guidance counselor to review your essay. They might catch something you didn’t see the first time around, and that can really help your essay! In fact, that is scholarship winner Daniel Gill ’s #1 tip. (Another tip is to apply for scholarships using Going Merry !)

Also, check out this helpful list of the 10 most common scholarship essay topics while you’re brainstorming!

Now that you know how to write an essay about yourself, it’s time to start applying for scholarships! Remember: You’ve got this. 

Sign up for your free Going Merry profile . From there, you can easily upload and submit your essay for thousands of scholarships. We make it easy so you’ll only need to enter your profile information once! And then, you can apply away. In fact, we even have some bundled scholarships so that you only enter your essay once, to apply for multiple scholarships at the same time.

Or if you’re not ready to register, simply sign up to receive an email with 20 new scholarship opportunities each week. Just enter your email address below:

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Essay About Service: Top 5 Examples and 9 Writing Prompts

Everyone has different meanings for what service is. If you want to write an essay about service by exploring its various definitions, here are helpful examples and ideas to consider.

Service is divided into three categories: personal, social, and business. First, personal services, such as recreational and restaurant services, are offered to customers depending on their needs. Second, non-government organizations or individuals give social services to help others in need. Lastly, companies offer business services to conduct their work activities.

Knowing and understanding these categories will assist you in creating high-quality essays on service. For example, your essay can include volunteerism and the effect of helping others. You can also write about the impact of good or bad customer service on businesses and others.

Do you want to be more convincing when writing your essay? Check out this guide on persuasive writing .

1. My Experience with Community Service by Tasha Flowers

2. the importance of customer service by anonymous on 123helpme.com, 3. helping others by geraldine bates, 4. community service isn’t just words by david lazar, 5. product and service by samantha patton, 9 essay prompts on service to write about, 1. service: defined, 2. the different categories of services, 3. benefits of excellent customer service, 4. why adapting to customer’s preference is important when providing services, 5. steps on how to deliver a great customer service, 6. interpret a community or social service, 7. your experiences in providing social or community services, 8. services in our daily lives, 9. lessons learned after providing services.

“I truly believe every cliche there is about volunteering: the giver receives even more than she gives, giving time can be more important than giving things, I believe it all.”

Flowers’ essay discusses her experience providing community service in the Kalaunan waste dump, where settlers, including children, need to scavenge garbage to sell. Her group’s community service is to teach children basic writing, reading, and introducing the gospel. The author notes that she will never forget the children’s smiles and thank yous.

“Customer service is taking care of your customers. Every customer needs to be treated the same with excellent customer service no matter the business or the customer’s age.”

In this essay, the author discusses why employees need to adapt to various customers to deliver the best experience. For example, poor customer service can make the company lose sales. In contrast, excellent customer service attracts more customers through positive word of mouth and recommendations.

“Altruism involves true selflessness. The sacrifice of one’s own welfare for the welfare of another is what this theory is about.”

Bates talks about two theories in her essay: Egoism and Altruism. Egoism is a theory that a person should only help another when he can receive something in return. Meanwhile, altruism is a belief that a person should take away the pain of others. When helping or providing services to others, one can’t be entirely egoistic or wholly altruistic. It’s a mix of the two theories.

“Community service isn’t just words, but an opportunity in life to contribute one’s time to helping others and making a difference in society, and thus a better place to live for all.”

Lazar notes how sharing what he learned in his life positively impacts other people’s lives. So, as he strives to become more educated and become a doctor, he hopes to give back by serving the community. People need support, and that’s what life is all about.

“A service is an intangible economic activity, not stored, and does not result in ownership. Services nowadays are becoming more important and growing faster, and consumers are more apprehensive with performance and satisfaction when they use a service or buy a product.”

Patton considers the difference between a product and a service. For a company to become successful, it must develop a strategy to enhance its profit through its product or services.

After reading the examples above, it’s now your turn to express and explore your view regarding the various types of services. Use the following essay prompts to help you find a specific track when writing about services:

Service is a very broad term. In your essay, you can discuss what service means to you and include other people’s definitions of service. You can ask people with varying experiences, such as your parents, teachers, or friends. Then, collate their meanings and yours to develop an integrated service definition.

You can be more precise with this prompt and choose a specific service category. For example, you can write about service from the point of view of a volunteer (social service) versus the perspective of a businessman (business service), then compare them – is one type of service better than the other? Why?

In today’s world, customers are more attracted to buy products or services when they are provided with excellent customer service. If you want to write an essay about business success, it’s vital to include the importance of customer service. Customer satisfaction has a significant impact on the success of the business. A customer’s feedback can either increase or decrease business sales.

Although some businesses have great products, if they have unreliable and unhelpful customer service, they’ll lose customers. Since different people may have various issues or will have different reactions to problems, you can write an essay about how and why customer service providers will need a more personalized approach when interacting with their customers.

Customer service has a significant impact on the buying decision of customers and attracts more potential sales. With that in mind, you can create an essay on how to deliver excellent customer service. This essay will be helpful for business owners and employees to enhance their services further.

What is considered community service? Is it still considered “volunteering” when imposed as a punishment? Feel free to incorporate instances when community service is not done right or not done at all.  If you don’t have personal experiences with this service, you can read or watch videos about other people’s experiences or stories to give substance to your essay.

Writing about your personal experiences makes your readers relate to you more. For instance, you can talk about your community or situation, its struggles, and how you helped alleviate those problems through teamwork.

You can also write from the viewpoint of someone who was given aid. Your essay can help those in the same circumstances know that asking for help and services from different organizations is not something they should be ashamed of.

Are you unsure of how to deliver your personal experiences? See What Is A Personal Essay to know more about it.

You can see service in your daily life. Talk about services in the small things your readers might not realize are happening around them. Namely, the utilities you’re enjoying daily, such as water, transport, electricity, and communication – are public needs made available through public service.

You can also take the subject from a different angle, such as doing someone else a favor, helping an old individual cross the street, or generally being kind to others.

Providing services, be it for business or the community, will affect not only the person who received it but also the person who provided it. For example, suppose you are a business owner or customer service representative, and you had a bad experience in the past when providing services. In that case, you can write about it and include the lessons you learned. This also goes if providing social or community services positively impacted your life as an individual.

Writing about the effect of social services on an individual or community can inspire others to volunteer or help others in their ways.

If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips !

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How to Write a Short Essay About Yourself: Step-By-Step

Updated 06/4/2022

Published 06/19/2020

Yvonne Bertovich

Contributing writer

Cake values integrity and transparency. We follow a strict editorial process to provide you with the best content possible. We also may earn commission from purchases made through affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more in our affiliate disclosure .

Writing or even talking about yourself may not come easily to you. However, for professional or educational reasons, it’s often a necessity. There are other instances when writing about yourself may make more sense, as you can provide the rawest and most honest perspective.

Jump ahead to these sections:

Steps for writing about yourself, tips for writing about yourself creatively or confidently.

• Examples of Things to Write About Yourself

You should feel empowered—not intimidated—in taking on a writing project about yourself. Use it as a way to challenge how you view your own experiences, talents, and more. We’ll discuss some steps for writing about yourself as well as provide a few examples.  

Writing isn’t for everyone, especially when it’s required. As much as you may dislike it, following the steps below can help the process go that much more smoothly.

If you find that following a different order than what we’ve recommended for you works better for your process, feel free to adjust accordingly. 

Step 1: Determine your purpose 

What’s causing you to write this “thing” about yourself? What exactly are you writing? It may surprise you that people write all kinds of pieces for themselves—even writing your own obituary isn’t out of the question anymore. 

The more specific you can get with yourself about your purpose will help the rest of the process. If it’s something stressful, like a college admission essay or a cover letter, try to frame the project in a different light. 

For example, “I’m writing this essay to show people my heart and how passionate I am about removing disparities and barriers in healthcare. I believe in my abilities, and I want to further my education, so I can help heal people.”

Step 2: Ask yourself some questions 

For any good piece of writing, there has to be fact behind it (if even these facts are abstract in narrative or fiction). The best way to gather facts about any subject is to ask a variety of questions, both soft- and hard-hitting. 

You may ask these questions internally, during research, or directly and literally. Treat this question step as a self-interview.

Here are some questions to ask yourself . You may also ask yourself:

• What is my goal of writing this piece?
• What themes or ideas do I want to focus on?
• What are my strengths and weaknesses?
• What are some important lessons I’ve learned?
• What do I want others to know or understand about me?

Step 3: Organize your answers 

After asking yourself the example questions above as well as others, you should be sure to write down your answers and begin organizing them if you haven’t already. 

It may be tempting to just answer your own questions in your head as you go—but don’t. This will just make the writing step more difficult. You may think that you’ll remember every good point or profound thought you come up with, but memory is a tricky thing. 

If you’re working through your questions during a time when you’re not ready or able to sit down and type or scribble them out, at least make some notes in your phone or in a journal so you can have some descriptive hints for later. No matter how big of an epiphany you may have, it’s possible you’ll forget it. 

Step 4: Write a draft 

If your ideas are already fairly organized, writing your draft should come fairly easily to you. The draft process, however, is when you can start spicing things up with anecdotes, your own personal voice, themes, metaphors—all that fun stuff. The point in you writing something about yourself for yourself is for the very reason that you can make it unquestionably you .

Dull, watered-down words or even over-hyped language from a thesaurus plug-in isn’t going to impress anyone. Writing something about yourself (unless the assignment is creative or unorthodox) isn’t the time to act like something you’re not.

All of this being said, don’t stress yourself out too much. Letting your ideas flow freely and then editing or revising them later is how you should approach the process anyway. You don’t want to put too many restrictions on your ideas from the get-go. Warring with yourself about your ideas while writing is only going to tire you out sooner. 

Think about it—you may spend hours trying to write a piece while overthinking that’s no better than a draft you could have written in 30 minutes on the fly. Not being totally in love with your first draft is normal. It just allows you that much more room to improve. 

Step 5: Put your progress aside

Much like during the draft process, it’s very possible to overthink your work after it’s mostly done. If you constantly keep re-reading it or rehashing your ideas in your head, they may start to sound odd, or you may try to add where you need to trim. 

For example, the same concept applies to repeating the same word over and over aloud — it’ll likely start to sound strange or even wrong the more you hear it. This also applies to music — ever play a song you love over and over till you hate it? 

You need to give your words and your brain some time to rest away from each other until you try to make any drastic edits or changes. That being said, you may love what you’ve written already and decide you don’t need to change a thing—that’s great!

Step 6: Review and edit

After your break, you can pick up your writing once again. Read it with a critical eye. Go back and think deeply about your purpose and any provided prompts. Have you answered everything you intended to or are required to?

It’s not uncommon—though devastating—to write an entire piece only to realize you wrote from the wrong frame of reference or focused on the wrong issue. For example, if you were asked to write about a challenge you overcame in your life by following an important virtue, but you only wrote about winning a basketball championship and not the struggle behind it, this may miss the mark. 

If you find a good number of issues in your work, don’t feel tempted to scrap the entire thing. What may work instead is to copy and paste your writing line-by-line into a new document. This way, you can save as much as possible while being sure to resolve even small discrepancies.

Step 7: Finalize your work

After you’ve undergone the brutal process of self-editing (or enlisting help from someone else you trust) you can prepare yourself for the home stretch. Finalizing your work shouldn’t take very long.

Y our process may differ; however, it’ll likely come down to reading over your work a few more times just to make sure you haven’t missed words, punctuation, or proper grammar. 

It’s OK to use this step to feel proud of yourself, too. You may not take a lot of time to reflect on your life and everything you’ve been through—it’s important to practice self-love in this way and celebrate your accomplishments.

Talking or writing about yourself may not be everyone’s cup of tea. For example, did you need to provide a fun fact recently but draw a blank? You’re not alone. In fact, many people have a false assumption that they’re boring. 

On the flip side, perhaps you’re used to talking about yourself, or, at least you’ve got the “fake it till you make it” type of confidence down-pat. However, you too can only benefit from adding a bit more razzle-dazzle to your spiels and writing assignments. Here are a few tips for writing about yourself creatively or confidently.  

Allow yourself space

If you have an upcoming project or writing assignment that has you on edge, consider stepping away. Even if you don’t consider yourself an outdoorsy person, a walk around the block may help you breathe and get your creativity flowing. Naturally, the more sound your idea or angle, the more confident you’ll feel about your upcoming performance.  

Keep that ego in check

An underinflated ego is just as bad as an overinflated one. Pay close attention to your internal dialogue when approaching new projects or writing tasks (or, honestly anything that comes up during your day). How much of what swirls around in your mind is fact? How much of it is just fleeting thoughts or opinions? You are not your thoughts, and you always have choices. Make good ones and be kind to yourself. 

Try this: Instead of thinking to yourself, “Wow, this is a really complex writing assignment. I can’t do this.” Or, “How am I ever going to get into my dream school with this essay? I’m not a strong writer.” 

Change your internal dialogue to, “I have good ideas. I may not have my plan figured out right now, but I’ll get it done,” or, “I have so many great skills to bring to the table and I am very passionate about what’s brought me here. I will convey this the best I can.”

Crowdsource

Sometimes an outside opinion can give us much-needed perspective. Ask your friends, family, loved ones, or coworkers to describe you in a few words or even in abstract ways. Don’t view this as you’re fishing for compliments. Ask your loved ones for honesty, as this insight can only help you when writing about yourself. 

Build up a fuel bank

Pulling inspiration out of thin air may not always be possible. However, if you build up a few reliable sources of inspiration, the next time a project hits, you’ll be prepared. You can fuel your creativity and confidence in a variety of ways. 

For example, you can create certain playlists for different moods, save favorite art or graphics in a digital folder or keep printed versions in your home or office, write down affirmations or notes-to-self in a journal or app, and so on. 

Reflect on past accomplishments and setbacks

Even if you aren’t a fan of journaling, writing about yourself is far easier if you take the time to reflect, if only mentally. If you know you have a deadline to write about yourself in the near future, you may want to physically or mentally jot down a few real-life examples or experiences that come to mind. 

But how do you get in the right headspace to reflect? What if you only witness recurring thoughts about past events while trying to fall asleep? Be sure to practice the first tip in this section: Give yourself some space to think. For once, limit the distractions, keep all other screens put away or turn on your "do not disturb" feature.

Now, think about some past accomplishments or setbacks that may not even seem relevant to the topic of the assignment. You may have an epiphany about unrelated things or discover something about how you operate. For example, you might realize that you feel less nervous in social and professional settings if you call out your anxiety as being excited. 

Examples of Writing About Yourself

Even if you feel super confident about writing about yourself now, we wanted to provide a few short examples to help you get started. Your tone, word choice, and more may differ depending on which piece you’re working on.

Here are some tips for writing or publishing your life story you may also find helpful. 

In a memoir or essay

Those were probably the best and the worst days of my life. I had never felt more happy and never felt more sad. I felt as though I were so close to having everything I had ever wanted, yet it seemed with every step forward, I had to take two steps back. It was exhausting. How did I get through it? To be quite honest, I have no damn idea. 

Perspective helped. I knew I could have had it way worse; I knew that my struggle wasn’t unique. I knew, too, that even when the small wins would come they’d have yet another loss right on their tails. I paid dearly for having too much heart and optimism, so I regularly had to hose myself down with logic and pessimism. 

On your blog or website

If you’re reading this, it’s too late. Just kidding! That’s just a really good Drake album. I wanted to take some time to talk about what’s been going on in my life lately for those of you who are nosey enough to care. Again, kidding, I know some of you really care. I’m so grateful to have even this small following that I have. It’s wild, really. Who would have thought that people want to know what’s going on in my head at any given time? Joke’s on you guys, though, because I don’t fully know all the time. 

I guess I’ll start off by saying that work has been a whirlwind. As you all know, it isn’t an easy time for anyone, so please don’t take this declaration as a complaint. I’m thrilled to still have a job despite everything going on. However, leaving this reflection at just that would be doing both myself and you all a disservice. It’s weak. It doesn’t really describe what’s been going on. Allow me to continue.  

In a college essay

When I was young, my grandmother told me I couldn’t please everyone — that some people just wouldn’t like me for no reason at all. This was very hard for me to swallow at times. What does this have to do with who I am today and why I plan to attend your university? 

Well, this early lesson demonstrates that in order for this world to keep spinning, we all have to be unwavering in our own pursuits. We are ourselves. We can’t be anyone else. In that, we all have the responsibility to bring our unique talents, wisdom, and heart to the table — even when we’re seated across from people who may not like us. 

Sometimes Only You Can Do It

Writing about yourself may always be challenging for you, but who better to do so than who knows you best? If you work through the process in every situation and give yourself some patience, there’s no question that you can’t craft something amazing. You may also be interested in this article about how to write family stories .

Your written words mean more than you think. This becomes a part of your legacy when you're gone, and it's one of the ways you'll be remembered. While many families choose custom urns from Foreverence or even to craft memorial diamonds from Eterneva , your words are something that live after you're gone.

While it might not seem natural at first, learning to write about yourself, your perspective, and your experiences carries a lot of significance. Who knows who might read these words when you're gone?

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Service Above Self

As written by Rtr. Samadhi Gunawardane

Do you remember writing the first-ever essay on “myself”? Probably it was about family, hobbies, pets, and feelings. Isn’t it? But what if you have none of these things? What will be in your new essay on “myself”? Let us figure this out.

The great Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Even if you lose all your possessions, you will still be “someone” to others when you choose to serve others regardless of yourself, age, position, profession, and status. In other words, your existence itself will be useful and meaningful to the world when you help communities around you with those humble thoughts of yours.

“But isn’t it hard to forget the well-being of ourselves and think about other people in need?”, you may ask. It simply takes only a WHAT IF as the answer to that question. What if that other person fighting cancer is your favorite neighbor? What if the person suffering from poverty is your relation? What if the person being bullied every day is your friend? And what if the person dying from hunger is your family?  Would you get out of your comfort zone to offer a helping hand to them? Service above self is all about acknowledging that we all are the same and giving a helping hand to others at anytime, every time we can, expecting nothing in return, as it is the most elegant way to live a worthwhile life.

Far more than the things we could do, we could say, it is what we choose to do, choose to say reveals our true selves to be seen by the world. All it matters is what we choose to act upon. So, let us always be humble and put away our egos, to serve human beings who need us while building empathy to connect and make everlasting efforts together.

We, Rotaractors have come together to serve and to amplify our humble service mindset from ourselves to beyond, to fulfill this same purpose of creating a positive and long-lasting impact on the world. That is why SERVICE ABOVE SELF has become the motto of the Rotary family.

In the end, your essay on “myself” will not be about what were you born with and what you had in life but what you have become and the things you gave away to become the person you have grown to be. It will show that you have lived one fascinating life.

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Yoshani Ranaweera

A book lover and an avid writer. Adores travelling and spending time with nature. Always ready to lend a helping hand.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, tell us about yourself essay examples.

I'm applying to some scholarships, and some of them have a 'tell us about yourself' essay prompt. I'm a little unsure of where to start and how to structure this essay. Can anyone share some examples or tips on how I can write an engaging, effective essay without sounding cliché or braggy?

Sure, I can provide some guidance on structuring a "tell us about yourself" essay and provide tips on making it engaging and effective without sounding cliché or braggy.

1. Start with an attention-grabbing hook: Open your essay with a brief anecdote, piece of dialogue, or thought-provoking statement that reveals something interesting about you.

Example: "As I stood on the roof of my family's house in [hometown], peering through my homemade telescope, I was struck by the vastness of the night sky."

2. Focus on a specific aspect of yourself: Rather than trying to cover every aspect of your life, pick a theme or personal characteristic that plays a major role in your interests, experiences, and goals.

Example: "My curiosity about the universe and the natural world led me to volunteer at a local science center, where I conducted hands-on experiments with visitors of all ages."

3. Provide a brief background: Give some context to the topic you're discussing, such as your upbringing, community, or family background, if it's relevant to the theme.

Example: "Growing up in a small, rural town, I didn't have the same access to resources and educational opportunities as kids in larger cities, but my determination to learn about the world around me never waned."

4. Showcase your growth and accomplishments: Talk about specific experiences, achievements, or events that shaped your development, values, or interests. Be humble but honest about your achievements, and focus on how they've impacted your growth rather than dwelling on the awards themselves.

Example: "Despite the challenges, I pursued my passion for astronomy and managed to secure a coveted summer internship at a renowned observatory, where I worked alongside professionals and contributed to a research project."

5. Connect your past experiences to your future goals: Explain how the things you've learned and accomplished thus far have motivated and prepared you for your future academic and career aspirations.

Example: "My experiences have confirmed my passion for science and astronomy, leading me to pursue a degree in astrophysics and dedicate myself to researching the mysteries of our universe."

6. Close with a memorable statement: Finish your essay by leaving a lasting impression on the reader, perhaps by tying back to your opening hook or sharing an inspiring thought.

Example: "As I continue to explore the cosmos, both academically and personally, I'll never forget those nights spent stargazing in my hometown and the curiosity that propelled me forward."

Remember, a well-rounded and engaging "tell us about yourself" essay will focus on a specific aspect or theme, be genuine and personal, and effectively showcase your growth and future aspirations. Good luck with your scholarship applications!

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 "Service Above Self" Essay Winner - Izick Hernandez (Click here to read his essay)

ROTARY CLUB OF FLATONIA “SERVICE ABOVE SELF” MERIT SCHOLARSHIP 2020-2021 ESSAY WINNER

Rotary Club Statement of Service Essay by Izick Hernandez

The Rotary Club of Flatonia and I have a shared commitment of service. During my high school career I worked tirelessly to ensure that I was successful in my academic and athletic pursuits. My hard work paid off and allowed me to volunteer in service to my community. There is a specific organization that I believe had an overreaching effect on my outlook on life and career goals. This organization happened to be sponsored by the benefactors of this scholarship. The Interact Club was one of the most influential organizations I was a member of during my time at Flatonia High school. The organization instilled in me the fundamental values of service above self, respect, and determination, as well as assisted in aiding my development as a leader. I am grateful for the values passed down by the Rotarians, faculty advisers, and others.

The organization enhance the way that I interacted with individuals. It provided an outlet for me to develop into a well-rounded young man. We were constantly reminded that leadership is not about the success of an individual, but the achievement of a goal by a team. I remind myself of this at all times, especially during my athletic pursuits, whether it was during practice or a district game. The motto of sorts has allowed me to become a better family member, athlete, employee, and community member. It is the constant reminder that the only advancements made in our society are by those who put others above themselves.

The Interact Club service trips to our local nursing home during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays had an enduring effect on me. We met the elderly community members who reminded me to never take an individual’s life for granted because life is so precious. I signed up immediately as soon as I knew we were going to take any additional trips to the nursing home because I felt a special bond with the residents. My great uncle, Bennie Olmus, was a resident and I was able to get to know him better through many of our visits. Each time we arrived at the facility, he would greet me and I would visit with him and other residents, yet, as we left he always gave me one of his drawings or rosary.

My development as a leader was aided by the Interact Club. I have served in leadership roles during some of our projects, as recent as, a highway cleanup leader. I executed the assigned responsibilities and, as necessary, assisted my classmates. My ability to lead has been of assistance in the classroom where I have always taking an active role in group assignments as well as in the athletic arena, where I have served as football captain during my junior and senior years.

The Interact Club provided a foundation for me to realize that service is vital to a successful life. I believe it played an influential role in my earning academic and athletic honors. I know that service is important whether it be voluntary service or it is an element of work service. In fact, I put the lessons taught about hard work ethics into action as an employee of Jodie and Trace Siptack, at their local store and home. In addition to the Siptaks, I have learned from working with Mr. Ron Hranicky the values espoused by the Rotary club of Flatonia, serving others and living a life of integrity. Each of my bosses has pushed me to become a better person and leader. The individuals I have met through Interact Club, from Rotarians to the nursing home residents, have had an influential impact on my life and goals. I intend to become a petroleum engineer due to my fascination with the profession. I know I am a blessed young man to have been able to learn from so many individuals.

In many aspects, I am no different than any other applicant applying to the Rotary Club of Flatonia “Service Above Self” Merit Scholarship. However, what sets me apart is that I am a first-generation college applicant with a strong work ethic and an intense thirst for knowledge. Higher education is a priority for me and has always been since a young age. In closing I have decided to apply to the Rotary Club of Flatonia Scholarship because of our shared belief that service is a quality able to foster a meaningful change in society. I will be forever grateful for the lessons that the Interact Club provided throughout the last four years because it helped me prepare to be a better servant leader, team member, and community member.

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Essay on Myself: 100 Words, 250 Words and 300 Words

• Updated on  
• Mar 12, 2024

We are all different from each other and it is important to self-analyze and know about yourself. Only you can know everything about yourself. But, when it comes to describing yourself in front of others many students fail to do so. This happens due to the confusion generated by a student’s mind regarding what things to include in their description. This confusion never arises when someone is told to give any opinion about others. This blog will help students and children resolve the confusion and it also includes an essay on myself. 

While writing an “essay on myself” you should have a unique style so that the reader would engage in your essay. It’s important to induce the urge to know about you in the reader then only you can perform well in your class. I would suggest you include your qualities, strengths, achievements, interests, and passion in your essay. Continue Reading for Essays on myself for children and students!

Quick Read: Essay on Child Labour

Table of Contents

• 1 Long and Short Essay on Myself for Students
• 2 Tips to Write Essay on Myself
• 3 100 Words Essay on Myself
• 4 250 Words Essay on Myself
• 5 10 Lines on Myself Essay for Children
• 6 300 Words Essay on Myself

Quick Read: Trees are Our Best Friend Essay

Long and Short Essay on Myself for Students

Mentioned below are essays on myself with variable word limits. You can choose the essay that you want to present in your class. These essays are drafted in simple language so that school students can easily understand. In addition, the main point to remember while writing an essay on myself is to be honest. Your honesty will help you connect with the reader.

Tell me about yourself is also one of the most important questions asked in the interview process. Therefore, this blog is very helpful for people who want to learn about how to write an essay on myself.

Tips to Write Essay on Myself

Given below are some tips to write an essay on myself:

• Prepare a basic outline of what to include in the essay about yourself.
• Stick to the structure to maintain fluency.
• Be honest to build a connection with the reader.
• Use simple language.
• Try to include a crisp and clear conclusion.

Quick Read: Speech on No Tobacco Day

100 Words Essay on Myself

I am a dedicated person with an urge to learn and grow. My name is Rakul, and I feel life is a journey that leads to self-discovery. I belong to a middle-class family, my father is a handloom businessman, and my mother is a primary school teacher .

I have learned punctuality and discipline are the two wheels that drive our life on a positive path. My mother is my role model. I am passionate about reading novels. When I was younger, my grandmother used to narrate stories about her life in the past and that has built my interest towards reading stories and novels related to history.

Overall I am an optimistic person who looks forward to life as a subject that teaches us values and ways to live for the upliftment of society.

Also Read: Speech on Discipline

250 Words Essay on Myself

My name is Ayushi Singh but my mother calls me “Ayu”. I turned 12 years old this August and I study in class 7th. I have an elder sister named Aishwarya. She is like a second mother to me. I have a group of friends at school and out of them Manvi is my best friend. She visits my house at weekends and we play outdoor games together. I believe in her and I can share anything with her.

Science and technology fascinate me so I took part in an interschool science competition in which my team of 4 girls worked on a 3-D model of the earth representing past, present, and future. It took us a week to finish off the project and we presented the model at Ghaziabad school. We were competing against 30 teams and we won the competition.

I was confident and determined about the fact that we could win because my passion helped me give my 100% input in the task. Though I have skills in certain subjects I don’t have to excel in everything, I struggle to perform well in mathematics . And to enhance my problem-solving skills I used to study maths 2 hours a day. 

I wanted to become a scientist, and being punctual and attentive are my characteristics as I never arrive late for school. Generally, I do my work on my own so that I inculcate the value of being an independent person. I always help other people when they are in difficult situations. 

Also Read: Essay on the Importance of the Internet

10 Lines on Myself Essay for Children

Here are 10 lines on myself essay for children. Feel free to add them to similar essay topics.

• My name is Ananya Rathor and I am 10 years old.
• I like painting and playing with my dog, Todo.
• Reading animal books is one of my favourite activities.
• I love drawing and colouring to express my imagination.
• I always find joy in spending time outdoors, feeling the breeze on my face.
• I love dancing to Indian classical music.
• I’m always ready for an adventure, whether it’s trying a new hobby or discovering interesting facts.
• Animals are my friends, and I enjoy spending time with pets or observing nature’s creatures.
• I am a very kind person and I respect everyone.
• All of my school teachers love me.

300 Words Essay on Myself

My name is Rakul. I believe that every individual has unique characteristics which distinguish them from others. To be unique you must have an extraordinary spark or skill. I live with my family and my family members taught me to live together, adjust, help others, and be humble. Apart from this, I am an energetic person who loves to play badminton.

I have recently joined Kathak classes because I have an inclination towards dance and music, especially folk dance and classical music. I believe that owing to the diversity of our country India, it offers us a lot of opportunities to learn and gain expertise in various sectors.

My great-grandfather was a classical singer and he also used to play several musical instruments. His achievements and stories have inspired me to learn more about Indian culture and make him proud. 

I am a punctual and studious person because I believe that education is the key to success. Academic excellence could make our careers shine bright. Recently I secured second position in my class and my teachers and family members were so proud of my achievement. 

I can manage my time because my mother taught me that time waits for no one. It is important to make correct use of time to succeed in life. If we value time, then only time will value us. My ambition in life is to become a successful gynaecologist and serve for human society.

Hence, these are the qualities that describe me the best. Though no one can present themselves in a few words still I tried to give a brief about myself through this essay. In my opinion, life is meant to be lived with utmost happiness and an aim to serve humanity. Thus, keep this in mind, I will always try to help others and be the best version of myself.

Also Read: Essay on Education System

A. Brainstorm Create a format Stick to the format Be vulnerable Be honest Figure out what things to include Incorporate your strengths, achievements, and future goals into the essay

A. In an essay, you can use words like determined, hardworking, punctual, sincere, and objective-oriented to describe yourself in words.

A. Use simple and easy language. Include things about your family, career, education, and future goals. Lastly, add a conclusion paragraph.

This was all about an essay on myself. The skill of writing an essay comes in handy when appearing for standardized language tests. Thinking of taking one soon? Leverage Live provides the best online test prep for the same. Register today and if you wish to study abroad then contact our experts at 1800572000 .

Kajal Thareja

Hi, I am Kajal, a pharmacy graduate, currently pursuing management and is an experienced content writer. I have 2-years of writing experience in Ed-tech (digital marketing) company. I am passionate towards writing blogs and am on the path of discovering true potential professionally in the field of content marketing. I am engaged in writing creative content for students which is simple yet creative and engaging and leaves an impact on the reader's mind.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Myself — About Myself

Essay Examples About Myself

Engaging prompts for your essay about myself.

Prompt 1: Describe a moment in your life that significantly influenced your personal development. How did it shape the person you are today?

Prompt 2: What are your major achievements, and why do you consider them as such? Discuss what these achievements reveal about your character and values.

Prompt 3: Reflect on a challenge you've faced. How did you overcome it, and what did you learn about yourself in the process?

Brainstorming and Choosing a Unique Essay About Myself Topic

Brainstorming is crucial for uncovering unique aspects of your story. Reflect on memorable experiences, achievements, and lessons learned to find a central theme or unique angle for your essay.

Unique Essay Topics Beyond the Common Narratives

• The Intersection of Personal Adversity and Academic Pursuit
• From Hobby to Purpose
• Cultural Heritage and Identity
• Innovation in Solitude
• Navigating the World as a Neurodiverse Individual

Inspirational Writing Samples for Your Essay About Myself

"Facing the mountain, I felt an unprecedented mix of fear and exhilaration. Climbing had always been a metaphor for my life's challenges. Each step upward mirrored my journey of overcoming [specific challenge], teaching me resilience, focus, and the importance of trust. Through this experience, I discovered that perseverance, even in the face of uncertainty, is the key to surmounting obstacles."

Phrases for Inspiration:

• "Transforming setbacks into comebacks, I learned..."
• "In the crucible of [experience], I forged..."
• "Navigating the intricate tapestry of [situation] revealed to me..."
• "The confluence of [event] and my response to it underscored the importance of..."
• "Drawing from the well of my experiences, I find strength in..."

Who Am I: Creative Writing

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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, understanding myself: exploring the layers of 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, a reflection on myself as a writer, the analysis of my personality tests, personal writing: why i love winter, personal narrative: myself as a writer, the analysis of my relationships with the roommate, influence on our individuality and personal development, the struggles of a substance abusing immigrant in the united states, relevant topics.

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Essay on Self Improvement

Students are often asked to write an essay on Self Improvement in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Self Improvement

What is self improvement.

Self-improvement is when you make yourself better. You can do this in many different ways. It could be learning a new thing, changing a bad habit, or becoming kinder. It’s about making positive changes to yourself.

Why is Self Improvement Important?

Self-improvement is important because it helps us grow. It helps us become better people. When we improve ourselves, we feel happier and more confident. We can do more things and achieve our goals.

How to Start Self Improvement?

To start self-improvement, you need to think about what you want to change. You might want to learn a new skill or stop a bad habit. Then, you make a plan and start working on it.

Tips for Self Improvement

Here are some tips for self-improvement: set clear goals, be patient, and keep going even when it’s hard. Also, remember to reward yourself when you achieve your goals. This will keep you motivated.

Also check:

250 Words Essay on Self Improvement

Self Improvement is the act of making yourself better. It’s about learning new things and getting rid of bad habits. It’s like planting a seed and taking care of it until it grows into a big, strong tree.

Self Improvement is important because it helps us grow and become better people. It’s like climbing a ladder. Each step we take brings us closer to the top. We learn new things, become better at what we do, and feel happier. It’s a journey that never ends.

Starting Self Improvement is easy. First, think about what you want to improve. It could be anything. Maybe you want to read more books, or learn a new skill, or be kinder to people. Then, make a plan. Write down what you want to do and how you will do it. And then, start doing it. It’s as simple as that.

Challenges in Self Improvement

Self Improvement can be hard. Sometimes, we might feel like giving up. But remember, every step counts. Even small changes can make a big difference. And if you keep going, you will get better. It’s like a journey. There might be bumps along the way, but in the end, you will reach your destination.

500 Words Essay on Self Improvement

Understanding self-improvement.

Self-improvement is the process of making yourself a better person. It is about learning new things, developing new skills, and becoming a better version of yourself. It can include many things like learning a new language, improving your physical health, or becoming a better listener.

The Importance of Self-Improvement

Self-improvement is important for many reasons. It can help you achieve your goals, make you feel good about yourself, and improve your life in general. For example, if you want to become a better student, you might focus on improving your study habits. This could include things like setting aside more time for studying, learning new study techniques, or finding a study group to join.

Ways to Improve Yourself

Another way to improve yourself is to learn new skills. This could be anything from learning how to cook a new recipe, to learning how to play a musical instrument, to learning how to code. Learning new skills can be fun and rewarding, and it can also help you become a more well-rounded person.

Challenges in Self-Improvement

While self-improvement can be rewarding, it can also be challenging. Sometimes, it can be hard to stick to your goals, especially if they are big and take a long time to achieve. It can also be hard to find the time to work on self-improvement, especially if you have a busy schedule.

The Role of Patience in Self-Improvement

Patience plays a key role in self-improvement. It’s important to remember that change takes time. You won’t become a better person overnight. It takes time, effort, and patience. But with persistence, you can make progress and see improvements in yourself.

In conclusion, self-improvement is a lifelong journey. It’s about setting goals, learning new skills, and overcoming challenges. It’s about becoming a better version of yourself, one step at a time. So, keep moving forward, keep learning, and keep improving. The journey of self-improvement is a rewarding one, and it’s a journey that’s worth taking.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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More From Forbes

College essays that worked and how yours can too.

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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - JULY 08: A view of Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University on ... [+] July 08, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have sued the Trump administration for its decision to strip international college students of their visas if all of their courses are held online. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The college essay is a pivotal piece of the college application showcasing your individuality and differentiated outlook to admissions officers. What makes an essay truly shine? Let’s dive into the words behind three standout essays highlighted by university websites and a school newspaper's brand studio so you can get into the right mindset for crafting your own narrative.

Embracing Differences: Finding Strength In Uniqueness

Essay Excerpt: ‘Bra Shopping ’ (Harvard)

Featured by the Harvard Crimson Brand Studio , Orlee's essay recounts a student's humorous and insightful experience of bra shopping with her grandmother, weaving in her unique family dynamics and challenges at her prestigious school.

What Works:

• Humor and Honesty: The student's humor makes the essay enjoyable to read, while her honesty about her challenges adds depth.
• Self-Awareness: She demonstrates a strong sense of self-awareness, embracing her uniqueness rather than trying to fit in.
• Resilience: Her narrative highlights resilience and the ability to find strength in differences.

For Your Essay : To write an essay that embraces your uniqueness, start by identifying a quirky or challenging experience that reflects who a key insight into your experience. Think about how this experience has shaped your perspective and character. Use humor and honesty to bring your story to life, and focus on how you have embraced your differences to become stronger and more resilient.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, finding connections: humor and self-reflection.

Essay: ‘Brood X Cicadas ’ (Hamilton College)

As an example on Hamilton's admissions website, Nicholas writes about the cicadas swarming his hometown every 17 years and draws a parallel between their emergence and his own transition to college life. He uses humor and self-reflection to create a relatable and engaging narrative.

• Humor: Nicholas uses humor to make his essay entertaining and memorable. His witty comparisons between himself and cicadas add a unique twist.
• Self-Reflection: By comparing his life to the cicadas’, he reflects on his own growth and readiness for change.
• Relatability: His narrative about facing new experiences and challenges resonates with readers who have undergone similar transitions.

For Your Essay: To infuse humor and self-reflection into your essay, start by identifying an ordinary experience or object and think about how it relates to your life. Write down funny or insightful observations about this connection. Use humor to make your essay more engaging, but ensure it still conveys meaningful self-reflection. This balance can make your essay both entertaining and profound.

Persistence and Multicultural Identity: Life Lessons From Tortilla Making

Essay: ‘ Facing The Hot Griddle ’ (Johns Hopkins University)

In this essay published by Hopkins Insider, Rocio uses the process of making tortillas to explore her multicultural identity and the challenges she has faced. Her story beautifully weaves together her Guatemalan heritage and her experiences growing up in the United States.

• Metaphor and Symbolism: The process of making tortillas becomes a powerful metaphor for the student’s journey and struggles. The symbolism of the masa harina and water mixing parallels her blending of cultural identities.
• Personal Growth: The essay highlights her perseverance and adaptability, qualities that are crucial for success in college.
• Cultural Insight: She provides a rich, personal insight into her multicultural background, making her story unique and compelling.

For Your Essay: To write an essay that explores your identity through a metaphor, start by thinking about an activity or tradition that holds significant meaning for you. Consider how this activity relates to your life experiences and personal growth. Use detailed descriptions to bring the activity to life and draw connections between the process and your own journey. Reflect on the lessons you've learned and how they've shaped your identity.

A winning college essay isn’t simply about parading your best accomplishment or dramatizing your challenges. It’s not a contest for which student is the most original or entertaining. Rather, the essay is a chance for you to showcase your authenticity, passion, resilience, social awareness, and intellectual vitality . By sharing genuine stories and insights, you can create an essay that resonates with admissions committees and highlights your unique qualities.

For you to have the best possible essay, mindset is key. Here’s how to get into the zone:

• Reflect Deeply: Spend time thinking about your experiences, challenges, and passions. Journaling can help you uncover deep insights.
• Discuss and Share: Talking about your stories with friends, family, or mentors can provide new perspectives and emotional clarity.
• Immerse Yourself: Engage in activities that you are passionate about to reignite the feelings and memories associated with them.
• Draft Freely: Don’t worry about perfection on the first try. Write freely and honestly, then refine your narrative.

The secret to a standout college essay lies in its authenticity, depth, and emotional resonance. By learning from these successful examples and getting into the right mindset, you can craft an essay that not only stands out but also provides a meaningful insight into who you are. Remember, your essay is your story—make it a piece of writing that you will always be proud of.

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Detail from Female Artist (1910) by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Courtesy the Brücke Museum, Berlin

Me versus myself

I work against myself through procrastination, distraction and addiction. why do i consistently sabotage my own life.

by Eliane Glaser   + BIO

Some years ago, I sat in a BBC boardroom facing a panel of senior editors interviewing me for a promotion. After treading water in a junior role for years, I wanted the job more than anything. One of the editors asked me a question about teamwork but, as I reached for my anecdote and started to speak, something strange began to happen inside my head. A song started to play on repeat. The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. I’d sung the song to my children as toddlers. But now its cheery tones were an exacting demand. I chanted it in my head – round and round, round and round – feeling compelled to grind my teeth together in time. I also needed to blink.

I wasn’t fully aware of doing this extra hidden work as I recounted my story of the late guest and the impatient presenter: just vaguely conscious that telling it felt really hard, like trying to have an in-depth conversation in a nightclub. Meanwhile, the tyrannical one-man band in my head kept on going. I was determined the panel should see none of it. But then I found myself blinking madly and caught the head of department eyeing me. I was rumbled.

Over the years, my obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has manifested in a panoply of painful and punitive habits. Scraping my tongue over my teeth, performing complex eye movements, peeling the skin off my lips until they bleed. It’s worse when the stakes are high: when I am trying to do something prestigious, or with someone I want to please. It’s also bad when I’m trying merely to exist in the moment. Also, when I’m trying to let go and have fun. My OCD is insidious and shape shifting, evading conscious awareness or control. It seems to have a will of its own. Except that, of course, it is a part of me.

OCD is only one of the ways in which I work against myself. I am a procrastinator. When writing, I constantly break my focus by scrolling, and I experience an urge to check email when I want to spend quality time with my children. I am also an addict. Not a pathological addict, but a normalised everyday addict. I’m hooked on screens (though I don’t own a smartphone) and use alcohol to switch off in the evenings (though I drink less than the recommended weekly allowance). I’m addicted to producing and achieving, too; to ticking things off to-do lists, to busyness, to filling every second – even as I crave time and space to reflect.

Procrastination, distraction, addiction and OCD are all forms of self-sabotage. It is a curious fact of life that we harm ourselves, even when times are hard; even when we need all the help we can get.

Self-sabotage takes many forms. If you’re anything like me, you will mess things up when you’re put on the spot, blanking when asked a question in public or blurting idiotic lines when you’re out to impress. If you’ve made space in your day to do something you really want, you too might find yourself frittering away those precious hours on life admin and social media. Perhaps you’ve criticised a long-suffering partner about stupid, trivial things, to the point you worry they may actually pack up and leave. Or you criticise yourself endlessly, so it actually stops you making progress. Self-sabotage is about deferring our stated goals and – when we are given a shot – blowing it, or subtly hindering our chances. The puzzle is why so many of us perpetually find ourselves getting in our own way and disrupting our best-laid plans.

I n the Phaedrus , Plato uses the metaphor of a chariot to describe how the human psyche is divided in two. The charioteer is guiding two winged horses, one light and one dark. The light horse symbolises our high moral intentions. The dark horse refuses to obey the whip. The light horse pulls the chariot upwards towards truth, beauty and wisdom. The dark horse is irrational and undermining, pulling the chariot down to earth.

This model of a split self has echoed through history, in the work of thinkers as diverse as Friedrich Nietzsche and the psychiatrist R D Laing. In recent years, neuroscience has come to dominate the field of human psychology; and it has some useful things to say about why we subvert our own ‘better self’. Tobias Hauser, professor of computational psychiatry at University College London, leads a project to investigate what is going on in the brains of people with OCD, identifying, for example, imbalances in those neurotransmitters that prevent the brain from regulating intrusive thoughts.

Pattern-forming behaviours are also in play. When I spoke online with Piers Steel, a leading expert in the science of motivation at the University of Calgary in Canada, he took me on a dizzying screen-share tour of software he’s designed to collate the existing research on procrastination (including fMRI studies that observe the process in the brain) in order to identify underlying patterns. This meta-analysis reveals that the biggest drivers are impulsive pleasure-seeking behaviours, and the delay of procrastination itself, which renders completing something offputtingly distant. ‘What makes procrastination particularly interesting is that it’s an irrational delay,’ Steel said (although, as I’ll suggest later, there may be a silver lining to forms of apparent self-sabotage such as procrastination). ‘We do it despite knowing we’ll be worse off. We know we want to do something, but when we look inside ourselves for the motivation, it evaporates. And we wonder what is wrong with me; why can’t I do this?’

Most of us are addicted to instant gratification, even if we are not ‘classifiable’ as addicts

Addiction arguably occupies the sharp end of procrastination. It is a perplexing phenomenon that’s been explored by the philosopher of mind Gabriel Segal, who favours an approach grounded in cognitive science, albeit with nods to Stoicism and Zen Buddhism. ‘There’s a good neurological theory of addiction now,’ Segal told me: ‘it’s called incentive sensitisation of the dopamine system.’ Normally, a rewarding experience produces a dopamine spike that leads us to desire another reward; in addicts, this desire becomes a craving. ‘That’s the fundamental way in which addiction relates to self-sabotage,’ Segal said. ‘You’re intending to do something, but then you feel you need to do this other thing first. It’s like becoming very hungry. You drop everything else and get food. And if that becomes a dominant feature of your life, you just end up sabotaging everything.’

The psychiatrist Anna Lembke believes that most of us are addicted to instant gratification, even if we are not ‘classifiable’ as addicts. Lembke, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University in California, a specialist in addiction and the author of Dopamine Nation (2021), told me that whenever we do something pleasurable we get a hit of dopamine, followed by the brain’s counter-response, which is to reset dopamine levels back to the baseline; but in order to do that, the brain overshoots in a downward direction, putting us in a ‘dopamine deficit state’. That’s the danger zone, ‘the state of real urgency or craving’, Lembke told me, and ‘we’ll do a lot of work – broadly defined as how much the organism is willing to sacrifice to get to a certain goal – to bring ourselves back to that homeostatic baseline.’

‘Addicts often behave in ways that are quite destructive to their own purposes: health, wellbeing, jobs and relationships,’ said Segal, like the alcoholic who has a job interview, but gets drunk and doesn’t turn up. ‘Humans generally – and addicts in particular – have different sub-characters inside them,’ Segal continued. ‘So there could be an element of sabotaging the mature person who wants a job, but serving the purpose of the inner teenager who wants to go out and have fun.’

The anxiety of achievement felt by many self-saboteurs is especially acute for addicts. Another interpretation of the job interview debacle is that the addict fears success. ‘If you succeed, then you come under threat – other people want to throw rocks at you; knock you off your pedestal,’ Segal said. ‘You may be aware that, if you succeed, somebody else fails as a result, and you don’t want other people to be upset. If success brings power, you might be afraid of what you would do with the power.’

Self-sabotage – particularly its common manifestations in addiction, eating disorders and self-harm – raises complex questions about the extent to which we are in control of ourselves and our lives. ‘Addiction is a spectrum disorder, from mild to moderate to severe,’ Lembke told me. ‘Along that continuum, there is a gradual increase in loss of agency and self-determination.’ Classifying self-sabotage as a malady beyond the hard border of ‘the normal’ means we avoid thinking about these grey areas of choice and control: territory that psychoanalysis has traditionally been happy to inhabit.

For Anouchka Grose, a psychoanalyst and author who has brought her specialism to bear on such topics as fashion , vegetarianism and eco-anxiety , this tolerance of ambiguity is precisely what makes Sigmund Freud’s work ‘radical’: ‘There isn’t a boundary between the normal and the pathological,’ says Grose, ‘and I think that’s a good way of thinking about it. We really don’t know how these things are going to play out in our lives.’ I ask her about the articulation of Freud’s aim, turning neurotic misery into normal unhappiness, and Grose reads it ironically: ‘I suppose, in a way, the reason that’s a kind of joke is because the slippage between one state and the other is so discreet: it’s not like you would ever know.’

I believe that the mechanical explanations of self-sabotage – neural pathways and dopamine responses – get us only so far. They are physical descriptions of psychological patterns and processes that can be explained in more profound terms: namely, the terms of psychoanalysis. Where neuroscience seems to demand that we overcome ourselves, psychoanalysis suggests we develop a more accommodating and nuanced understanding of our split selves and contradictions. To take it down to basics, we engage in self-sabotaging behaviours because at some level it feels like they are helping. My OCD is a kind of coping mechanism. Slumping in front of a screen or drinking wine on a dry day is a respite from self-flagellating productivity. Snow days, train strikes and pandemic lockdowns allow us to let ourselves off the hook with impunity, even as we feel thwarted.

Freud thought that we are governed by two opposing instincts. There is the pleasure principle, associated with life and creativity, and the death drive, which is the impulse to return to an inert state. ‘We’re all after a kind of homeostasis,’ says Grose, ‘and excitement has to be managed very carefully … not doing things is actually quite comfortable, except that it tips to the point where not doing things becomes morbid and deathly.’ A healthy balance, in other words, must be maintained between the two impulses: as Grose put it with down-to-earth wit: ‘You have to live, you have to act … and you also have to flop.’

Self-sabotage becomes problematic only when the death drive is too dominant. Fear of failure, for example, can overpower our ambitions. So we put obstacles in our own path in order to keep the painful reality of our imperfection at bay – not preparing well for those job interviews or public appearances, or behaving erratically. What the psychoanalyst Ronald Fairbairn in 1952 called our ‘internal saboteur’ tries to protect us from shame. But it does so at a high cost, foreclosing the possibility of novel, creative and authentic experiences, perhaps even hope. Grose believes that the advice to ‘get out of your comfort zone’ is really a reminder to resist the death drive and engage with life: ‘don’t procrastinate, actually do this thing, even though it’s awful. Write your book, even though you might fail.’ Although we think we want to do well, this comes with the risk of inciting envy in others that might rebound upon us, becoming ‘a profound source of comeuppance’, the psychoanalyst Josh Cohen told me during a conversation full of humorous exasperation at these inhibitions: ‘The subtext is, What am I doing enjoying myself at this moment? Who do you think you are!? ’

The interruption is a form of self-sabotage, but it also expresses a need for connection and validation

If we have omnipotent tendencies that overinflate our sense of our own destructive capabilities, we may scupper our chances of happiness or fulfilment to defuse the possibility of harming those around us. Even if we just have thoughts and feelings towards loved ones that make us feel bad (including what the family therapist Terrence Real calls ‘normal marital hatred’), we can turn that aggression on ourselves, which stops us having to properly own those impulses. Freud called this internal judge and jury the superego, and what should be a necessary system of checks and balances can become tyrannical.

Carl Jung came up with another useful concept to add to our saboteur’s toolkit: the shadow self. The shadow self is the parts of ourselves that we label undesirable, or that we think society will reject: unmet needs, say, or aggressive impulses. We split off these parts, but they revolt against us powerfully and unpredictably, as erratic outbursts, mental blocks or physical ailments that compromise our plans. ‘When an inner situation is not made conscious,’ wrote Jung in Aion (1951), ‘it happens outside, as fate.’ An example is the worker who constantly distracts herself with social media. The interruption is a form of self-sabotage, but it also expresses a need for connection and validation that she has repressed as invalid, and which emerges with redoubled force in those procrastinatory habits.

Jacques Lacan described the paradox that, while we fear failure, success may provoke more anxiety. The ‘curse of the lottery’ strikes when winning millions generates unexpected discontent; or think of the man who, all his working life, looks forward to retirement, but experiences a crisis when the structure of his day job is removed. I’ve felt a minor version of this when I’ve gone on a long-awaited holiday and found myself fiddling; at a loose end, I snap at my family, and scroll British news headlines so I can catch up on domestic gloom. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, there are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.

I f self-sabotage exists on a spectrum, the contemporary world – with its alluring screens and overwork culture – has made it far more prevalent. Forms of self-sabotaging behaviour previously classed as abnormal have become ubiquitous. There has been a 400 per cent increase in the number of British adults seeking a diagnosis for ADHD since 2020, according to Tony Lloyd of the ADHD Foundation. And, according to Steel, about 95 per cent of people admit to procrastinating at least some of the time. A growing number of young people ask for extenuating circumstances to complete the coursework for a degree they may ostensibly really enjoy. Universities are dealing with an entire system on the brink of logical absurdity and administrative collapse. Faced with collective self-sabotage in the form of climate change and an ever-more competitive jobs market, many young people appear to be turning the anxiety upon themselves, inducing a kind of paralysis. We should exercise caution when we link mental illness to ambient conditions such as geopolitics or the dominance of screens. But it’s also worth considering why self-sabotage is such a feature of modern life.

The big change is that diversions from our chosen path appear at every turn. The researchers I spoke to pointed to recent research on the impact of screen time , particularly social media . ‘We are hacking our own operating systems, and marketers have very quickly discovered how to exploit our impulsivity,’ Steel told me. ‘Procrastination is on the rise because there’s a trillion-dollar industry to get us to indulge in these smaller sooner temptations at the cost of our larger later dreams.’ The philosopher Harry Frankfurt in 1971 defined these as first-order and second-order desires. So, our first-order desire might be to look at Instagram, but the second-order desire might be to become an artist. We can only be said to have free will when our first- and second-order desires align. The stakes couldn’t be higher. As Steel says: ‘These are deep questions about what kind of society we want to live in, and we have not designed it to maximise human flourishing.’

It’s a double battle: the world offers opportunities for self-sabotage and raises our perfectionist expectations

Our screen addictions prevent us from accomplishing our higher goals, but they also prevent us from resting and living in the moment – something we are constantly told is good for us. ‘We don’t know how to relax anymore without digital media,’ said Lembke. ‘The way that we now relax is to take a break from our externally focused attention and then to mind-wander, facilitated by social media. But, in essence, when we’re doing that, we’re consuming a drug and so we’re not really allowing ourselves to return to a homeostatic baseline.’ We can neither properly get on with our work, nor truly sit still.

We are ‘nurtured in a competitive, individualistic atmosphere’, said Cohen. His interests are wide-ranging; he’s written about anger , how to live , being a loser , and he’s questioned whether we even possess a private life, while his book Not Working (2019) offers a critique of our workaholic culture. In the past, our sense of duty came from the superego: a hard taskmaster, but somehow contained. But, under capitalism, the compulsion comes from another Freudian concept, the ‘ego ideal’, which is more internal and insidious. ‘The ego ideal never says “you must”, it says “you can”,’ Cohen explained. ‘Under the gaze of our own perfection, our own punishing ideal, we’re always falling short.’

So we seem to be fighting a double battle: the contemporary world offers readily available opportunities for self-sabotage and it raises our perfectionist expectations, making distraction and addiction more tempting. As well as leading to overwork, the ego ideal makes us less good at our work, too: another downwards spiral. This state of mind is ‘performance wrecking’, says Cohen: ‘you lose conviction and confidence in yourself. The more you’re aware of falling behind, of not quite being at the level you’re supposed to be, the more it does something to your capacity to seamlessly produce.’

C an self-sabotage be reduced or eliminated? In order to think about what might help, we need to distinguish between the self-sabotage that is caused by the contemporary world, and that which is simply a part of us.

As far as the external world is concerned, Lembke takes an original and bracing approach, arguing that we need to ‘change the narrative’ away from the drive to experience pleasure to ‘a new form of asceticism’ that paradoxically will enable us to achieve what we are really after. When Lembke considers the problem of young people failing to launch themselves into the world, in a growing number of cases ‘it’s not that their lives are too hard. It’s that their lives are fundamentally too easy, and that with more friction they would find more purpose. With more purpose, they would be able to endure the pain of being alive. Because it would have at least some meaning for them.’ The way to do this, she argues, is to create ‘a world within a world where we insulate ourselves’ from these ‘highly reinforcing substances and behaviours’. Similarly, Steel has found that one remedy for procrastination is putting pleasures a little out of reach: ‘We need delays, and even small ones can be very effective.’

Beyond switching off the internet and taking cold showers, a first step in limiting our self-sabotaging tendencies is to recognise that we have them. In some ways, we’ve come a long way as a culture in appreciating that we don’t always act in our own best interests. Behavioural economists like Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein have questioned the model of ‘homo economicus’, the rational, self-determining individual. They’ve documented how irrational we actually are: we neglect our pensions, stick with our overpriced insurance plans, and demolish mediocre takeaways on the sofa. The equivalent in political theory is false consciousness: as Thomas Frank puts it in What’s the Matter with Kansas (2004), it’s the conundrum of ‘working-class guys in midwestern cities cheering as they deliver up a landslide for a candidate whose policies will end their way of life, will transform their region into a “rustbelt”, will strike people like them blows from which they will never recover.’

Making sense of the deeper logics beneath what is dismissed as perverse can be the most effective remedy

In the mainstream conversation about ‘wellbeing’, however, self-sabotage can appear counterintuitive. The self-optimisation movement is driven to some extent by a recognition of the need to overcome bad habits, but its positivity (encapsulated by the injunction to live your best life) can downplay our feelings of being out of control and irrational, making us feel bad for being merely ‘normally unhappy’. Here it resembles the rhetoric of self-management that pervades popular discussions of neuroscience: the assumption that if it’s physical, it’s fixable. Psychoanalysis, by contrast, understands very well how and why we undercut our conscious intentions. Rather than eliminating these aspects of the self, psychoanalysis brings them into the light, where we can better understand them.

In fact, making sense of the deeper logics beneath what is dismissed as perverse can be the most effective remedy. OCD’s triggers may be genetic, but they are also contextual: perhaps you were made to feel, from an early age, that your natural emotions – especially rage, but also desires that felt underserved or risky – were poisonous. Such conditioning pops up like a self-appointed security guard, keeping that ‘shadow self’ toxicity channelled away inside. The bestselling popular psychiatrist Jeffrey M Schwartz, who champions our ability to rewire our neuroplastic brains, advocates a combination of conscious awareness (or mindfulness) of the compulsions, while thinking about why they occur – an approach that has certainly worked for me. Though it may look less empowering on the surface, I am reminded here of Melanie Klein’s belief in the need to replace our idealised self with our actual self, so we might reconcile ourselves to the difficult reality of our imperfection. We can defuse our deep-seated fear of envious revenge, for example, by seeing it as our own projection – a strategy that might have rescued my BBC interview.

Comprehension leads to self-compassion. Accepting the reality of self-sabotage loosens its grip. We need ‘to work with our symptom rather than “return to normal” or assume that there’s a sort of benchmark human,’ Grose told me. The task is ‘how to include your symptom in a life that you can live – and like.’

Perhaps, then, we don’t want to jettison our self-sabotaging tendencies altogether. Ironically, renowned analysts such as Freud and Jung deployed their own struggles with self-sabotage to spark innovative and creative breakthroughs – delving into their neurotic, maddening inability to work to help them understand these tendencies in us all. Jung had hallucinations and heard disturbing voices – documented in his fantastically illustrated masterwork, The Red Book – that were both debilitating and groundbreaking. Freud’s letters reveal that, around the age of 40, he faced the unbearable realisation that he would not be able to accomplish his life goal of explaining all human psychology in terms of the physical workings of the brain. He complained of ‘a feeling of depression’ that took the form of ‘visions of death … in place of the usual frenzy of activity’. He found he couldn’t stop smoking and was ‘completely incapable of working’, declaring that ‘in times like these my reluctance to write is downright pathological’. But then he had a revelation, and moved beyond this narrowly scientific project into an exploration of fantasies and dreams. ‘Symptoms, like dreams, are the fulfilment of a wish ,’ he wrote, realising that his neuroses have their own wishes. Only when he attends to them is he able to invent the discipline of psychoanalysis.

Self-sabotage may be debilitating, but it can also be a spur. Very often, it is the engine of productivity – and humour. There is something precious about the neurotic tangles that make many of our most relatable cultural figures who they are – I’m thinking of George Costanza in the TV show Seinfeld . ‘Lots of people who are very successful are on that boundary,’ Grose told me. ‘It’s a tight-rope act between being insane and brilliant.’ The best we can hope for, perhaps, is having people we can rely on to save us from ourselves. After all, it worked for Marcel Proust. ‘Proust was a total perfectionist, and drove his publisher mad,’ Grose said. ‘Left to his own devices, who knows what would have happened. But that was his process, and luckily, in his case it was possible for someone to step in and say: we’re going to press, right now. It’s time to stop!’

Biography and memoir

The adoption paradox

Even happy families cannot avoid the reality – my reality – that adoption is predicated on transacting the life of a child

Fiona Sampson

Moral progress is annoying

You might feel you can trust your gut to tell right from wrong, but the friction of social change shows that you can’t

Daniel Kelly & Evan Westra

What is intelligent life?

Our human minds hold us back from truly understanding the many brilliant ways that other creatures solve their problems

Abigail Desmond & Michael Haslam

Pleasure and pain

Eulogy for silence

Tinnitus is like a constant scream inside my head, depriving me of what I formerly treasured: the moments of serene quiet

Diego Ramírez Martín del Campo

Technology and the self

Tomorrow people

For the entire 20th century, it had felt like telepathy was just around the corner. Why is that especially true now?

Roger Luckhurst

Ageing and death

Peregrinations of grief

A friend and a falcon went missing. In pain, I turned to ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ – and found a new vision of sorrow and time

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IRS sending settlement offer letters in July to certain taxpayers who participated in Syndicated Conservation Easement transactions

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IR-2024-174, June 26, 2024

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced the mailing of a time-limited settlement offer for certain taxpayers who participated in Syndicated Conservation Easements (SCE) and substantially similar transactions that are under audit in the IRS’s Large Business & International and Small Business and Self-Employed divisions.

The IRS will notify eligible taxpayers by letter with the applicable terms and timelines to respond. The settlement offer requires substantial concession of the income tax benefits and the application of penalties. Taxpayers under examination who receive a letter but opt not to participate, will continue to face IRS enforcement actions, including potential full disallowance of charitable contributions associated with the SCE and the imposition of all applicable penalties.

Taxpayers who don't receive a letter are not eligible for this resolution, and the IRS will continue enforcement-related actions. Taxpayers with cases pending in the United States Tax Court are not eligible for this settlement offer.

Combatting abusive SCE transactions

The IRS has consistently disallowed the tax benefits claimed by taxpayers in abusive SCE transactions, which have appeared on the IRS’s Dirty Dozen list of tax scams multiple times.

The U.S. Tax Court has also issued many opinions, including the following :

• Plateau Holdings, LLC v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-93,
• TOT Property Holdings, LLC v. Commissioner, T.C. Docket No. 5600-17 (unpublished bench op., Nov. 22, 2019),
• Mill Road 36 Henry, LLC v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2023-129,
• Oconee Landing Property, LLC v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2024-25,
• Savannah Shoals, LLC v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2024-35, and
• Buckelew Farm, LLC v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2024-52) in which the true value of the easement was found to be a small fraction of the claimed value.

In addition, there have been at least nine guilty pleas and two promoters found guilty and sentenced to 25 and 23 years in prison .

In December 2022, Congress passed the SECURE 2.0 Act, which applies to contributions of property made after Dec. 29, 2022, to the help curb SCE abuse by limiting deductions for certain charitable contributions under Internal Revenue Code section 170.

After careful consideration and input from external stakeholders, the IRS is taking this additional step of offering time-limited settlements in the interest of sound tax administration. The IRS encourages taxpayers and their advisors to carefully review the settlement offer. The settlement offer is the most effective and efficient way for taxpayers to bring finality to the transactions and achieve tax certainty.

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Apple expands Self Service Repair Diagnostics support to Europe

Text of this article

June 26, 2024

Apple Diagnostics for Self Service Repair — a software tool that enables users to troubleshoot issues — is now available in 32 European countries, including the U.K., France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Launched in the U.S. in December 2023, Diagnostics gives users the same ability as Apple Authorized Service Providers and Independent Repair Providers to test products for optimal parts functionality and performance, and it helps identify which parts may need repair. With this expansion, Apple Diagnostics for Self Service Repair now supports iPhone, Mac, and Studio Display models in 33 countries and 24 languages.

Diagnostics is part of Apple’s ongoing effort to extend the lifespan of Apple products. While Apple is committed to providing safe and affordable repair options, designing and building long-lasting products remains the top priority. The best type of repair for customers and the planet is one that is never needed. Today, Apple published a whitepaper explaining the company’s principles for designing for longevity — a careful balance between product durability and repairability.

Customers can access Apple Diagnostics to better understand whether their product needs repair. They can begin the session on a second product and check the status and performance on the device that may need repair. After beginning the session and following the onscreen prompts, customers will know whether their products need repair and which parts need to be replaced.

Launched in April 2022, Self Service Repair gives anyone with relevant experience repairing electronic devices access to the manuals, genuine Apple parts, and tools used at Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Service Providers. Self Service Repair supports 42 Apple products, and now includes MacBook Air models powered by M3. Next year, Canada will become the 34th country in which Apple offers Self Service Repair.

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Inside Kevin Costner’s Big Gamble as His Self-Financed Western Epic ‘Horizon’ Opens

With tens of millions from his own pocket and a movie star’s ego on the line, what will this lengthy theatrical gamble cost the 'Yellowstone' star? 

By Matt Donnelly

Matt Donnelly

Senior Film Writer

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A covered wagon’s worth of ink has been spilled in recent weeks on “ Horizon : An American Saga,” the potentially ruinous three-hour dice roll that writer, producer, director and star Kevin Costner makes this weekend when the first of four planned films about the American West opens in theaters.

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As it stands, the “Dances With Wolves” Oscar-winner mortgaged prime undeveloped real estate in Santa Barbara, Calif. to cough up his piece of the action, and raised additional financing for the films through mysterious investors. His longtime studio partner Warner Bros . is in the mix as a distributor for hire. However, the company isn’t spending any of its own money on “Horizon,” not even for marketing.

Emmerich and his team were approaching the project as package acquisition, insiders said, meaning Warner Bros. would be on board to finance both films. Costner would be a splashy get for a straight-to-streaming movie, and the actor was a company man. Warner Bros. has released some of Costner’s career-defining films, including “JFK” and “The Bodyguard.” He was also recruited for franchise properties like DC’s “Man of Steel,” playing the adoptive father of Superman. But after AT&T ended its disastrous marriage with WarnerMedia and Discovery merged with the studio, the game changed. Costner went to its new leaders Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy with a different vision – not only to give “Horizon” a wide theatrical release but to make two additional films, bringing the count to four movies. The films unfold over a 12-year span, before and after the American Civil War, as a large ensemble of characters seek better lives in new terrain.

Max’s streaming mandate for movies had changed overnight, but De Luca and Abdy wanted to honor the studio’s relationship with Costner, sources said. The package was briefly developed under the Warner Bros. Label, New Line, but the economics soon became troubling (the New York Times reported this week that the studio has a small financial stake in the first two chapters of “Horizon.” A representative for the studio wouldn’t comment, but one source close to the film said those costs would have been related to development expenses at New Line).

Costner was uninterested in scaling down his vision, and therefore had to go out on his own and find the funds. Production on the second “Horizon” project received $14 million in tax incentives from the state of Utah. In return for distributing the film in the U.S. and select international territories, Warner Bros. will receive roughly 8% of the “Horizon” box office grosses, two insiders said. Costner and his backers are footing the bill for marketing. Numerous film marketers who spoke anonymously with Variety said the P&A spend on the film is easily $30 million, which two sources close to the situation confirm is accurate. The studio had no comment.

The Warner Bros. motion picture marketing team, led by Josh Goldstine, designed the campaign in concert with Costner, and took some interesting swings to engage audiences. Some exhibitors have sold tickets to the first two installments of “Horizon” as a discounted pair or offered free concessions for attending the sequel.

There’s a subliminal message behind all of Costner’s stumping: He’s asking audiences to invest in and uphold his own star power, in the form of bucking consumer habits and making his film a watercooler moment in the age of streaming convenience and TikTok distractions. This message has been so insistent that even People magazine is writing stories about how “gratifying” Costner finds the studio support from Warner Bros.

His campaign has not been as well received as, say, Coppola’s — whose “Megalopolis” is a self-financed spectacle that occasionally borders on the avant garde, and has been embraced as a rejection of an industry obsessed with profits and allergic to risk. Costner’s audacity may be in the cool confidence he’s projecting despite massive risk to his reputation and pocketbook.

Representatives for Costner declined to comment on this story. This weekend’s box office results, perhaps, will do all the talking.

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