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| Writing of Personal Statement |
How to Tie Personal Experiences to an Event in a Personal Statement
Writing a personal statement is one of the difficult tasks that students face. When I helped a colleague write a winning personal statement, the biggest challenge we encountered was "How to connect the personal experience to the personal statement without sounding like we were narrating a story.
This is honestly a real problem as it still stands today. The fact that admission teams don't want a story but yours is because they want to understand how an event guided your decisions, how it shaped you, or how it even changed your perspective. Over the years, I have tried to review a lot of essays, and what I learned? "An event is only meaningful if the reader can see you inside it.
This is a guide to help you walk through exactly how to do that using a proven method that has helped many students. But before we get into that, let's look at why connecting an event to your personal experience is important.
Why connecting an event to your Personal Experience Matters
A personal statement becomes very cogent when the reader can clearly understand. Admission officers do not admit events but rather people. So here is what an admission officer can be looking for.
- What happened?
- Why did it matter to you?
- How did what happened change you? etc
Below are the simple formulas that always work.
1. Start with the event (That is how to set the stage)
This is where you briefly introduce what happened. Keep it really short, about 1 to 3 sentences. You can see in the example below
During a community health outreach program in my town, I was given the assignment to help elderly patients fill out medical forms.
2. Where were you in the event? Show your role.
You must let the reader see your position in the situation (event). Say something like:
Although I volunteered so I could primarily learn about public health, I ended up assisting nearly 40 individuals.
3. Why did it matter? Express your feelings or thoughts.
This is the point where your voice must become convincing.
Seeing the long lines of elderly patients struggling only to get basic care made me question how accessible healthcare truly was.
4. What did you learn? Highlight it.
This is the part that I consider the heart of every personal statement. What did you learned from the experience? Here is a guide below.
That experience I had that day taught me how important community health care is and the role one needs to play in solving its problems.
5. Time to connect the lesson to your goal.
Try your best to finally connect the lesson you learned to your goal, as in, how it influenced you.
This experience influenced my decision and strengthened my interest in pursuing public health. This has been a reason why I am having the commitment to developing healthcare solutions for underserved communities.
Let us take this full example so you can understand this clearly.
During a community health outreach in my community, I stepped forward to help the elderly residents complete their medical forms. It seemed like a small, simple task in the first place because all I had to do was enter data, but it turned out to be an eye-opening experience when I noticed that a lot of them could not even read. Their reactions and demeanour made me come to know how healthcare can be inaccessible to vulnerable groups. This experience taught me how communication in public is important and has also been an inspiration to work toward health awareness programs.
Tips that can make your writing stand out:
- Be honest and dramatic.
- Do not just say what happened, but make sure you explain what it meant to you.
- Keep your writing voice clear. Be confident because it is your story.
- Avoid talking about things that are not related to what you are writing.
- Do not talk plenty with hopes of impressing the reader.
- Use friendly tones when writing and stay formal.
FAQs
1. Can I use a sad or emotional event in my personal statement?
The answer is yes, but talk about the positive change you experienced from it, not pity.
2. What do I don't have any interesting dramatic events.
That must not be a problem, because even conversations you have had in the classroom or outside it with someone can be an event.
3. How many events should I write in my personal statement?
Write only one event in your personal statement.
4. Can I write about my failure in my personal statement?
Yes, you can. Tell the team how you overcame that failure and how it changed your life.
I hope the above steps have given you a clear understanding of how to connect your personal experiences to your events. If you need any assistance or help, please leave a comment in the comments section. Response will be returned.
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