My Tips for Essays: Number 1

Be yourself!

I have friends who always ask me to edit their papers, and I never can. I have to tell my friends simply that I can't edit. I always try to change their work to make it my own because I just simply dislike papers without any voice. Papers that don't have voice are boring, and I don't like reading them. I also don't think others really like reading boring papers. 

For application essays especially, I think people get so focused on pumping themselves up. People get so focused on making sure they sound intelligent and bragging about their resumes. The issue with this style of writing is that you lose yourself. In trying to make a reader want you, you give up yourself. No one wants a a block of wood, even if the wood is super talented and a genius. Colleges and scholarship committees will be more attracted to you if you have a personality. Being really smart and talented is obviously important, but the rest of the application is where the numbers go. They will speak for themselves. You need to sell yourself, not just your talent, that's why colleges have essays.

EXAMPLE: Why I Want to Be a Journalist

 I want to be a journalist. I decided this when I was in the 6^th grade. At that point I knew three things: 1. I like to write, 2. authors don't make any money, and 3. journalist is a job that involves writing. Since then, I've learned a bit more about journalism and a bit more about what I want for my future.

I still like to write, that much hasn't changed, but I've learned more about my writing style. I'm not a creative writer by any means. I get severe writer's block whenever I try to write anything fiction especially since, as a writer, it has to be perfect. Instead, I prefer to write about given topics. Research papers, articles, essays, etc. always come much easier since I'm given a topic, but I don't like to just inform you. I want to tell you about the topic. When I write, I want to make the reader feel like I'm telling them first hand. Since the fourth grade, my teachers have been telling me how much voice I have in my writing, and I've continued to develop that over time. When I write, I want people to feel like I'm with them, not like they're simply reading more words off a page.

Authors still don't make much money. I've always been very practical. Even at a young age, I knew that in order to be successful, I had to do something more than just be an author. Before journalism, I wanted to be a lawyer, simply because I knew they made a lot of money. I knew/know what society calls “success,” but today, I look it at it a bit differently. Journalists might make more than authors, but let's be honest, journalists don't make much. Over time, I've realized that money is not nearly as important to me now as it might've been back then. Often, you hear adults complaining about their jobs and how they hate what they do. They makes tons of money, but they spend all their time sitting in a cubicle working on something they hate. Obviously, I need money to live and pay for things, but I'd rather make just enough do something I enjoy than make a lot doing something that I hate.

Journalists still write, but they do so much more. Journalists have to research, interview, collaborate, write, rewrite, work on deadlines, edit, and more that I don't even know about yet. Furthermore, I hadn't even considered broadcast journalism when I first decided back in the sixth grade. Today, I am more interested in broadcast than print. Broadcast journalists do everything that print does and more. They have to plan, search, research, interview, film, collaborate, edit film, edit written parts, work on deadlines, and more. Still, it's hard for me to imagine myself doing anything else. I'm never going to be “the cubicle type,” and the rush of a work room just seems like the perfect place for me.

Today I have one more point to add to my list. I like to learn. Everyday journalists have to go out and find a story. Everyday, they go out to talk to people, organizations, businesses, etc. to research and discover their stories. Everyday they get to interact and work with new people and new things. Then they take everything they learn and teach the rest of the world. I want to spend everyday discovering and learning new things, so I can inform the rest of the world of the amazing things that I've found.

I want to be a journalist for four reasons:

1. I like to write
2. Authors don't make any money
3. Journalist is a job that involves writing
4. I like to learn