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How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

Published on February 12, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 3, 2023.

A personal statement is a short essay of around 500–1,000 words, in which you tell a compelling story about who you are, what drives you, and why you’re applying.

To write a successful personal statement for a graduate school application , don’t just summarize your experience; instead, craft a focused narrative in your own voice. Aim to demonstrate three things:

Your personality: what are your interests, values, and motivations?
Your talents: what can you bring to the program?
Your goals: what do you hope the program will do for you?

This article guides you through some winning strategies to build a strong, well-structured personal statement for a master’s or PhD application. You can download the full examples below.

Urban Planning Psychology History

Getting started with your personal statement, the introduction: start with an attention-grabbing opening, the main body: craft your narrative, the conclusion: look ahead, revising, editing, and proofreading your personal statement, frequently asked questions, other interesting articles.

Before you start writing, the first step is to understand exactly what’s expected of you. If the application gives you a question or prompt for your personal statement, the most important thing is to respond to it directly.

For example, you might be asked to focus on the development of your personal identity; challenges you have faced in your life; or your career motivations. This will shape your focus and emphasis—but you still need to find your own unique approach to answering it.

There’s no universal template for a personal statement; it’s your chance to be creative and let your own voice shine through. But there are strategies you can use to build a compelling, well-structured story.

The first paragraph of your personal statement should set the tone and lead smoothly into the story you want to tell.

Strategy 1: Open with a concrete scene

An effective way to catch the reader’s attention is to set up a scene that illustrates something about your character and interests. If you’re stuck, try thinking about:

A personal experience that changed your perspective
A story from your family’s history
A memorable teacher or learning experience
An unusual or unexpected encounter

To write an effective scene, try to go beyond straightforward description; start with an intriguing sentence that pulls the reader in, and give concrete details to create a convincing atmosphere.

Strategy 2: Open with your motivations

To emphasize your enthusiasm and commitment, you can start by explaining your interest in the subject you want to study or the career path you want to follow.

Just stating that it interests you isn’t enough: first, you need to figure out why you’re interested in this field:

Is it a longstanding passion or a recent discovery?
Does it come naturally or have you had to work hard at it?
How does it fit into the rest of your life?
What do you think it contributes to society?

Tips for the introduction

Don’t start on a cliche: avoid phrases like “Ever since I was a child…” or “For as long as I can remember…”
Do save the introduction for last. If you’re struggling to come up with a strong opening, leave it aside, and note down any interesting ideas that occur to you as you write the rest of the personal statement.

Once you’ve set up the main themes of your personal statement, you’ll delve into more detail about your experiences and motivations.

To structure the body of your personal statement, there are various strategies you can use.

Strategy 1: Describe your development over time

One of the simplest strategies is to give a chronological overview of key experiences that have led you to apply for graduate school.

What first sparked your interest in the field?
Which classes, assignments, classmates, internships, or other activities helped you develop your knowledge and skills?
Where do you want to go next? How does this program fit into your future plans?

Don’t try to include absolutely everything you’ve done—pick out highlights that are relevant to your application. Aim to craft a compelling narrative that shows how you’ve changed and actively developed yourself.

My interest in psychology was first sparked early in my high school career. Though somewhat scientifically inclined, I found that what interested me most was not the equations we learned about in physics and chemistry, but the motivations and perceptions of my fellow students, and the subtle social dynamics that I observed inside and outside the classroom. I wanted to learn how our identities, beliefs, and behaviours are shaped through our interactions with others, so I decided to major in Social Psychology. My undergraduate studies deepened my understanding of, and fascination with, the interplay between an individual mind and its social context.During my studies, I acquired a solid foundation of knowledge about concepts like social influence and group dynamics, but I also took classes on various topics not strictly related to my major. I was particularly interested in how other fields intersect with psychology—the classes I took on media studies, biology, and literature all enhanced my understanding of psychological concepts by providing different lenses through which to look at the issues involved.

Strategy 2: Own your challenges and obstacles

If your path to graduate school hasn’t been easy or straightforward, you can turn this into a strength, and structure your personal statement as a story of overcoming obstacles.

Is your social, cultural or economic background underrepresented in the field? Show how your experiences will contribute a unique perspective.
Do you have gaps in your resume or lower-than-ideal grades? Explain the challenges you faced and how you dealt with them.

Don’t focus too heavily on negatives, but use them to highlight your positive qualities. Resilience, resourcefulness and perseverance make you a promising graduate school candidate.

Growing up working class, urban decay becomes depressingly familiar. The sight of a row of abandoned houses does not surprise me, but it continues to bother me. Since high school, I have been determined to pursue a career in urban planning. While people of my background experience the consequences of urban planning decisions first-hand, we are underrepresented in the field itself. Ironically, given my motivation, my economic background has made my studies challenging. I was fortunate enough to be awarded a scholarship for my undergraduate studies, but after graduation I took jobs in unrelated fields to help support my parents. In the three years since, I have not lost my ambition. Now I am keen to resume my studies, and I believe I can bring an invaluable perspective to the table: that of the people most impacted by the decisions of urban planners.

Strategy 3: Demonstrate your knowledge of the field

Especially if you’re applying for a PhD or another research-focused program, it’s a good idea to show your familiarity with the subject and the department. Your personal statement can focus on the area you want to specialize in and reflect on why it matters to you.

Reflect on the topics or themes that you’ve focused on in your studies. What draws you to them?
Discuss any academic achievements, influential teachers, or other highlights of your education.
Talk about the questions you’d like to explore in your research and why you think they’re important.

The personal statement isn’t a research proposal , so don’t go overboard on detail—but it’s a great opportunity to show your enthusiasm for the field and your capacity for original thinking.

In applying for this research program, my intention is to build on the multidisciplinary approach I have taken in my studies so far, combining knowledge from disparate fields of study to better understand psychological concepts and issues. The Media Psychology program stands out to me as the perfect environment for this kind of research, given its researchers’ openness to collaboration across diverse fields. I am impressed by the department’s innovative interdisciplinary projects that focus on the shifting landscape of media and technology, and I hope that my own work can follow a similarly trailblazing approach. More specifically, I want to develop my understanding of the intersection of psychology and media studies, and explore how media psychology theories and methods might be applied to neurodivergent minds. I am interested not only in media psychology but also in psychological disorders, and how the two interact. This is something I touched on during my undergraduate studies and that I’m excited to delve into further.

Strategy 4: Discuss your professional ambitions

Especially if you’re applying for a more professionally-oriented program (such as an MBA), it’s a good idea to focus on concrete goals and how the program will help you achieve them.

If your career is just getting started, show how your character is suited to the field, and explain how graduate school will help you develop your talents.
If you have already worked in the profession, show what you’ve achieved so far, and explain how the program will allow you to take the next step.
If you are planning a career change, explain what has driven this decision and how your existing experience will help you succeed.

Don’t just state the position you want to achieve. You should demonstrate that you’ve put plenty of thought into your career plans and show why you’re well-suited to this profession.

One thing that fascinated me about the field during my undergraduate studies was the sheer number of different elements whose interactions constitute a person’s experience of an urban environment. Any number of factors could transform the scene I described at the beginning: What if there were no bus route? Better community outreach in the neighborhood? Worse law enforcement? More or fewer jobs available in the area? Some of these factors are out of the hands of an urban planner, but without taking them all into consideration, the planner has an incomplete picture of their task. Through further study I hope to develop my understanding of how these disparate elements combine and interact to create the urban environment. I am interested in the social, psychological and political effects our surroundings have on our lives. My studies will allow me to work on projects directly affecting the kinds of working-class urban communities I know well. I believe I can bring my own experiences, as well as my education, to bear upon the problem of improving infrastructure and quality of life in these communities.

Tips for the main body

Don’t rehash your resume by trying to summarize everything you’ve done so far; the personal statement isn’t about listing your academic or professional experience, but about reflecting, evaluating, and relating it to broader themes.
Do make your statements into stories: Instead of saying you’re hard-working and self-motivated, write about your internship where you took the initiative to start a new project. Instead of saying you’ve always loved reading, reflect on a novel or poem that changed your perspective.

Your conclusion should bring the focus back to the program and what you hope to get out of it, whether that’s developing practical skills, exploring intellectual questions, or both.

Emphasize the fit with your specific interests, showing why this program would be the best way to achieve your aims.

Strategy 1: What do you want to know?

If you’re applying for a more academic or research-focused program, end on a note of curiosity: what do you hope to learn, and why do you think this is the best place to learn it?

If there are specific classes or faculty members that you’re excited to learn from, this is the place to express your enthusiasm.

Strategy 2: What do you want to do?

If you’re applying for a program that focuses more on professional training, your conclusion can look to your career aspirations: what role do you want to play in society, and why is this program the best choice to help you get there?

Tips for the conclusion

Don’t summarize what you’ve already said. You have limited space in a personal statement, so use it wisely!
Do think bigger than yourself: try to express how your individual aspirations relate to your local community, your academic field, or society more broadly. It’s not just about what you’ll get out of graduate school, but about what you’ll be able to give back.

You’ll be expected to do a lot of writing in graduate school, so make a good first impression: leave yourself plenty of time to revise and polish the text.

Your style doesn’t have to be as formal as other kinds of academic writing, but it should be clear, direct and coherent. Make sure that each paragraph flows smoothly from the last, using topic sentences and transitions to create clear connections between each part.

Don’t be afraid to rewrite and restructure as much as necessary. Since you have a lot of freedom in the structure of a personal statement, you can experiment and move information around to see what works best.

Finally, it’s essential to carefully proofread your personal statement and fix any language errors. Before you submit your application, consider investing in professional personal statement editing . For $150, you have the peace of mind that your personal statement is grammatically correct, strong in term of your arguments, and free of awkward mistakes.

A statement of purpose is usually more formal, focusing on your academic or professional goals. It shouldn’t include anything that isn’t directly relevant to the application.

A personal statement can often be more creative. It might tell a story that isn’t directly related to the application, but that shows something about your personality, values, and motivations.

However, both types of document have the same overall goal: to demonstrate your potential as a graduate student and s how why you’re a great match for the program.

The typical length of a personal statement for graduate school applications is between 500 and 1,000 words.

Different programs have different requirements, so always check if there’s a minimum or maximum length and stick to the guidelines. If there is no recommended word count, aim for no more than 1-2 pages.

If you’re applying to multiple graduate school programs, you should tailor your personal statement to each application.

Some applications provide a prompt or question. In this case, you might have to write a new personal statement from scratch: the most important task is to respond to what you have been asked.

If there’s no prompt or guidelines, you can re-use the same idea for your personal statement – but change the details wherever relevant, making sure to emphasize why you’re applying to this specific program.

If the application also includes other essays, such as a statement of purpose , you might have to revise your personal statement to avoid repeating the same information.

If you want to know more about college essays , academic writing , and AI tools , make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.

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150 Personal Goals Examples (Copy and Paste)

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goals examples and definition, explained below

Setting personal goals can help you to gain clarity and focus. The examples of personal goals I’ll present in this article will follow the SMART framework.

The SMART goals framework puts you in the best position to achieve success. The SMART acronym stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (Doran, 1981).

You can use this for setting long-term goals as well as your short-term goals , which will be the stepping stones for getting to where you want to go.

What are SMART Personal Goals?

Your personal goals should contain the following elements from the SMART Goals framework to maximize your chances of success:

Specific : Aim to formulate specific targets (e.g., ‘I want to become proficient in Spanish to enhance my job prospects’). Focus on the who, what, when, where, and why to ensure your goals are specific.
Measurable : Measurable aims facilitate tracking progression and confirming when the goal is met (e.g., ‘I will learn 50 new Spanish words every week’). To make your goals measurable, quantify them by including numerical or frequency variables.
Achievable: Your goals should be realistically attainable. By ensuring your goals are achievable, you can maintain motivation and better position yourself for success.
Relevant Goals : Relevance refers to selecting goals that matter to your personal development and professional journey, ensuring you are driven to realize them (Locke & Latham, 2019).
Time-Bound Goals: Deadlines render goals less susceptible to procrastination , whereas open-ended goals may be relegated to ‘someday but not today.

Personal Goals Examples

Longer-term goals.

1. Save for a Mortgage Aim to build up enough savings to afford a down-payment on a house within the next 5 years .

2. Learn a New Language Strive to become fluent in a second language to broaden your cultural understanding and professional prospects and potentially travel there!

3. Finally go Off-Grid Endeavor to get solar panels, reduce your household waste by 50%, practice mindful consumption, and eventually end up being entirely self-sufficient.

4. Travel the World Aim to visit three new countries in the next five years to expand your cultural horizons.

5. Retire Early One of my personal long-term goals is to retire before 65. If I could shave 10 years off that, I’d be amazingly happy. This takes saving extra each month

Shorter-Term Goals

16. Start a Fitness Habit Aim to do 30 minutes of exercise every day for the next month.

17. Mindful Eating Make a goal to eat at least three portions of fruits and vegetables a day for the next four weeks.

18. Sleep Routine Strive to establish a consistent sleep schedule, ensuring 8 hours of sleep each night this month.

19. Morning Routine Set a goal to start each day with a healthy activity such as yoga or meditation for the next 30 days.

20. Learn Basic Cooking Aim to learn and perfect five simple recipes by the end of this month.

21. Digital Detox Strive to reduce screen time by an hour each day for the entire month.

22. Daily Hydration Set a goal to drink at least eight glasses of water a day for the upcoming month.

23. Gratitude Journal Commit to writing down three things you’re grateful for each day for the next 30 days.

24. Fun Reading Endeavor to read a novel or a non-academic book this month.

25. New Hobby Set a goal to take up a new hobby, such as knitting or painting, over the next month.

26. Daily Walks Aim to take a 20-minute walk every day for the next four weeks.

27. Deep Cleaning Strive to deep-clean one area of your home each week for the upcoming month.

28. Plant Care Set a goal to start an indoor herb garden or window garden over the next month.

29. Reduce Caffeine Endeavor to lower your caffeine consumption by half for the next 30 days.

30. Social Media Cleanse Commit to unfollowing irrelevant accounts and subscribing to educational or inspiring ones over the next month.

Career Goals

31. Leadership Skills Aim to improve leadership skills by taking on leading roles in team projects over the next work quarter.

32. Get Certified Strive to gain certification in a particular skill relevant to your career within this fiscal year.

33. Enhance Networking Extend your professional network by attending at least three industry-related events in the upcoming months.

34. Time Management Improve your time management skills by completing tasks ahead of deadlines for the next six consecutive months.

35. Promotion Aim to earn a promotion by consistently showing initiative and exceeding expectations over the course of the year.

36. Expertise Development Strive to become an expert in a specific area of your field within the next two years.

37. Mentorship Seek to find a career mentor who works in your desired role or industry within the next three months.

See More Mentorship Goals Here

38. Training Programs Enroll and complete a professional training or workshop related to your job profile within the next six months.

39. Communication Aim to enhance communication skills by leading team meetings or presenting at industry conferences over the next year.

See More Communications Goals Examples Here

40. Job Satisfaction Strive to improve job satisfaction by setting and achieving challenging but attainable work goals for the forthcoming fiscal quarter.

41. New Job Set a goal to transition into a new and more challenging role within your industry in the next two years.

42. Conference Presentation Apply and prepare to present a paper or project at a professional conference within the next year.

43. Critical Thinking Over the next six months, work on enhancing your critical thinking skills by solving complex and challenging problems at your workplace.

44. Team Building Aim to host a team-building event to nurture a healthy work environment within the upcoming work quarter.

45. Higher Education If you’re in academia or a field where further education is valued, aim to enroll or progress in a doctoral degree program related to your career field within the next two years.

See More Educational Goals:

Professional Goals Examples
Long-Term Career Goals

Financial Goals

46. Build an Emergency Fund Aim to save up for an emergency fund equivalent to six months of your living expenses over the next two years.

47. Debt Repayment Strive to clear off your credit card debt within the next 18 months.

48. Retirement Savings Begin contributing a set percentage of your income towards your retirement fund starting this month.

49. Investment Portfolio Aim to create a diverse investment portfolio over the next year.

50. Increased Income Set a goal to increase your annual income by pursuing new job opportunities or side gigs within the next year.

51. Frugal Living Strive to reduce your monthly spending by 10% over the next three months.

52. Home Ownership Set a goal to save for a house down payment within the next five years.

53. Regular Budgeting Aim to create and stick to a monthly budget for the next six months.

54. Improve Credit Score Strive to raise your credit score by making bill payments on time for the next year.

55. College Fund Start a college fund for your child and aim to contribute monthly for the next 18 years.

56. Charitable Donations Set a goal to contribute a certain percentage of your income to charitable causes starting this year.

57. Wealth Accumulation Create a plan to accumulate wealth equivalent to two times your current annual income in the next five years.

58. Student Loans Aim to pay off your student loans within the next five years.

59. Vacation Savings Set a goal to save enough money for your dream vacation over the next year.

60. Financial Literacy Strive to educate yourself on financial matters by reading top financial books over the next six months.

Relationship Goals

61. Regular Communication Aim to have open and honest communication with your partner every day about feelings, dreams, and fears.

62. Shared Hobby Find or cultivate a shared hobby that you can both enjoy together over the next month.

63. Couple’s Therapy Make it a priority to find a couples’ therapist and start attending monthly sessions within the next three months.

64. Set Boundaries Strive to have a conversation about boundaries and personal space in your relationship within the next week.

65. Relationship Check-ins Commit to monthly relationship check-ins where you both discuss your happiness and any potential issues.

66. Quality Time Establish a weekly date night in order to focus on each other without distractions for the subsequent three months.

67. Practice Patience Aim to be more patient and willing to listen before reacting during discussions or heated moments.

68. Active Listening Over the next month, strive to practice active listening in your daily conversations.

69. Conflict Resolution Commit to resolving conflicts in a constructive and peaceful manner for an everlasting relationship.

70. Emotional Dependability Strive to be emotionally available and supportive to your partner in their times of need.

71. Compliment Each Other Make it a daily practice to compliment your partner.

72. Non-Judgemental Space Create a safe and non-judgemental space for open conversations within the next month.

73. Show Appreciation Endeavor to express appreciation for your partner’s efforts at least once a week.

74. Romantic Gestures Plan a surprise romantic gesture for your partner within the next month.

75. Understanding Love Languages Discuss your love languages within the next two weeks to better understand each other’s needs and expectations.

Educational Goals

76. Improve Study Habits Ambition to improve study habits by setting a solid studying timetable and stick to it over the next academic term.

77. Raise your GPA Strive to raise your GPA by at least 0.5 points this academic year.

78. Master a Subject Aim to become an expert in one subject of interest by reading related literature and seeking guidance from your tutor over the next semester.

79. Join a Club Plan to join a school club or organization to gain exposure and build networks this academic term.

80. Attend Workshops Commit to attending at least one academic workshop or seminar each month for the following academic year.

81. Course Completion Aim to complete an online course related to your field of study within the next two months.

82. Research Participation Strive to participate in a research project or conference within your campus or field of interest in the upcoming academic year.

83. Time Management Develop time management skills by following a strict schedule for the full academic year.

84. Improve Writing Skills Make a goal to improve writing skills by seeking help from writing centers or employing online resources over the next semester.

85. Academic Scholarship Apply for at least three academic scholarships within the next 12 months.

86. Classroom Participation Strive to be more active in class discussions and activities this semester.

87. Attend Office Hours Plan on regularly attending office hours to clarify doubts and build a better rapport with professors this academic year.

88. Transfer If you’re currently at a community college, set a goal to successfully transfer to a four-year university in the next academic year.

89. Apply for Internships Aim to apply for a minimum of ten internships within the scope of your future career this semester. (See Also: How to Write Internship Goals )

90. Graduation Set the goal to graduate with honors by maintaining high academic standing throughout your remaining university semesters.

Long-Term Goals for Students
Short-Term Goals for Students

Health And Fitness Goals

91. Regular Exercise Aim to incorporate at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise into your routine five days a week for the next month.

92. Healthy Eating Strive to include at least five serves of fruits and vegetables in your diet each day for the next four weeks.

93. Meditation Practice Commit to meditating for ten minutes daily, for the upcoming month.

94. Shedding Pounds Set a goal to lose ten pounds through a balanced diet and exercise over the next three months.

95. Drinking More Water Aim to drink at least eight glasses of water a day for the next thirty days.

96. Sleep Schedule Strive to establish a consistent sleep schedule, ensuring seven to eight hours of sleep per night for a month.

97. Yoga Practice Commit to practicing yoga several times a week for increased flexibility, strength, and mental tranquility for the next two months.

98. Regular Check-ups Make it a goal to get an annual physical exam to monitor your health.

99. Mental Health Plan to attend weekly therapy or engaging in self-help activities to improve mental health over the next three months.

100. Limit Caffeine Consumption Strive to limit the intake of caffeine to two standard cups of coffee per day for the next month.

101. Dental Health Aim to brush and floss twice daily to maintain oral health for the next four weeks and beyond.

102. Limit Sugar Intake Set a goal to curb your sugar intake by eating less processed food for the next month.

103. Active Transportation Make it a goal to use active transport options such as walking or cycling for small distance travel for the next two months.

104. Healthy Cooking Aim to learn five easy and healthy recipes to replace fast food meals over the next two months.

105. Proactive Preventive Measures Commit to being proactive about preventive health measures by scheduling and attending routine screenings and health check-ups within the coming year.

Mental Health Goals

106. Practice Mindfulness Commit to practice mindfulness meditation daily for the next month, which can help manage stress and improve focus.

107. Regular Therapy Plan to attend weekly therapy sessions over the next three months to help navigate emotional challenges.

108. Positive Affirmations Start each day with positive affirmations to foster a positive view of yourself for the month ahead.

109. Balanced Lifestyle Aim to maintain a balanced lifestyle with adequate sleep, exercise, and nutritious meals, starting from the coming month.

110. Limit Screen Time Set a goal to limit your daily screen time and replace it with more fulfilling activities over the next month.

111. Expand Social Network Try to widen your social circle by joining clubs or online groups with similar interests in the coming two months.

112. Follow a Routine Strive to establish and follow a daily routine for a month to create a sense of normalcy and control.

113. Daily Journaling Commit to journal your thoughts and emotions daily for the next month as a way to process emotions.

114. Self-Care Set aside one day per week for self-care activities that you enjoy, to start from the coming week and continue for two months.

115. Stay Hydrated Make it a daily goal to consume enough water, which can positively affect your overall mental well-being, starting from today for the next 30 days.

116. Decrease Caffeine Intake Isolate one day in the upcoming week to commence reducing caffeine intake, and continue to lower the intake over the next two months.

117. Read Self-Help Books Aim to read at least one self-help book a month to gain insights and strategies for coping with mental health issues.

118. Practice Gratitude Commit to jotting down three things you’re grateful for every day for the next month.

119. Identify and Challenge Negative Thoughts Over the next two months, work on identifying negative thoughts when they occur and challenging them with positive counter-thoughts.

120. Seek Support Over the next month, reach out to at least one support group related to mental health to share experiences and learn from others.

Spiritual Goals

121. Daily Meditation Aim to incorporate at least fifteen minutes of meditation into your daily routine for the next month.

122. Spiritual Reading Set a goal to read and reflect on a spiritual text or teaching once a week for the next three months.

123. Gratitude Journal Commit to writing down three things you’re grateful for each day for the next month.

124. Mindfulness Practice Plan to practice mindfulness by focusing on the present moment daily for the next two months.

125. Acts of Kindness Aim to perform one act of kindness each day for the next four weeks, to cultivate compassion.

126. Charity Set a goal to contribute to a charitable cause you believe in once a month for the next six months.

127. Volunteer Work Plan to volunteer your time to a cause or organization aligned with your spiritual values at least once a week for the next two months.

128. Join Spiritual Community Commit to joining a local or online spiritual community and participating in their gatherings over the next month.

129. Nature Time Make it a goal to spend time in nature at least once a week for the next three months, to connect with the natural world and find inner calm.

130. Spiritual Retreat Plan to attend a spiritual retreat in the next year to deepen your spiritual journey.

131. Prayer/Mantra Aim to start and end your day with a prayer, mantra, or spiritual affirmation over the next month.

132. Life’s Purpose Take time over the next three months to define your life’s purpose from a spiritual perspective.

133. Yoga Practice Commit to doing yoga at least twice a week for the next three months, to connect body, mind, and spirit.

134. Silence Strive to observe a period of silence every day for the next month, creating space for inner reflection and peace.

135. Forgiveness Make a conscious effort over the next two months to forgive past grudges and release the burden they hold.

Family Goals

136. Quality Time Allocate a “family time” slot in your schedule at least once a week, where all family members can engage in a chosen activity together for the next three months.

137. Family Meeting Implement a monthly family meeting to discuss important matters, resolve conflicts, and plan for upcoming events, starting this month.

138. Family Meals Strive to have at least one meal per day together as a family over the next month.

139. Communication Skills Aim to improve family communication by actively practicing active listening and open dialogues in all interactions, for the next two months.

140. Healthier Lifestyle Set a family goal to adopt healthier lifestyle habits such as increased physical activity and nutritious eating habits together, starting this month.

141. Shared Chores Assign age-appropriate chores to everyone in the family, reinforcing teamwork and responsibility for the next three months.

142. Family Vacation Plan and save for a family vacation that caters to everyone’s interests in the coming year.

143. Support Community As a family, volunteer for a local charity or community event in the next six months.

144. Unplug Time Set a goal to minimize screen time and maximize interactive family time daily for the next month.

145. Storytime If you have young children, establish a daily routine of reading aloud with them, starting this week.

146. Positive Habits Set a goal for everyone in the family to build a positive habit over the next month, such as gratitude or kindness.

147. Celebrate Achievements Regularly take the time to celebrate each family member’s achievements, big or small, fostering a sense of accomplishment and happiness.

148. Financial Education Aim to introduce regular discussions about money management and financial planning appropriate to each family member’s age and understanding over the next six months.

149. Create Traditions Develop one new family tradition that can be repeated annually, starting this year.

150. Gardening Project Start a family gardening project, either outdoors or with indoor plants, initiating this month and nurturing it for the seasons to come.

Tips and Tricks for Writing your Personal Goals

Here are five tips for writing your personal goals that blend the advice of experts with the simplicity of common sense.

Start with your core values: Your fundamental beliefs form the foundation for your decision-making (e.g., individuals who deeply value health may aim to run a marathon). Core values function as the driving force—the motivation—behind achieving one’s goals. Acknowledging and delineating these values help structure your goals in a way that pairs with your genuine passions and ambitions.
Align your short-term and long-term goals: Short-term goals often act as stepping stones towards a broader, long-term goal (e.g., aiming to read one book per month for a year to support the long-term goal of becoming more knowledgeable). Balancing these two types of goals enhances motivation and provides regular progress benchmarks.
Constant revision: Reassess and revise your goals regularly. Nobody’s goals should be stagnant, because as people grow and change, so do their ambitions and desires. Regular reflection allows for adjustments as needed (e.g., If injured, a runner may revise the goal of a marathon to a 10k race). Rigidity in goal setting can often create unnecessary pressure and demotivation; be adaptable and flexible.

Your personal goals are just that: personal! But the above examples and frameworks can get you on the right path. Stick to the SMART Goals framework, align your short-term and long-term goals, and then (most importantly!) take action each and every day.

Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones . Penguin.

Daw, N. D. (2015). Of goals and habits. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 112 (45), 13749-13750.

Donovan, J. J. (2008). Goal Setting: How to Create an Action Plan and Achieve Your Goals. Personnel Psychology , 61 (4), 931.

Doran, G. T. (1981). There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management Review, 70 (11), 35-36.

Ehrlich, C., & Milston, S. (2021). Happiness through goal setting: A practical guide to reflect on and change the reasons why you pursue your most important goals in life . Routledge.

Hidayat, R., Moosavi, Z., & Hadisaputra, P. (2022). Achievement Goals, Well-Being and Lifelong Learning: A Mediational Analysis. International Journal of Instruction , 15 (1), 89-112.

Klein, H. J., Wesson, M. J., Hollenbeck, J. R., & Alge, B. (2013). Goal commitment and the goal-setting process: conceptual clarification and empirical synthesis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89 (6), 885.

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2019). New developments in goal setting and task performance . New York: Psychology Press.

Nordengren, C. (2021). Step Into Student Goal Setting: A Path to Growth, Motivation, and Agency . Corwin Press.

Nowack, K. (2017). Facilitating successful behavior change: Beyond goal setting to goal flourishing. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research , 69 (3), 153.

Wilson, S. B., & Dobson, M. S. (2008). Goal setting: How to create an action plan and achieve your goals . AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.

Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Number Games for Kids (Free and Easy)
Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Word Games for Kids (Free and Easy)
Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Outdoor Games for Kids
Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 50 Incentives to Give to Students

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10 Personal Statement Essay Examples That Worked

What’s covered:, what is a personal statement.

Essay 1: Summer Program
Essay 2: Being Bangladeshi-American
Essay 3: Why Medicine
Essay 4: Love of Writing
Essay 5: Starting a Fire
Essay 6: Dedicating a Track
Essay 7: Body Image and Eating Disorders
Essay 8: Becoming a Coach
Essay 9: Eritrea
Essay 10: Journaling
Is Your Personal Statement Strong Enough?

Your personal statement is any essay that you must write for your main application, such as the Common App Essay , University of California Essays , or Coalition Application Essay . This type of essay focuses on your unique experiences, ideas, or beliefs that may not be discussed throughout the rest of your application. This essay should be an opportunity for the admissions officers to get to know you better and give them a glimpse into who you really are.

In this post, we will share 10 different personal statements that were all written by real students. We will also provide commentary on what each essay did well and where there is room for improvement, so you can make your personal statement as strong as possible!

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized.

Personal Statement Examples

Essay example #1: exchange program.

The twisting roads, ornate mosaics, and fragrant scent of freshly ground spices had been so foreign at first. Now in my fifth week of the SNYI-L summer exchange program in Morocco, I felt more comfortable in the city. With a bag full of pastries from the market, I navigated to a bus stop, paid the fare, and began the trip back to my host family’s house. It was hard to believe that only a few years earlier my mom was worried about letting me travel around my home city on my own, let alone a place that I had only lived in for a few weeks. While I had been on a journey towards self-sufficiency and independence for a few years now, it was Morocco that pushed me to become the confident, self-reflective person that I am today.

As a child, my parents pressured me to achieve perfect grades, master my swim strokes, and discover interesting hobbies like playing the oboe and learning to pick locks. I felt compelled to live my life according to their wishes. Of course, this pressure was not a wholly negative factor in my life –– you might even call it support. However, the constant presence of my parents’ hopes for me overcame my own sense of desire and led me to become quite dependent on them. I pushed myself to get straight A’s, complied with years of oboe lessons, and dutifully attended hours of swim practice after school. Despite all these achievements, I felt like I had no sense of self beyond my drive for success. I had always been expected to succeed on the path they had defined. However, this path was interrupted seven years after my parents’ divorce when my dad moved across the country to Oregon.

I missed my dad’s close presence, but I loved my new sense of freedom. 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.

I lived with a host family in Marrakesh and learned that they, too, had high expectations for me. I didn’t know a word of Arabic, and although my host parents and one brother spoke good English, they knew I was there to learn. If I messed up, they patiently corrected me but refused to let me fall into the easy pattern of speaking English just as I did at home. Just as I had when I was younger, I felt pressured and stressed about meeting their expectations. However, one day, as I strolled through the bustling market square after successfully bargaining with one of the street vendors, I realized my mistake. My host family wasn’t being unfair by making me fumble through Arabic. I had applied for this trip, and I had committed to the intensive language study. My host family’s rules about speaking Arabic at home had not been to fulfill their expectations for me, but to help me fulfill my expectations for myself. Similarly, the pressure my parents had put on me as a child had come out of love and their hopes for me, not out of a desire to crush my individuality.

As my bus drove through the still-bustling market square and past the medieval Ben-Youssef madrasa, I realized that becoming independent was a process, not an event. I thought that my parents’ separation when I was ten had been the one experience that would transform me into a self-motivated and autonomous person. It did, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t still have room to grow. Now, although I am even more self-sufficient than I was three years ago, I try to approach every experience with the expectation that it will change me. It’s still difficult, but I understand that just because growth can be uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s not important.

What the Essay Did Well

This is a nice essay because it delves into particular character trait of the student and how it has been shaped and matured over time. Although it doesn’t focus the essay around a specific anecdote, the essay is still successful because it is centered around this student’s independence. This is a nice approach for a personal statement: highlight a particular trait of yours and explore how it has grown with you.

The ideas in this essay are universal to growing up—living up to parents’ expectations, yearning for freedom, and coming to terms with reality—but it feels unique to the student because of the inclusion of details specific to them. Including their oboe lessons, the experience of riding the light rail by themselves, and the negotiations with a street vendor helps show the reader what these common tropes of growing up looked like for them personally.

Another strength of the essay is the level of self-reflection included throughout the piece. Since there is no central anecdote tying everything together, an essay about a character trait is only successful when you deeply reflect on how you felt, where you made mistakes, and how that trait impacts your life. The author includes reflection in sentences like “ I felt like I had no sense of self beyond my drive for success, ” and “ I understand that just because growth can be uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s not important. ” These sentences help us see how the student was impacted and what their point of view is.

What Could Be Improved

The largest change this essay would benefit from is to show not tell. The platitude you have heard a million times no doubt, but for good reason. This essay heavily relies on telling the reader what occurred, making us less engaged as the entire reading experience feels more passive. If the student had shown us what happens though, it keeps the reader tied to the action and makes them feel like they are there with the student, making it much more enjoyable to read.

For example, they tell us about the pressure to succeed their parents placed on them: “ I pushed myself to get straight A’s, complied with years of oboe lessons, and dutifully attended hours of swim practice after school.” They could have shown us what that pressure looked like with a sentence like this: “ My stomach turned somersaults as my rattling knee thumped against the desk before every test, scared to get anything less than a 95. For five years the painful squawk of the oboe only reminded me of my parents’ claps and whistles at my concerts. I mastered the butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle, fighting against the anchor of their expectations threatening to pull me down.”

If the student had gone through their essay and applied this exercise of bringing more detail and colorful language to sentences that tell the reader what happened, the essay would be really great.

Table of Contents

Essay Example #2: Being Bangladeshi-American

Life before was good: verdant forests, sumptuous curries, and a devoted family.

Then, my family abandoned our comfortable life in Bangladesh for a chance at the American dream in Los Angeles. Within our first year, my father was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He lost his battle three weeks before my sixth birthday. Facing a new country without the steady presence of my father, we were vulnerable — prisoners of hardship in the land of the free. We resettled in the Bronx, in my uncle’s renovated basement. It was meant to be our refuge, but I felt more displaced than ever. Gone were the high-rise condos of West L.A.; instead, government projects towered over the neighborhood. Pedestrians no longer smiled and greeted me; the atmosphere was hostile, even toxic. Schoolkids were quick to pick on those they saw as weak or foreign, hurling harsh words I’d never heard before.

Meanwhile, my family began integrating into the local Bangladeshi community. I struggled to understand those who shared my heritage. Bangladeshi mothers stayed home while fathers drove cabs and sold fruit by the roadside — painful societal positions. Riding on crosstown buses or walking home from school, I began to internalize these disparities. During my fleeting encounters with affluent Upper East Siders, I saw kids my age with nannies, parents who wore suits to work, and luxurious apartments with spectacular views. Most took cabs to their destinations: cabs that Bangladeshis drove. I watched the mundane moments of their lives with longing, aching to plant myself in their shoes. Shame prickled down my spine. I distanced myself from my heritage, rejecting the traditional panjabis worn on Eid and refusing the torkari we ate for dinner every day.

As I grappled with my relationship with the Bangladeshi community, I turned my attention to helping my Bronx community by pursuing an internship with Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda. I handled desk work and took calls, spending the bulk of my time actively listening to the hardships constituents faced — everything from a veteran stripped of his benefits to a grandmother unable to support her bedridden grandchild.

I’d never exposed myself to stories like these, and now I was the first to hear them. As an intern, I could only assist in what felt like the small ways — pointing out local job offerings, printing information on free ESL classes, reaching out to non-profits. But to a community facing an onslaught of intense struggles, I realized that something as small as these actions could have vast impacts. Seeing the immediate consequences of my actions inspired me. Throughout that summer, I internalized my community’s daily challenges in a new light. I began to stop seeing the prevalent underemployment and cramped living quarters less as sources of shame. Instead, I saw them as realities that had to be acknowledged, but could ultimately be remedied. I also realized the benefits of the Bangladeshi culture I had been so ashamed of. My Bangla language skills were an asset to the office, and my understanding of Bangladeshi etiquette allowed for smooth communication between office staff and its constituents. As I helped my neighbors navigate city services, I saw my heritage with pride — a perspective I never expected to have.

I can now appreciate the value of my unique culture and background, and of living with less. This perspective offers room for progress, community integration, and a future worth fighting for. My time with Assemblyman Sepulveda’s office taught me that I can be a change agent in enabling this progression. Far from being ashamed of my community, I want to someday return to local politics in the Bronx to continue helping others access the American Dream. I hope to help my community appreciate the opportunity to make progress together. By embracing reality, I learned to live it. Along the way, I discovered one thing: life is good, but we can make it better.

This student’s passion for social justice and civic duty shines through in this essay because of how honest it is. Sharing their personal experience with immigrating, moving around, being an outsider, and finding a community allows us to see the hardships this student has faced and builds empathy towards their situation. However, what really makes it strong is that they go beyond describing the difficulties they faced and explain the mental impact it had on them as a child: Shame prickled down my spine. I distanced myself from my heritage, rejecting the traditional panjabis worn on Eid and refusing the torkari we ate for dinner every day.

The rejection of their culture presented at the beginning of the essay creates a nice juxtaposition with the student’s view in the latter half of the essay and helps demonstrate how they have matured. They use their experience interning as a way to delve into a change in their thought process about their culture and show how their passion for social justice began. Using this experience as a mechanism to explore their thoughts and feelings is an excellent example of how items that are included elsewhere on your application should be incorporated into your essay.

This essay prioritizes emotions and personal views over specific anecdotes. Although there are details and certain moments incorporated throughout to emphasize the author’s points, the main focus remains on the student and how they grapple with their culture and identity.

One area for improvement is the conclusion. Although the forward-looking approach is a nice way to end an essay focused on social justice, it would be nice to include more details and imagery in the conclusion. How does the student want to help their community? What government position do they see themselves holding one day?

A more impactful ending might look like the student walking into their office at the New York City Housing Authority in 15 years and looking at the plans to build a new development in the Bronx just blocks away from where the grew up that would provide quality housing to people in their Bangladeshi community. They would smile while thinking about how far they have come from that young kid who used to be ashamed of their culture.

Essay Example #3: Why Medicine

I took my first trip to China to visit my cousin Anna in July of 2014. Distance had kept us apart, but when we were together, we fell into all of our old inside jokes and caught up on each other’s lives. Her sparkling personality and optimistic attitude always brought a smile to my face. This time, however, my heart broke when I saw the effects of her brain cancer; she had suffered from a stroke that paralyzed her left side. She was still herself in many ways, but I could see that the damage to her brain made things difficult for her. I stayed by her every day, providing the support she needed, whether assisting her with eating and drinking, reading to her, or just watching “Friends.” During my flight back home, sorrow and helplessness overwhelmed me. Would I ever see Anna again? Could I have done more to make Anna comfortable? I wished I could stay in China longer to care for her. As I deplaned, I wondered if I could transform my grief to help other children and teenagers in the US who suffered as Anna did.

The day after I got home, as jet lag dragged me awake a few minutes after midnight, I remembered hearing about the Family Reach Foundation (FRF) and its work with children going through treatments at the local hospital and their families. I began volunteering in the FRF’s Children’s Activity Room, where I play with children battling cancer. Volunteering has both made me appreciate my own health and also cherish the new relationships I build with the children and families. We play sports, make figures out of playdoh, and dress up. When they take on the roles of firefighters or fairies, we all get caught up in the game; for that time, they forget the sanitized, stark, impersonal walls of the pediatric oncology ward. Building close relationships with them and seeing them giggle and laugh is so rewarding — I love watching them grow and get better throughout their course of treatment.

Hearing from the parents about their children’s condition and seeing the children recover inspired me to consider medical research. To get started, I enrolled in a summer collegelevel course in Abnormal Psychology. There I worked with Catelyn, a rising college senior, on a data analysis project regarding Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Together, we examined the neurological etiology of DID by studying four fMRI and PET cases. I fell in love with gathering data and analyzing the results and was amazed by our final product: several stunning brain images showcasing the areas of hyper and hypoactivity in brains affected by DID. Desire quickly followed my amazement — I want to continue this project and study more brains. Their complexity, delicacy, and importance to every aspect of life fascinate me. Successfully completing this research project gave me a sense of hope; I know I am capable of participating in a large scale research project and potentially making a difference in someone else’s life through my research.

Anna’s diagnosis inspired me to begin volunteering at FRF; from there, I discovered my desire to help people further by contributing to medical research. As my research interest blossomed, I realized that it’s no coincidence that I want to study brains—after all, Anna suffered from brain cancer. Reflecting on these experiences this past year and a half, I see that everything I’ve done is connected. Sadly, a few months after I returned from China, Anna passed away. I am still sad, but as I run a toy truck across the floor and watch one of the little patients’ eyes light up, I imagine that she would be proud of my commitment to pursue medicine and study the brain.

This essay has a very strong emotional core that tugs at the heart strings and makes the reader feel invested. Writing about sickness can be difficult and doesn’t always belong in a personal statement, but in this case it works well because the focus is on how this student cared for her cousin and dealt with the grief and emotions surrounding her condition. Writing about the compassion she showed and the doubts and concerns that filled her mind keeps the focus on the author and her personality.

This continues when she again discusses the activities she did with the kids at FRF and the personal reflection this experience allowed her to have. For example, she writes: Volunteering has both made me appreciate my own health and also cherish the new relationships I build with the children and families. We play sports, make figures out of playdoh, and dress up.

Concluding the essay with the sad story of her cousin’s passing brings the essay full circle and returns to the emotional heart of the piece to once again build a connection with the reader. However, it finishes on a hopeful note and demonstrates how this student has been able to turn a tragic experience into a source of lifelong inspiration.

One thing this essay should be cognizant of is that personal statements should not read as summaries of your extracurricular resume. Although this essay doesn’t fully fall into that trap, it does describe two key extracurriculars the student participated in. However, the inclusion of such a strong emotional core running throughout the essay helps keep the focus on the student and her thoughts and feelings during these activities.

To avoid making this mistake, make sure you have a common thread running through your essay and the extracurriculars provide support to the story you are trying to tell, rather than crafting a story around your activities. And, as this essay does, make sure there is lots of personal reflection and feelings weaved throughout to focus attention to you rather than your extracurriculars.

Essay Example #4: Love of Writing

“I want to be a writer.” This had been my answer to every youthful discussion with the adults in my life about what I would do when I grew up. As early as elementary school, I remember reading my writing pieces aloud to an audience at “Author of the Month” ceremonies. Bearing this goal in mind, and hoping to gain some valuable experience, I signed up for a journalism class during my freshman year. Despite my love for writing, I initially found myself uninterested in the subject and I struggled to enjoy the class. When I thought of writing, I imagined lyrical prose, profound poetry, and thrilling plot lines. Journalism required a laconic style and orderly structure, and I found my teacher’s assignments formulaic and dull. That class shook my confidence as a writer. I was uncertain if I should continue in it for the rest of my high school career.

Despite my misgivings, I decided that I couldn’t make a final decision on whether to quit journalism until I had some experience working for a paper outside of the classroom. The following year, I applied to be a staff reporter on our school newspaper. I hoped this would help me become more self-driven and creative, rather than merely writing articles that my teacher assigned. To my surprise, my time on staff was worlds away from what I experienced in the journalism class. Although I was unaccustomed to working in a fast-paced environment and initially found it burdensome to research and complete high-quality stories in a relatively short amount of time, I also found it exciting. I enjoyed learning more about topics and events on campus that I did not know much about; some of my stories that I covered in my first semester concerned a chess tournament, a food drive, and a Spanish immersion party. I relished in the freedom I had to explore and learn, and to write more independently than I could in a classroom.

Although I enjoyed many aspects of working for the paper immediately, reporting also pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I am a shy person, and speaking with people I did not know intimidated me. During my first interview, I met with the basketball coach to prepare for a story about the team’s winning streak. As I approached his office, I felt everything from my toes to my tongue freeze into a solid block, and I could hardly get out my opening questions. Fortunately, the coach was very kind and helped me through the conversation. Encouraged, I prepared for my next interview with more confidence. After a few weeks of practice, I even started to look forward to interviewing people on campus. That first journalism class may have bored me, but even if journalism in practice was challenging, it was anything but tedious.

Over the course of that year, I grew to love writing for our school newspaper. Reporting made me aware of my surroundings, and made me want to know more about current events on campus and in the town where I grew up. By interacting with people all over campus, I came to understand the breadth of individuals and communities that make up my high school. I felt far more connected to diverse parts of my school through my work as a journalist, and I realized that journalism gave me a window into seeing beyond my own experiences. The style of news writing may be different from what I used to think “writing” meant, but I learned that I can still derive exciting plots from events that may have gone unnoticed if not for my stories. I no longer struggle to approach others, and truly enjoy getting to know people and recognizing their accomplishments through my writing. Becoming a writer may be a difficult path, but it is as rewarding as I hoped when I was young.

This essay is clearly structured in a manner that makes it flow very nicely and contributes to its success. It starts with a quote to draw in the reader and show this student’s life-long passion for writing. Then it addresses the challenges of facing new, unfamiliar territory and how this student overcame it. Finally, it concludes by reflecting on this eye-opening experience and a nod to their younger self from the introduction. Having a well-thought out and sequential structure with clear transitions makes it extremely easy for the reader to follow along and take away the main idea.

Another positive aspect of the essay is the use of strong and expressive language. Sentences like “ When I thought of writing, I imagined lyrical prose, profound poetry, and thrilling plot lines ” stand out because of the intentional use of words like “lyrical”, “profound”, and “thrilling” to convey the student’s love of writing. The author also uses an active voice to capture the readers’ attention and keep us engaged. They rely on their language and diction to reveal details to the reader, for instance saying “ I felt everything from my toes to my tongue freeze into a solid block ” to describe feeling nervous.

This essay is already very strong, so there isn’t much that needs to be changed. One thing that could take the essay from great to outstanding would be to throw in more quotes, internal dialogue, and sensory descriptors.

It would be nice to see the nerves they felt interviewing the coach by including dialogue like “ Um…I want to interview you about…uh…”. They could have shown their original distaste for journalism by narrating the thoughts running through their head. The fast-paced environment of their newspaper could have come to life with descriptions about the clacking of keyboards and the whirl of people running around laying out articles.

Essay Example #5: Starting a Fire

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the garb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire.

Furiously I rubbed the twigs together—rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers. No smoke. The twigs were too young, too sticky-green; I tossed them away with a shower of curses, and began tearing through the underbrush in search of a more flammable collection. My efforts were fruitless. Livid, I bit a rejected twig, determined to prove that the forest had spurned me, offering only young, wet bones that would never burn. But the wood cracked like carrots between my teeth—old, brittle, and bitter. Roaring and nursing my aching palms, I retreated to the tent, where I sulked and awaited the jeers of my family.

Rattling their empty worm cans and reeking of fat fish, my brother and cousins swaggered into the campsite. Immediately, they noticed the minor stick massacre by the fire pit and called to me, their deep voices already sharp with contempt.

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame.

In the tent, I pondered my failure. Was I so dainty? Was I that incapable? I thought of my hands, how calloused and capable they had been, how tender and smooth they had become. It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive. And I’d gotten glasses, having grown horrifically nearsighted; long nights of dim lighting and thick books had done this. I couldn’t remember the last time I had lain down on a hill, barefaced, and seen the stars without having to squint. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to squash him.

Yet, I realized I hadn’t really changed—I had only shifted perspective. I still eagerly explored new worlds, but through poems and prose rather than pastures and puddles. I’d grown to prefer the boom of a bass over that of a bullfrog, learned to coax a different kind of fire from wood, having developed a burn for writing rhymes and scrawling hypotheses.

That night, I stayed up late with my journal and wrote about the spider I had decided not to kill. I had tolerated him just barely, only shrieking when he jumped—it helped to watch him decorate the corners of the tent with his delicate webs, knowing that he couldn’t start fires, either. When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.

This student is an excellent writer, which allows a simple story to be outstandingly compelling. The author articulates her points beautifully and creatively through her immense use of details and figurative language. Lines like “a rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees,” and “rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers,” create vivid images that draw the reader in.

The flowery and descriptive prose also contributes to the nice juxtaposition between the old Clara and the new Clara. The latter half of the essay contrasts elements of nature with music and writing to demonstrate how natural these interests are for her now. This sentence perfectly encapsulates the contrast she is trying to build: “It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive.”

In addition to being well-written, this essay is thematically cohesive. It begins with the simple introduction “Fire!” and ends with the following image: “When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.” This full-circle approach leaves readers satisfied and impressed.

There is very little this essay should change, however one thing to be cautious about is having an essay that is overly-descriptive. We know from the essay that this student likes to read and write, and depending on other elements of her application, it might make total sense to have such a flowery and ornate writing style. However, your personal statement needs to reflect your voice as well as your personality. If you would never use language like this in conversation or your writing, don’t put it in your personal statement. Make sure there is a balance between eloquence and your personal voice.

Essay Example #6: Dedicating a Track

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite.

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin.

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

This essay effectively conveys this student’s compassion for others, initiative, and determination—all great qualities to exemplify in a personal statement!

Although they rely on telling us a lot of what happened up until the board meeting, the use of running a race (their passion) as a metaphor for public speaking provides a lot of insight into the fear that this student overcame to work towards something bigger than themself. Comparing a podium to the starting line, the audience to the track, and silence to the gunshot is a nice way of demonstrating this student’s passion for cross country running without making that the focus of the story.

The essay does a nice job of coming full circle at the end by explaining what the quote from the beginning meant to them after this experience. Without explicitly saying “ I now know that what Stark actually meant is…” they rely on the strength of their argument above to make it obvious to the reader what it means to get beat but not lose.

One of the biggest areas of improvement in the intro, however, is how the essay tells us Stark’s impact rather than showing us: His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The writer could’ve helped us feel a stronger emotional connection to Stark if they had included examples of Stark’s qualities, rather than explicitly stating them. For example, they could’ve written something like: Stark was the kind of person who would give you gas money if you told him your parents couldn’t afford to pick you up from practice. And he actually did that—several times. At track meets, alumni regularly would come talk to him and tell him how he’d changed their lives. Before Stark, I was ambivalent about running and was on the JV team, but his encouragement motivated me to run longer and harder and eventually make varsity. Because of him, I approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

Essay Example #7: Body Image and Eating Disorders

I press the “discover” button on my Instagram app, hoping to find enticing pictures to satisfy my boredom. Scrolling through, I see funny videos and mouth-watering pictures of food. However, one image stops me immediately. A fit teenage girl with a “perfect body” relaxes in a bikini on a beach. Beneath it, I see a slew of flattering comments. I shake with disapproval over the image’s unrealistic quality. However, part of me still wants to have a body like hers so that others will make similar comments to me.

I would like to resolve a silent issue that harms many teenagers and adults: negative self image and low self-esteem in a world where social media shapes how people view each other. When people see the façades others wear to create an “ideal” image, they can develop poor thought patterns rooted in negative self-talk. The constant comparisons to “perfect” others make people feel small. In this new digital age, it is hard to distinguish authentic from artificial representations.

When I was 11, I developed anorexia nervosa. Though I was already thin, I wanted to be skinny like the models that I saw on the magazine covers on the grocery store stands. Little did I know that those models probably also suffered from disorders, and that photoshop erased their flaws. I preferred being underweight to being healthy. No matter how little I ate or how thin I was, I always thought that I was too fat. I became obsessed with the number on the scale and would try to eat the least that I could without my parents urging me to take more. Fortunately, I stopped engaging in anorexic behaviors before middle school. However, my underlying mental habits did not change. The images that had provoked my disorder in the first place were still a constant presence in my life.

By age 15, I was in recovery from anorexia, but suffered from depression. While I used to only compare myself to models, the growth of social media meant I also compared myself to my friends and acquaintances. I felt left out when I saw my friends’ excitement about lake trips they had taken without me. As I scrolled past endless photos of my flawless, thin classmates with hundreds of likes and affirming comments, I felt my jealousy spiral. I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.” When that didn’t work, I started to feel too anxious to post anything at all.

Body image insecurities and social media comparisons affect thousands of people – men, women, children, and adults – every day. I am lucky – after a few months of my destructive social media habits, I came across a video that pointed out the illusory nature of social media; many Instagram posts only show off good things while people hide their flaws. I began going to therapy, and recovered from my depression. To address the problem of self-image and social media, we can all focus on what matters on the inside and not what is on the surface. As an effort to become healthy internally, I started a club at my school to promote clean eating and radiating beauty from within. It has helped me grow in my confidence, and today I’m not afraid to show others my struggles by sharing my experience with eating disorders. Someday, I hope to make this club a national organization to help teenagers and adults across the country. I support the idea of body positivity and embracing difference, not “perfection.” After all, how can we be ourselves if we all look the same?

This essay covers the difficult topics of eating disorders and mental health. If you’re thinking about covering similar topics in your essay, we recommend reading our post Should You Talk About Mental Health in College Essays?

The short answer is that, yes, you can talk about mental health, but it can be risky. If you do go that route, it’s important to focus on what you learned from the experience.

The strength of this essay is the student’s vulnerability, in excerpts such as this: I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.”

The student goes on to share how they recovered from their depression through an eye-opening video and therapy sessions, and they’re now helping others find their self-worth as well. It’s great that this essay looks towards the future and shares the writer’s goals of making their club a national organization; we can see their ambition and compassion.

The main weakness of this essay is that it doesn’t focus enough on their recovery process, which is arguably the most important part. They could’ve told us more about the video they watched or the process of starting their club and the interactions they’ve had with other members. Especially when sharing such a vulnerable topic, there should be vulnerability in the recovery process too. That way, the reader can fully appreciate all that this student has overcome.

Essay Example #8: Becoming a Coach

”Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one.

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we competed with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

This essay begins with an in-the-moment narrative that really illustrates the chaos of looking for a coach last-minute. We feel the writer’s emotions, particularly her dejectedness, at not being able to compete. Starting an essay in media res is a great way to capture the attention of your readers and build anticipation for what comes next.

Through this essay, we can see how gutsy and determined the student is in deciding to become a coach themselves. She shows us these characteristics through their actions, rather than explicitly telling us: To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. Also, by discussing the opposition she faced and how it affected her, the student is open and vulnerable about the reality of the situation.

The essay comes full circle as the author recalls the frantic situations in seeking out a coach, but this is no longer a concern for them and their team. Overall, this essay is extremely effective in painting this student as mature, bold, and compassionate.

The biggest thing this essay needs to work on is showing not telling. Throughout the essay, the student tells us that she “emerged with new knowledge and confidence,” she “grew unsure of her own abilities,” and she “refused to give up”. What we really want to know is what this looks like.

Instead of saying she “emerged with new knowledge and confidence” she should have shared how she taught a new move to a fellow team-member without hesitation. Rather than telling us she “grew unsure of her own abilities” she should have shown what that looked like by including her internal dialogue and rhetorical questions that ran through her mind. She could have demonstrated what “refusing to give up” looks like by explaining how she kept learning coaching techniques on her own, turned to a mentor for advice, or devised a plan to win over the trust of parents.

Essay Example #9: Eritrea

No one knows where Eritrea is.

On the first day of school, for the past nine years, I would pensively stand in front of a class, a teacher, a stranger waiting for the inevitable question: Where are you from?

I smile politely, my dimples accentuating my ambiguous features. “Eritrea,” I answer promptly and proudly. But I am always prepared. Before their expression can deepen into confusion, ready to ask “where is that,” I elaborate, perhaps with a fleeting hint of exasperation, “East Africa, near Ethiopia.”

Sometimes, I single out the key-shaped hermit nation on a map, stunning teachers who have “never had a student from there!” Grinning, I resist the urge to remark, “You didn’t even know it existed until two minutes ago!”

Eritrea is to the East of Ethiopia, its arid coastline clutches the lucrative Red Sea. Battle scars litter the ancient streets – the colonial Italian architecture lathered with bullet holes, the mosques mangled with mortar shells. Originally part of the world’s first Christian kingdom, Eritrea passed through the hands of colonial Italy, Britain, and Ethiopia for over a century, until a bloody thirty year war of Independence liberated us.

But these are facts that anyone can know with a quick Google search. These are facts that I have memorised and compounded, first from my Grandmother and now from pristine books borrowed from the library.

No historical narrative, however, can adequately capture what Eritrea is. No one knows the aroma of bushels of potatoes, tomatoes, and garlic – still covered in dirt – that leads you to the open-air market. No one knows the poignant scent of spices, arranged in orange piles reminiscent of compacted dunes. No one knows how to haggle stubborn herders for sheep and roosters for Christmas celebrations as deliberately as my mother. No one can replicate the perfect balance of spices in dorho and tsebhi as well as my grandmother, her gnarly hands stirring the pot with ancient precision (chastising my clumsy knife work with the potatoes). It’s impossible to learn when the injera is ready – the exact moment you have to lift the lid of the mogogo. Do it too early (or too late) and the flatbread becomes mangled and gross. It is a sixth sense passed through matriarchal lineages.

There are no sources that catalogue the scent of incense that wafts through the sunlit porch on St. Michael’s; no films that can capture the luminescence of hundreds of flaming bonfires that fluoresce the sidewalks on Kudus Yohannes, as excited children chant Ge’ez proverbs whose origin has been lost to time. You cannot learn the familiarity of walking beneath the towering Gothic figure of the Enda Mariam Cathedral, the crowds undulating to the ringing of the archaic bells. I have memorized the sound of the rains hounding the metal roof during kiremti , the heat of the sun pounding against the Toyota’s window as we sped down towards Ghinda , the opulent brilliance of the stars twinkling in a sky untainted by light pollution, the scent of warm rolls of bani wafting through the streets at precisely 6 o’clock each day…

I fill my flimsy sketchbook with pictures from my memory. My hand remembers the shapes of the hibiscus drifting in the wind, the outline of my grandmother (affectionately nicknamed a’abaye ) leaning over the garden, the bizarre architecture of the Fiat Tagliero . I dice the vegetables with movements handed down from generations. My nose remembers the scent of frying garlic, the sourness of the warm tayta , the sharpness of the mit’mt’a …

This knowledge is intrinsic. “I am Eritrean,” I repeat. “I am proud.” Within me is an encyclopedia of history, culture, and idealism.

Eritrea is the coffee made from scratch, the spices drying in the sun, the priests and nuns. Eritrea is wise, filled with ambition, and unseen potential. Eritrea isn’t a place, it’s an identity.

This is an exceptional essay that provides a window into this student’s culture that really makes their love for their country and heritage leap off the page. The sheer level of details and sensory descriptors this student is able to fit in this space makes the essay stand out. From the smells, to the traditions, sounds, and sights, the author encapsulates all the glory of Eritrea for the reader.

The vivid images this student is able to create for the reader, whether it is having the tedious conversation with every teacher or cooking in their grandmother’s kitchen, transports us into the story and makes us feel like we are there in the moment with the student. This is a prime example of an essay that shows , not tells.

Besides the amazing imagery, the use of shorter paragraphs also contributes to how engaging this essay is. Employing this tactic helps break up the text to make it more readable and it isolates ideas so they stick out more than if they were enveloped in a large paragraph.

Overall, this is a really strong essay that brings to life this student’s heritage through its use of vivid imagery. This essay exemplifies what it means to show not tell in your writing, and it is a great example of how you can write an intimate personal statement without making yourself the primary focus of your essay.

There is very little this essay should improve upon, but one thing the student might consider would be to inject more personal reflection into their response. Although we can clearly take away their deep love and passion for their homeland and culture, the essay would be a bit more personal if they included the emotions and feelings they associate with the various aspects of Eritrea. For example, the way their heart swells with pride when their grandmother praises their ability to cook a flatbread or the feeling of serenity when they hear the bells ring out from the cathedral. Including personal details as well as sensory ones would create a wonderful balance of imagery and reflection.

Essay Example #10: Journaling

Flipping past dozens of colorful entries in my journal, I arrive at the final blank sheet. I press my pen lightly to the page, barely scratching its surface to create a series of loops stringing together into sentences. Emotions spill out, and with their release, I feel lightness in my chest. The stream of thoughts slows as I reach the bottom of the page, and I gently close the cover of the worn book: another journal finished.

I add the journal to the stack of eleven books on my nightstand. Struck by the bittersweet sensation of closing a chapter of my life, I grab the notebook at the bottom of the pile to reminisce.

“I want to make a flying mushen to fly in space and your in it” – October 2008

Pulling back the cover of my first Tinkerbell-themed diary, the prompt “My Hopes and Dreams” captures my attention. Though “machine” is misspelled in my scribbled response, I see the beginnings of my past obsession with outer space. At the age of five, I tore through novels about the solar system, experimented with rockets built from plastic straws, and rented Space Shuttle films from Blockbuster to satisfy my curiosities. While I chased down answers to questions as limitless as the universe, I fell in love with learning. Eight journals later, the same relentless curiosity brought me to an airplane descending on San Francisco Bay.

“I wish I had infinite sunsets” – July 2019

I reach for the charcoal notepad near the top of the pile and open to the first page: my flight to the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes. While I was excited to explore bioengineering, anxiety twisted in my stomach as I imagined my destination, unsure of whether I could overcome my shyness and connect with others.

With each new conversation, the sweat on my palms became less noticeable, and I met students from 23 different countries. Many of the moments where I challenged myself socially revolved around the third story deck of the Jerry house. A strange medley of English, Arabic, and Mandarin filled the summer air as my friends and I gathered there every evening, and dialogues at sunset soon became moments of bliss. In our conversations about cultural differences, the possibility of an afterlife, and the plausibility of far-fetched conspiracy theories, I learned to voice my opinion. As I was introduced to different viewpoints, these moments challenged my understanding of the world around me. In my final entries from California, I find excitement to learn from others and increased confidence, a tool that would later allow me to impact my community.

“The beauty in a tower of cans” – June 2020

Returning my gaze to the stack of journals, I stretch to take the floral-patterned book sitting on top. I flip through, eventually finding the beginnings of the organization I created during the outbreak of COVID-19. Since then, Door-to-Door Deliveries has woven its way through my entries and into reality, allowing me to aid high-risk populations through free grocery delivery.

With the confidence I gained the summer before, I took action when seeing others in need rather than letting my shyness hold me back. I reached out to local churches and senior centers to spread word of our services and interacted with customers through our website and social media pages. To further expand our impact, we held two food drives, and I mustered the courage to ask for donations door-to-door. In a tower of canned donations, I saw the value of reaching out to help others and realized my own potential to impact the world around me.

I delicately close the journal in my hands, smiling softly as the memories reappear, one after another. Reaching under my bed, I pull out a fresh notebook and open to its first sheet. I lightly press my pen to the page, “And so begins the next chapter…”

The structuring of this essay makes it easy and enjoyable to read. The student effectively organizes their various life experiences around their tower of journals, which centers the reader and makes the different stories easy to follow. Additionally, the student engages quotes from their journals—and unique formatting of the quotes—to signal that they are moving in time and show us which memory we should follow them to.

Thematically, the student uses the idea of shyness to connect the different memories they draw out of their journals. As the student describes their experiences overcoming shyness at the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes and Door-to-Door Deliveries, this essay can be read as an Overcoming Obstacles essay.

At the end of this essay, readers are fully convinced that this student is dedicated (they have committed to journaling every day), thoughtful (journaling is a thoughtful process and, in the essay, the student reflects thoughtfully on the past), and motivated (they flew across the country for a summer program and started a business). These are definitely qualities admissions officers are looking for in applicants!

Although this essay is already exceptionally strong as it’s written, the first journal entry feels out of place compared to the other two entries that discuss the author’s shyness and determination. It works well for the essay to have an entry from when the student was younger to add some humor (with misspelled words) and nostalgia, but if the student had either connected the quote they chose to the idea of overcoming a fear present in the other two anecdotes or if they had picked a different quote all together related to their shyness, it would have made the entire essay feel more cohesive.

Where to Get Your Personal Statement Edited

Do you want feedback on your personal statement? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Next Step: Supplemental Essays

Essay Guides for Each School

How to Write a Stellar Extracurricular Activity College Essay

4 Tips for Writing a Diversity College Essay

How to Write the “Why This College” Essay

Personal Statements & Statements of Purpose

Personal statements and statements of purpose are carefully crafted essays for academic applications, like graduate schools or fellowships, meant to effectively communicate to the admissions committee who you are, your motivations, your goals and how you prepared for graduate school.

Personal Statement vs. Statement of Purpose

While the terms might be used interchangeably, the two are subtly distinct from one another.

A personal statement is commonly written for scholarly fields in academia and professional fields like medicine and law. While it includes information about academic and career goals, it typically includes information about yourself as a person and your motivation for your chosen field. A strong personal statement demonstrates how much genuine motivation you have to pursue this field of study and that you have the necessary skills and background to be successful. It is typically a personal narrative.

A statement of purpose is written largely for science-oriented disciplines and typically describes your preparation to pursue your chosen field, your academic and research experience, and your career goals. A strong statement demonstrates how you have advanced your academic interests and how you plan to successfully pursue your goals. When writing a statement of purpose, you are making a case that you are a preferred candidate. Be logical, concise and clear in your writing for the best results.

Basic Content

Regardless of which version you are requested to write, a basic framework can be a good starting point. Keep in mind that your essay should be a reflection of your goals and illustrate your ability to write well. Take time to refine your personal statement and be sure to include transitional sentences between paragraphs. A good flow to your essay and story is essential to keeping your reader’s attention!

A personal statement or statement of purpose should answer the following 5 questions:

Why do you want to go to graduate school?
How have you prepared for graduate school?
Why will you be a strong and successful graduate student?
What are you career goals and how will this degree help you achieve them?
Why do you want to attend this particular graduate program? Make sure you personalize your essay for each program and describe why the particular program or faculty is a good fit for you.

Getting Started

Do you feel like you don’t know what to focus on or don’t have experiences that will help you stand out? Try these activities to help you get started.

Brainstorming Activity

Select one of the following prompts and free write on the topic for 5 minutes.

Think about a time you overcame an obstacle.
Write about a person who inspires you. What qualities do they possess?
Write about a time you acted as a leader.
Think about key moments when you realised you wanted to pursue graduate school.
What qualities do individuals in your field of study possess? Write about how you have demonstrated one of these qualities.

Once you have finished your free writing, have a friend read over the statement and highlight the one sentence that most interests them. Then free write for five minutes on that sentence. You will find this may help you narrow down your focus.

Call a Friend

Some people have a harder time writing than they do talking. If this sounds like you, have a conversation with a friend or family member about why you want to go to grad school and how you have prepared. Make sure to make an audio recording of your conversation and then type up when you said. This will give you some content you can start shaping for your statement.

Diving Deep into the Components

Committee members will read through hundreds of applications — How will you help yours stand out? Make sure to put significant thought into every section of your essay and that you’ve answered the 5 basic content questions above.

Introduction

Learn how to write in an engaging fashion that will bring your story to life. Avoid clichés like “ I have always wanted to be a... ” and instead paint a picture that creates connection to the reader.

The opening paragraph for a personal statement typically introduces the reader to your personal and/or professional motivations. Here are two examples:

For twenty-three years, my grandmother (a veterinarian and an epidemiologist) ran the Communicable Disease Department of a mid-sized urban public health department. The stories of Grandma Betty doggedly tracking down the named sexual partners of the infected are part of our family lore. Grandma Betty would persuade people to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, encourage safer sexual practices, document the spread of infection and strive to contain and prevent it. Indeed, due to the large gay population in the city where she worked, Grandma Betty was at the forefront of the AIDS crisis, and her analysis contributed greatly towards understanding how the disease was contracted and spread. My grandmother has always been a huge inspiration to me, and the reason why a career in public health was always on my radar.

The brain, to me, is such a complex and sovereign organism that has influence over the internal mechanisms and this has always allured to me. My true fascination has manifested from observing the external factors that can affect the function of the brain. From a young age I have been exposed to addiction; a factor which I believe has incited a passion within me to pursue a neurological career. I have witnessed the physical and psychological effects that an alcohol addiction has over an individual, and in my seventeen years the greatest thing that I have observed is the pattern of habits that relapse and evolve with an addiction. Although this can be a truly upsetting environment to have been around, I have learnt that people and their minds are incredibly resilient. This is something I wish to delve deeper into in during a Master’s in Counseling.

On the other hand, opening paragraphs for statements of purpose should grab the reader’s attention in a straight-forward manner, since the reader is not expecting that you stray too far from your academic or professional field. Openings involving research experience, classroom experience or other specifics related to the field of study are common. Here are two examples:

I might not have learned about Professor Norman Roland’s lab if it had not been for the Freshman Research Initiative. This innovative program at The University of Texas at Austin introduces high-achieving freshman to university research. As a result, I worked for two semesters with Professor Roland’s team on the mutation rates and genetic interactions of bacteria. As a young Texan from a very “business-oriented” family in El Paso, I found myself in new territory. Those first two semesters were pivotal in defining my career direction. They gave me the foundation to pursue undergraduate assistantships in two additional research labs at UT Austin, which helped me identify my own specific research interests and the motivation to pursue a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology.

While assisting in field biology research in Prince William Sound, Alaska, I was intrigued to see that when a colony of 16,000 blacklegged kittiwakes was flushed by a predator, they made a particular descending warble vocalisation. In fact, this distinct call seemed to be the only coordinated activity in which I ever saw them participate. Later that afternoon, I practiced making the “flush call” for hours. Finally, I climbed onto the colony and did my best imitation. The thunder of the entire colony lifting off, as other birds picked up the call, cemented my long-held intention: I want to work with sound. My purpose for undertaking doctoral work in acoustics and animal behaviour is twofold. First, my professional goal is to contribute to the existing research on biological systems, which use sound. Second, my personal goal is to convey in-depth understanding and love of these systems to the students I teach.

Experiences

Admissions committees want to know where your interests originated, how they have evolved over time, and what experiences you have had in college to prepare you for success in their program. Don’t try to cram every experience on your resume into your statement. Instead, pick 2-4 of the most impactful experiences you had to describe in greater detail and how each of those experiences prepared you for graduate school.

Research or Academic Experiences

If you have had research experience or school-related activities (e.g., projects, papers, presentations) that have been influential to your goals, focus more on what you learned from these experiences if you are writing a personal statement, and more on describing the project or research study in detail if you are writing a statement of purpose. This paragraph would also be the place to mention any personal qualities that would make you a successful student in their program. Be sure to back up those statements with specific examples documenting your abilities in these areas.

Internships & Work Experience

Internships and work experience is extremely valuable when applying to graduate school. Make sure you include these in your statement especially if they are related to your field of interest.

Co-curricular Activities

Involvement outside the classroom can offer valuable experiences to your personal and professional development. This may be particularly important in business and law, where leadership qualities are given priority. For instance, being an officer in a student organization or editing the college newspaper can show programs the leadership qualities you possess. Again, do not simply describe your experiences. Thoughtfully analyze your activities and look for ways to set yourself apart from the crowd.

Career Goals

Although you do not need to have your life mapped out in detail, be able to identify some general career goals and indicate how you plan to use your graduate training. Admissions committees want to see that you can conceptualize your future. Point out how your goals are congruent with the training you would receive from that program. Keep in mind that no one in the graduate program will remember what you put for your career goals in your admissions essay so it is okay if these goals change in the future.

Goodness of Fit

Before making their admissions decisions, the committee first needs to determine if you are a good match for them and if they are a good match for you. Your academic record and exam scores, reference letters and personal statement all help them assess if you could be a successful student in their program. By pointing out what attributes about their program appeal to you and/or how the research by certain faculty is in line with your interests, you demonstrate to them your motivation to learn from their specific program. This is most appropriate when applying to a scholarly or research program and not for applied fields like law. Here is an example:

During my graduate training, I want to enhance my research skills, further my knowledge of pharmacology, and learn how to successfully and independently investigate complex research questions. I believe UTSW will provide the necessary training and resources to achieve my goals because of cutting-edge technology and a collaborative work environment. Outstanding faculty research, like the efforts to understand mechanisms of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases by Dr. Maria Chahrourand and Dr. Gang Yu, respectively, support my research interests and career goals of working in neurological diseases. Acceptance into UTSW’s graduate school would be the first step in achieving my career goal of becoming a successful research scientist.

In your final paragraph of the essay, briefly summarize your main points and remind the committee members that you are eager to be a part of their graduate program. Be mindful to not sound repetitive. A nice touch could be to return to the theme of your catchy intro and have your story conclude full circle.

Extenuating Circumstances

The statement can also provide an opportunity to explain extenuating circumstances or particulars about your background. Clarifying the reason you had a low GPA, for instance, can help the admissions committee understand your application better. The important thing is to explain, not make excuses for, your situation. We strongly recommend making an appointment with a CNS Career Coach to talk about the best way to frame your situation in your statement.

Tips and Mistakes

Our CNS Career Coaching team reads hundreds of essays each year. Here are our top tips and most common mistakes to help you be successful writing your admissions essays.

Focus on you : Graduate school committees are interested in knowing more about you as a person and whether or not you’re a good fit for their program.
Follow word and/or character limits .
Proofread : Keep in mind that these essays are a sample of your communication skills. Triple check for grammatical errors, typos and unclear passages before you submit your essays.
Be concise and relevant : Admissions committees read hundreds of application each cycle. Keep their attention with concise and relevant writing.
Finish before the deadline : Give yourself time to draft, revise and edit multiple times. Your recommendation letter writers will likely want to see a draft of your statement as well — another good reason to start early!
Consider your audience : Most admissions committee members are professors in the department of the program you are applying to.
Create a holistic picture : Your statement should complement your resume/CV, but both documents should be understandable without the other.
Have multiple people review your draft : CNS Career Coaches, faculty, graduate students and the University Writing Center can all provide feedback.
Only you will know when you are done .

Common Mistakes

Breadth over depth : Focus on in-depth description of 2 or 3 key experiences as opposed to briefly mentioning everything you have done.
Telling your life story : Instead, selectively mention key experiences that are most relevant to the application and you future field of study.
Dramatic generalizations : These usually take the shape of “I always knew...” Don’t proclaim your passion. Demonstrate it.
Not focusing on you : Make sure you hone in on what makes you uniquely qualified for this particular graduate program and how you can be an asset.
Incomplete : Make sure your essay answers the question(s) or prompt provided by the application committee. If there is no prompt, then review our 5 questions your statement should answer at the top of this page.
Dishonesty : Don’t just say what you think the admissions committee wants to hear. You don’t know what they want to hear. They will sense dishonesty and you lose credibility.
Be careful with quotes: Admissions committees want to hear your story in your words. Avoid quotes unless there’s absolutely no way to tell your particular story without it.
Mixing up schools : This usually happens when applying to more than one school. Carefully check which statement is going to whom and that any mention of the program you’re applying to is correct in the essay.

Want Help with Your Statement?

Visit the University Writing Center

How to Write an Awesome Essay About Your Career Goals

Before you begin, ask yourself a few key questions like:
What are my short-term and long-term career goals?
Where do I see myself in ten years?
What events in my life have led me to have these goals?
What major will help me reach my goals?
What skills do I need to reach my goals?
What impact do I want to have on society?

Career Goals Essay Template

Need more inspiration.

After you brainstorm the responses to these questions, look for common themes, or pick out the most interesting stories. You can build your main essay “thesis” or idea around this.

Once you’ve got the main idea, create an outline to put your ideas into essay format. This will give you a general idea of structure.

You can use the career essays template below to give you some ideas. But remember that some rules are meant to be broken, so don’t be afraid to be innovative and think outside the box!

Also, when you’re done, head over to Going Merry to apply for the Career Goals scholarship essay bundle (one essay, one application, multiple scholarships!). You might as well make that essay count. Sign up for Going Merry to apply for scholarships more efficiently.

Here’s a paragraph-by-paragraph breakdown:

Paragraph 1 : Establish the main theme of what you’re going to talk about. It should also grab the reader’s attention. For example, instead of starting your essay with something generic (e.g. Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a zoologist), get creative with it! Try something like My greatest memory as a young girl was going to the zoo for the first time or While most kids play house or school, I always wanted to play zookeeper.

Paragraph 2 : Elaborate on what inspired your career goals. Perhaps it was a relative, a TV show, or simply an experience that you had. Remember that old writing adage, “Show, don’t tell.” In other words, try to demonstrate your interest with story or description.

Paragraph 3 : Discuss your short-term career goals and your intended major. How will your intended major help you reach these goals? What skills do you need to learn to reach them? At the end of the paragraph, try discussing how your short-term goals can help you achieve your long-term goals.

Paragraph 4 : Focus on your long-term goals and the impact that you hope to have on society. If you’re not sure what your long-term goals are, don’t sweat it; they’ll probably change anyways. You can instead focus on the difference you’d like to make overall. And don’t worry too much about the size of the impact…remember that just doing what you’re truly passionate about has a massive impact on those around you.

The last paragraph is your conclusion. You can use this paragraph to summarize what you discussed in the previous few paragraphs. If you want to be even more creative, try ending your essay with a question for your readers or a new insight. Good luck!

And now that you’re ready with that essay, put it to good use! You can recycle that same essay, when applying for the Career Goals Scholarship Bundle. We’ve joined together multiple scholarships (all requesting essays on career goals), into just ONE simple application! See more info here , or just sign up to get going.

Check out examples from other students just like you. Here are links to some great career goal essay examples:

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

Or maybe you’re looking for help with an academic goals essay — we’ve got you covered there too.

Also, check out this helpful list of the 10 most common scholarship essay topics !

Top 10 Most Common Scholarship Essay Prompts Graphic

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Search the site, search suggestions, the personal essay.

Photograph of blank Microsoft Word document titled "The Most Awesome College Essay Ever"

Unlike the rest of your application, which primarily consists of filling in boxes, the personal essay gives you the freedom to essentially write about whatever you want. No rules! Show who you are! Which sounds pretty cool, until you’re sitting there looking at a blank Word document.

While the personal essay is a great opportunity to infuse your voice into the application, I think some people (cough, me, cough) can get overwhelmed by it to the point where they don’t know how to begin. What do I write about? What makes me stand out? How can I explain all of this in only a few hundred words?

Well, as someone who eventually managed to get some words down on that blank document and turn out a decent college essay, here are a few words of advice.

1. Start by writing something.

I know, that sounds really obvious. But sometimes the hardest part of writing is just getting started – if you spend too much time criticizing your ideas before you write anything down, you won’t get anywhere. Write a few sentences, jot down some random ideas, note a couple anecdotes that might be interesting… just get something on paper that you can look back to. Maybe one of those ideas will catch, and BOOM you have an essay – or maybe you’ll look back to this list after a few weeks and think of something else that you would rather write about. That’s fine! The beginning of the creative process involves coming up with ideas, judging them comes later. Trust me, I took a class on this (really: it was a psych class called “Creativity: Madmen, Geniuses, and Harvard Students.”)

2. Think about something that has some significance to you.

Many students feel like they have to write about some huge, life-changing, important event in their lives. If you have something like this that you want to write about, that’s great! However, you can also write an awesome essay about something other than The Most Important Thing Ever. It can be the littlest things, if you explain their significance well, that actually stand out. In my case, somewhere in my essay I mentioned that I got up at 5:37am (rather than 5:30 or 5:45) because I liked prime numbers – and the first thing my admissions officer said when I walked into the room for my interview was, “So, prime numbers, huh?” That being said, remember that this is a college essay, so keep this audience and goal in mind as you write. When they finish reading, what do you want the admissions officers to know about you? Does this essay demonstrate something about who you are and what you care about? If not, you might want to go back to the drawing board.

3. Don’t be afraid to start over.

After finishing my first draft, I was glad to have something, but I wasn’t completely happy with it either. A week or two later, as I was reading over my essay again, I had an idea for a totally different topic - so I opened another document and completely started over. The second attempt was so much better, and I felt happy with how it turned out. It can be hard to scrap an initial attempt after spending so much time on it, but think of that time as just part of the process of getting to what you really want to write about.

4. Get an outside perspective.

One of the most useful things I did while working on my college essay was asking a couple people to read it over. At the time, I had two drafts that I was choosing between, and I wasn’t sure which one captured “me” better. When I asked my parents and teacher what they thought, they unanimously picked one option over the other. In the end, it’s important to have an essay that you are happy with – but sometimes having a fresh set of eyes can help you see what that is.

This is an important step! Both you, and perhaps someone who knows you well, should read over your essay and make sure it is in tip-top shape before you turn it in. There should be no grammatical or spelling mistakes – that gives the impression that you did not take your time on it. I know you’ve spent a long time on it by this point, but those last edits are super important!

The personal essay is a snippet of who you are and where you’re coming from – a snapshot for the admissions officers to look at as they read your application. It will never be able to capture everything about you, but you want to make sure that you’re giving them your best angle. So sit down, smile, and get to writing!

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David Class of '25

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Career Goals Essay For Scholarships (With Examples)

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Personal Mission Statement
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Career Goals Essay
Internal Applicants Only
Vision Statement

Find a Job You Really Want In

Scholarship programs often want you to write a career goals essay to see that you have a clear plan for how you’ll apply your education to a specific career path. This helps show a scholarship committee why you’re seeking funds for the next step on the path toward your success.

Answering “what are your career goals” effectively can help increase your odds of impressing landing a scholarship opportunity. If you’re a prospective student applying for scholarships, this article will provide tips on how to write a career goals essay, along with essays on career goals examples to help you get an idea of what scholarship committees are looking for.

Key Takeaways:

When you’re writing a career goals essay, make sure to write about the goals that are relevant to the scholarship.

Be honest and use your own voice to stand out in your scholarship essay.

Go into detail about how the scholarship will help you achieve your goals.

What is a career goals essay?

Why scholarship essays ask about career goals, example career goals essay prompts, career goals essay examples, tips for writing a scholarship essay about career goals, what to write in a career goals essay if your goals have changed, career goals essay for a scholarship faq.

A career goals essay is a personal written explanation that discusses your background, why you’re interested in participating in the program, and what career you’d like this degree to lead into. A scholarship essay functions to explain why you want to achieve your professional goals and how you intend to get there.

In almost every application process, a portion asks the candidate to answer an essay question. When applying to an educational program, like an MBA, the essay prompt usually relates to your career goals .

Scholarship essays ask about career goals to assess your enthusiasm for the program, learn more about how the scholarship will help you, and ensure that you’ve considered how the program will help you achieve your goals for the future:

Assess your enthusiasm. Passion is important for scholarship administrators, and if you’re able to articulate your enthusiasm for a specific career path , it will show that you’re determined to meet the requirements to reach that goal. The most specific and well-thought-out your essay is, the easier it will be for a reader to understand your devotion and commitment to the program and the field it will allow you to enter.

Learn how the scholarship will help you. Having a firm grasp of your career goals is great, but it’s equally important that you express exactly how the specific program relates to those goals. This shows that you’ve researched the merits of the program and understand exactly how it fits into your professional goals.

Show you’ve considered your future. This goes along with the first two points — show that you know how to set goals and consider the path toward achieving those goals, and you’ll have an easier time convincing the reader that you’ll know how to set goals while participating in the program. They’ll see that you know how to prioritize education because you have a clear vision for navigating your career path.

While some scholarships might come right out and simply ask, “What are your career goals?” most will rework the question into something different that still accomplishes the same goal.

Below are some examples of career goals essay prompts that a scholarship program could pose to its applicants:

Discuss your career goals. Many scholarships prefer the most direct approach when giving an essay prompt to their applicants. This type of question gives the candidate a lot of wiggle room to discuss their passions, motivations, and career goals.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years ? This question is often used as a prompt for a career goals essay because it gives the applicant a timeline to describe their aspirations. It forces them to be realistic about where their career will be and how they will accomplish this within the next ten years.

How will this scholarship contribute to your professional success? A scholarship committee wants to be sure that the money they’re giving will contribute to a student’s overall professional success. This question asks about the applicant’s game plan in the long-term and evaluates how this program is going to assist in their future.

What is your dream job ? Since a dream job is often categorized as a person’s career goals, this is a common question phrasing in scholarship essays. Asking about a candidate’s dream job answers whether this program aligns with the student’s long-term career goals.

What matters most to you and why? Sometimes, a scholarship essay prompt won’t ask about your career or future at all. Instead, they’ll ask a question like this that assesses your motivations , values, and character.

Use these examples of career goals essays for scholarships to help write your own. Pay special attention to how they’re organized, rather than the content, to inspire your own career goals essay:

Career goals essay example 1 – Discuss your career goals

When I was six years old, I was riding bikes with my older sister around our neighborhood. She had just taught me how to ride, and I was excited to have to freedom to explore with her. When she was rounding a particularly difficult bend to see around, a car happened to be coming along at the same time. It struck her. That bike ride changed our lives forever. Over the next year, I went with my sister every Tuesday and Thursday to her physical therapist ’s appointments to help her regain walking strength. Watching her physical therapist patiently assist my sister back to becoming herself awoken something in me. A passion for helping others in the same way eventually turned into a career goal of becoming a physical therapist myself. I decided to get my bachelor’s degree in exercise science. After graduating in 2019, I knew that the next step for me was to attend a graduate program in physical therapy. I was accepted to Lassell University Master of Science in Rehabilitation Services. This presented me with my latest goal along my career path, and I’m eagerly waiting to start. This scholarship would help me afford the wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Lassell University class of 2023, allowing me to continue working towards my ultimate career goal of becoming a physical therapist and helping others to become themselves again.

Career goals essay example 2 – Where do you see yourself in ten years?

In ten years, I will have been successfully running my own construction business for about five years. I’m currently a second-year student at the University of Texas, pursuing a master’s degree in business administration. I decided to get my MBA because I knew it would be a positive asset toward my long-term career goal of owning a construction business. In my high school years, I worked as a construction apprentice for a local business. I loved many aspects of the business, such as building something from nothing. I knew that I wanted to incorporate this work into my long-term career, but I didn’t want to work as an apprentice . This led me to pursue business. In ten years and with the help of this scholarship, I will have graduated with my MBA almost a decade prior . After graduation, I plan to take a business administration internship with a carpentry business to help myself get a footing in the field. After about two years of this, I will have started my own construction business.

Career goals essay example 3 – What matters most to you and why?

The people I surround myself with matter most to me. Whether it be my relatives, friends, or professional acquaintances, I always care the most about the happiness of the people around me. Making the people around me happy matters the most to me because I truly because we find our happiness through others. I believe that this drive to make a positive impression on the people around me is what drove me towards a career as a nurse . I always thought of hospitals as places where people need someone to support them and make their day a little happier. I wanted to be one of those who spend their careers positively impacting people in need. This scholarship will enable me to finally afford nursing school and go after my dream job full force.

Career goals essay example 4 – What are your short- and long-term career goals, and how will earning this degree contribute to achieving those goals? Please provide a minimum of 200 words.

My short-term career goals involve working directly with underprivileged young people to increase the literacy rate in my community. As a student of an underfunded and understaffed school, I’ve seen firsthand how much of an impact early literacy education makes on long-term achievement. It broke my heart to see my peers embarrassed at their struggle with reading at an advanced age, and this shame added another dimension to their lack of opportunity. Being a literacy educator for young people would allow me to serve this community directly to show them not only the necessity of strong written communication skills, but the joy of reading for pleasure. This program focuses specifically on early literacy, and would provide me a direct route to a career in serving the community I hope to serve. As for long-term career goals, I hope to one day create a program where socioeconomically parents can bring their children for literacy education, not only to increase their ability to navigate the world of language, but also to instill confidence and joy in the written word. What drew me to this program was that it also has administrative, legal, and business dimensions that would set me on the path toward achieving this goal.

Here are some tips to keep in mind for writing a career goals scholarship essay:

Write about goals relevant to the scholarship. Although you may have many different kinds of goals for your personal and professional future, a scholarship essay only discusses objectives that are relevant to the program you’re applying for.

Be honest. Applying for a scholarship is stressful because the applicant’s education is usually reliant on receiving these funds in one way or another. Even though it’s tempting to exaggerate your skills or pretend you’re more passionate about something than you are to make yourself a more competitive applicant, it’s a bad move.

Use your own, unique voice. The essay portion of a scholarship application is your chance to stand out by using your voice. Nobody else, regardless of their academic or professional achievements, is you. Make this clear in your career goals scholarship essay by keeping your unique written voice engrained in the words you produce.

Be specific. A big reason that scholarship committees ask applicants to write a career goals essay is to determine how prepared they are in planning their long-term professional goals. They aren’t interested in providing a scholarship to students who aren’t going to follow through with their career plans.

Explain long and short-term goals . Even if the essay prompt asks you to describe where you see yourself in ten years, you still need to tell them the steps leading towards this picture of success.

Include the short-term goals that add up to your larger career objectives in your essay response. Explain how accomplishing the smaller goals gives you an advantage when tackling long-term ones.

Explain how the program and scholarship will help you. Before writing your career goals essay, consider how this program and scholarship will help you in your career. The answer to this question is essential.

Follow the essay formatting guidelines. This may sound obvious, but it’s surprisingly easy to forget this step when your essay is finally flowing and when you’re scrambling to get it submitted on time.

Check, double-check , and triple-check the essay guidelines for content, word count, and formatting requirements. If you miss any of these steps, your essay may be immediately disqualified no matter how good it or the rest of your application is.

Many times career goals essays are written by students who have already completed at least some college or are applying to a post-graduate program and need more money to continue.

There’s a good chance that your career goals have changed since you started or graduated college. For example, say you wanted to be an engineer , so you got your undergraduate degree in engineering but realized you didn’t like it after working in the industry for a few years.

You decided that nursing would be more up your alley, and now you’re applying for a scholarship for a nursing program. While this isn’t unusual, it can make it more difficult to write a career goals essay since your past work doesn’t necessarily match your future goals.

In this case, you’ll simply need to explain why you changed your career path and why this next one is the best choice for you. Share your decision-making process to show that you haven’t taken the switch lightly, and talk about what you’ve already done to try to pursue this path.

How do you write a career goal for a scholarship essay?

You write a career goal for a scholarship essay by sharing your passion, explaining both your long- and short-term goals, and relating your goals to the scholarship.

Explain why you want to pursue the career you’re pursuing, where you hope to be in the future and how you plan to get there, and how the scholarship will help you do this.

How do you describe your career goals in an essay?

You describe your career goals in an essay by explaining what you want to do in your career, why you decided on this career path, and what you’ve done so far to make that a reality.

You can usually work these factors into any prompt you receive, so think through them before you start writing so that you can use them as an outline of sorts.

What are career goals examples?

Examples of career goals include:

Working as a grant writer for a nonprofit organization.

Becoming a department manager and eventually an executive in your field.

Owning your own plumbing company.

Caring for underserved communities as a nurse practitioner .

What are some goals for success?

Some goals for success include growing in your role, building your network, and finding joy in the job. Most careers don’t just happen overnight and require you to set the right milestones that work best for you. Not everyone will have the same goals for success.

How do you start a career goals essay for a scholarship?

You can start a career goals essay for a scholarship by directly answering the prompt. Most scholarship prompts include a word count of between 200 and 500 words, so it’s essential that you immediately respond to the prompt. Attention-grabbing sentences and narratives can be helpful for setting the scene, but an efficient and direct answer will show a clarity of mind that helps enhance the quality of your answer.

BLS – Career planning for high schoolers

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Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.

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4 Communication Goals

Communication is fundamental to human relationships. Interaction, of all types, attempt several possible outcomes:

To inform and give instructions
To influence and persuade
To convey emotion and perception
Ask questions in hopes of obtaining information
Express wants and needs
Develop relationships and socialize
Social etiquette
To reassure or comfort
Share ideas and opinions

Influence concerning how our parent figures raised us, our culture, our experiences, and our personality affects our communication style and the way we come off to others.

Consequently, being intentional with how we communicate can improve all relationships, including personal and professional. The way to be intentional with how we communicate is to work toward a specific set of communication goals.

What are Communication Goals?

Communication goals are specific aims to communicate information and emotion by more effective means.

Communication goals are broad in concept, so they need to be specific within the context of the particular types of communication (verbal, nonverbal, written, and visual) as well as the relevant categories in life (personal, parental, romantic, friendship, and professional).

Types of Communication

The connotation surrounding the word “communication” typically conjures an image of communicating through speaking. But there are several types of communication , including verbal, non-verbal, written, and visual.

Verbal Communication

Speaking and oral communication is considered verbal communication utilized through language and words. There are four types of verbal communication (intrapersonal, interpersonal, small group, and public) which include:

Presentations (small group)
Speeches (public)
Announcements (public)
Conversation (interpersonal and small group)
Discussions (interpersonal and small group)
Official statements (public)
Singing (all types)
Talking to one’s self (intrapersonal)

The tone of the verbal communication depends on the relationship between the speaker and the audience. For example, an official statement from a politician is going to differ in tone from a parent saying goodnight to their child.

Written Communication

Written communication is communicating via written correspondence utilizing the written word in some of the following ways:

Instant messaging
Text messaging

Based on the relationship between the writer and the reader, the tone of the written communication may change. For example, a letter from a husband overseas mailed to his wife may convey emotional (and sentimental) connection; whereas, an internal office memo may transmit professional communication to employees.

Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication is cues received from facial expression and body language . Non-verbal communication can be tricky because we all hold a preconceived connotation of what particular facial expressions and body language represent.

For example, one person might hold the perception that lazy people slouch, and another person may hold the opinion that slouching represents exhaustion.

However, although there can be cultural differences in how one perceives nonverbal communication, there are several universal non-communication cues studied by Charles Darwin :

Nonverbal communication is just as important as verbal and written communication, if not more so. Nonverbal communication can reveal the truth behind any contradictory statement.

For example, your romantic partner could verbally communicate that he/she is excited for your extended opportunity in another country while the nonverbal communication of teary eyes tells a more profound truth about what your partner may be feeling.

Visual Communication

Although nonverbal communication could be categorized as a type of visual communication because we are “seeing” the communication through body language and facial expressions, there are several additional types of visual communication that are specific to the created medium:

Graphic Design
Illustration
Industrial Design
Advertising
Electronic Resources

The Anatomy of Communication

Along with the platform type of how your communication is delivered, what is the anatomy of effective communication? In other words, what makes for effective communication?

Seven main elements make up the anatomy of effective communication, and they are called the seven C’s of communication.

Clear communication means your intended message should be unambiguous. Ambiguous statements can confuse the other party plus tamper with the connotation of the words. For example:

Vague statement: Mark saw a man on a hill with a telescope. Examination: Did Mark use a telescope to see a man on the hill? Or was the man on the hill looking at Mark with a telescope? Or did Mark see a man on a hill that also has a telescope on it? A clear message: By looking through his telescope, Mark saw a man sitting on a hill.

Concise communication means being precise and straight to the point without any filler or fluff. Being concise means avoiding long, redundant, and winding sentences and using the least amount of words possible to communicate your message. For example:

Redundant statement: Let me briefly summarize the next period of four days before you all get your free gift.

Concise message: I’ll summarize the next four days, then hand out gifts.

Concrete communication includes specific facts and figures so that there is no room for misinterpretation. For example:

Non-specific statement: Make sure you get that report in this evening.

Concrete statement: The 2019 Financial Statement Report needs to be on my desk by 5 pm.

Correct communication means you need to use the right, or proper and fitting language in your message as well as well timed. Communicating correctly builds credibility. For example:

Incorrect statement: I believe 1+1=2. Correct message: It’s a fact that 1+1=2.

Consideration

Consideration communication is the act of considering the speaker’s beliefs, knowledge, background, and mindset. To communicate effectively, you must consider these things and relate in some way to the target recipient of your message.

For example, if employee Mark says to his coworker Steve, “I’m having a hard time finishing this report,” and Steve replies, “Well, you need to work harder,” Steve most likely isn’t communicating considerately.

If Steve took into consideration that Mark has a newborn baby at home, a sick wife, and a recently passed father, he might respond considerately, “I don’t blame you, Mark. You have a lot going on right now. Let me know how I can help.”

Complete communication provides all the relevant information to the intended party. The relevant information will give the recipient answers to any pertinent questions which will allow them to make a well-informed decision.

For example, a doctor who communicates thoroughly will provide a sick patient with all treatment options so the patient can make an informed decision on how to proceed. If the doctor only provided one treatment option, the patient would not have a perceived choice in the matter.

Courteous communication includes positive and unbiased messages , as well as terms appropriate for the recipient. For example:

Discourteous message: Unlike most people, I am never wrong.

Courteous message: Everyone messes up at some point, especially me!

Why you Should Set Communication Goals

We know there are different types of communication, as detailed above (verbal, nonverbal, written, and visual), that serve as a platform in delivering that type of communication from person to person. But without strong communication development, these communication platforms become ineffective.

You need communication goals.

Establishing communication goals, and working toward those goals, develops communication strengths and skills . Merely wanting to communicate more effectively certainly won’t get you anywhere without setting an end goal and actively working toward that goal.

Keeping the seven C’s of communication in mind, goals can be structured using the proven S.M.A.R.T. method.

Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Vague or ambiguous goals have no direction. As previously stated, only wanting to communicate more effectively won’t naturally drive you in that direction alone. Action and specificity are required to reach goals.

Following a detailed goal plan or map (and continuously checking in on progress) has been scientifically proven to lead to success. Alternatively, those who don’t follow a specific, well-thought-out plan have proven to be the least likely to succeed in reaching their goals.

A S.M.A.R.T goal is more than just a catchy acronym. It’s a method of explicitly planning and mapping out your goals, which is why it is one of the most effective goal setting methods. S.M.A.R.T. goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based.

For example, Sam is exhausted by the lack of communication between his team members regarding completed and uncompleted communal tasks. Sam wants to increase effective communication with his employees to avoid duplicate work.

Sam might utilize the S.M.A.R.T. method accordingly:

S pecific: send the team a weekly report via email detailing the completed tasks and upcoming tasks, as well as assignments for the employee’s future jobs.

M easurable: run report which will detail any duplicated tasks completed. Each week should show a decline in duplicate tasks completed.

A ttainable: require an email response from employees to confirm the information was received, as well as prove they have accepted their tasks assignments.

R ealistic: all team members have access to email and the task report.

T ime-based: implement immediately and execute effective Monday.

Parent/Child Communication

You’ve most likely heard the sentiment, “children are like sponges.” Based on the historical truth that children observe their surroundings, they take on the influence of their parents.

The good news is if a child’s parent(s) are effective in their communication with their child, that child, in turn, will most likely be an effective communicator as they mature.

In addition to raising effective communicators, healthy communication between parent(s) and children results in boundless positive enforcement. Here are a few examples:

Increased child’s self-esteem
Instilled respect for themselves and others
Builds trust
Children listen to parents
Higher feelings of security and safety

How to Set Parent/Child Communication Goals

Although it’s best to start healthy communication habits when your child is young, it’s never too late to establish parent/child communication goals. Here are some examples of types of parent/child goals:

Send positive (instead of negative) messages
Use age-appropriate language
Build stronger eye contact habits
Give undivided attention when communicating verbally
Decrease the number of times I interrupt my child
Respond to my child’s statements to show I heard them
Decrease lectures and speeches
Schedule fun weekly family meetings
Use more “I” messages
Be more flexible when solving problems with my child
Work on one issue at a time, so my child and I don’t get overwhelmed.

After deciding which type of goal to pursue, create a map using the S.M.A.R.T. method and note the applicable C’s of communication.

When creating your S.M.A.R.T. goal map, take into consideration that by setting parent/child communication goals you will need more than just a task list. Children can tell when you are just going through the motions, which can negatively affect the balance in the communication between parent and child.

Romantic Partner Communication

Romantic relationships are a large part of our lives, and one that needs constant communication and fine tuning. As human connection is deeply rooted in emotion, as previously stated, so are romantic relationships. It’s no wonder that communication is so important in romantic relationships.

Strengthening your communication skills in your romantic relationships will, in turn, enhance the relationship as a whole.

How to Set Romantic Partner Communication Goals

A few examples of romantic communication goals could be:

Listen to my partner so I can understand their communication before responding with my own
Find the right time to communicate, instead of blurting out what I want to say whenever I immediately want to say it.
With serious communications, communicate face to face by removing the option to text or email feelings or thoughts.
Communicate more via text or email throughout the day so we can stay connected.
Send physical letters and emails consistently when my partner is out of town.
Work on my aggressive communication style.
Decrease defensiveness by changing attack language.
Be honest rather than communicating what I think my partner wants to hear.
Remember that body language is communication and to actively and physically turn toward my partner instead of away from them, which communicates distance.
When I’m angry, be determined to wait a day or two before communicating my anger so that I’m calmer and able to listen more openly.
With each serious communication session, stop to think, listen, then speak.

With romantic relationships, it’s certainly important to focus on the seven C’s of communication because the personality of your partner will mostly depend on their nature and how they become more reception through individual communication styles.

Furthermore, just as important as communicating to your partner in a way that unites the relationship is talking to your partner the way you prefer to be addressed, spoken to, and the like

Friendship Communication

Much like romantic relationships, friendships are rooted in emotion and a prevalent presence in our lives. Although, unlike romantic relationships which need constant communication, friendship communication can ebb and flow.

Each friendship will have an individual communication style. To respect the friendship relationship, it’s important to be aware of the type of communication style for each friendship you have.

For example, one friend may prefer to communicate via text and rarely meet face to face always. Whereas, another friend may not be interested in a digital communication friendship and meet face to face constantly to catch up with each other.

As you learn to respect the communication type of your friendships, it’s equally important to communicate your preferred method of communication with each friend, so the relationship is meeting your needs too.

How to Set Friendship Communication Goals

Here are some examples of friendship goals you could implement:

Note in a planner to connect with friends
When life gets too busy to meet friends face to face monthly, continue communication via email, text, or Skype.
Plan more fun experiences together, instead of constant rant fests.
Increase the amount I ask them how they are doing.
Take away one element of their life they communicate to me and ask them about it the next time we meet.
Listen to friends when they say they are busy and decrease the pressure to meet face to face.
Actively improve eye contact, so my friend knows I am engaged, which will help me listen to them more effectively .

If you choose to implement the first goal on the list (note in planner to connect with friends), your S.M.A.R.T. goal may look like:

S pecific: Note in planner every month to reach out to friends.

M easurable: can observe if catching up more often, and consistently, will improve the depth of our relationship instead of getting caught up on the surface conversations.

A ttainable: I can check in with my friends each month, even if they don’t reach out first.

R ealistic: my schedule realistically could include friend activities each month, if not more.

T ime-based: Note in my planner a month after I’ve reached out to each friend.

Value your friendships by maintaining them through communication and contact. Likewise, be aware that your friends value you enough as a friend to communicate with you as well. You can effectively communicate with your friends, but if they do not reciprocate communication, they are not respecting your friendship.

Professional Communication

Professional communication includes the types of communication (verbal, nonverbal, written, and visual) conducted within a professional arena, as well as out of the professional field when considering outbound emails.

Secure professional communication provides the recipient with correct data accurately and understandably, along with using the seven C’s of communication.

In order to professionally communicate accurately and understandably, improving your writing (memos, emails, reports), visual (presentation graphics, social media), verbal (presentations, meetings), and nonverbal (confidence, eye contact) communication skills becomes relevant.

How to Set Professional Communication Goals

Some examples of professional communication goals are:

Be more relatable by being a courteous communicator
Diversify communication delivery
Broaden the scope for employees so they can see the bigger picture (communicate the story of the business so they can feel a part of it)
Share my purpose along with sharing the meaning of each required task
Remain present when a coworker or subordinate is sharing
Prioritize messages, to address the most important communications first
Use more storytelling in my presentations to communicate in a more relatable manner
Invest in employees by listening to their ideas and expressing my thoughts on those ideas
Create interest in the daily grind by delivering incentives

Develop your goal map with the S.M.A.R.T. method and the seven C’s of communication in mind. Using the last professional communication goal on the list (create interest in the daily grind by communicating incentive), the S.M.A.R.T. goal map may look like:

S pecific: send weekly task report via email along with a weekly incentive for the highest producer.

M easurable: track the increase of productivity by comparing each weekly report, and communicating the positive results to the team weekly to get them revved up.

A ttainable: Examine employee behavior (increased interest in work tasks) to confirm incentive will produce positive results.

R ealistic: ensure all team members have the capability and confidence to produce high numbers by communicating with them individually.

T ime-based: spend the next week planning incentive ideas, and how they will be rated, communicate the incentives to my team via meeting on Monday. Each Friday, hand out incentive rewards.

Throughout developing your professional communication skills, gather feedback from your co-workers and subordinates. Although we may be proud of a particular presentation or memo, it may not communicate professionally or accurately.

Self-Communication

Yes, communication with ourselves is just as important as parental, personal, and professional communication. By refining our self-communication, we become more aware of ourselves and how we might impact others.

For example, communicating in a way we think is helpful toward someone might actually come off as being controlling to the other party. By observing our behaviors and talking with ourselves about those behaviors, we can become more aware and positive of how we influence or come off to others.

Additionally, self-communication will strengthen our confidence, our awareness of others’ communication styles, and become an overall happier person.

How to Set Self Communication Goals

Setting self-communication goals must begin by observing how we currently self communicate. By being fully informed of how we communicate with ourselves, we can then begin to improve certain aspects of our prove. Here are a few examples of self-communication goals:

Examine internal dialogue and promote the positive dialogue
Integrate mindfulness every day to continue to stay aware of my self-communication
Utilize a journal for present self-communication, but also reference when studying my self-communication
When communicating with others, pay more attention to their response cues to further improve the way I interact with others.

Meditation, journaling, gratitude, and self-observance strengthens self-communication. Using these means, create a goal map using the S.M.A.R.T. method and the seven C’s of communication. Utilizing the first self-communication goal (examine internal dialogue and improve positive critical), your goal map might look like:

S pecific: write in a journal at the end of each day, zoning in specifically on self talk.

M easurable: at the end of each week, read back through the journal to determine if the negative self-talk is consistently decreasing.

A ttainable: creating a habit of writing in my journal at night, in bed, and before sleep will create a consistent document that holds self-communication.

R ealistic: journaling only takes a few minutes each day.

T ime-based: I will begin journaling immediately tonight, and review journal notes each Sunday.

It’s essential to take the seven C’s of communication into account as you set and implement your S.M.A.R.T. communication goals. By only utilizing the S.M.A.R.T. method of setting communication goals without executing the values of the seven C’s, most likely you are just going through the emotions of each step checking off each step in a detached manner.

However, because human communication is deeply rooted in emotion, checking off steps in a detached manner will not accomplish any strengthening of communication skills. It’s imperative that you marry your S.M.A.R.T. goal map with the seven C’s of communication for a fully transformative goal. In other words, your goal map will guide you toward your goal, whereas the seven C’s will make those goals effective.

Establishing communication goals isn’t only a process to get us to the end point, more efficient communication, but also instills skills that we will positively utilize in multiple areas of our lives. Furthermore, although transformation occurs by reaching specific communication goals, as humans, there will always be room for growth in communication behavior.

Using the skills that have strengthened our communication with others in all areas will also transform us to more empathetic, effective, understanding, as well as a better listener, partner, parent, employee, and overall human.

What are your communication goals?

What Is a Career Goals Essay?

An opportunity to expand, what to avoid in a career goals essay, final thoughts, how to write a career goals essay.

Updated January 15, 2024

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As the name suggests, a career goals essay is a personal document that outlines your professional plans.

It describes your educational and work history, and your ambitions for the future.

A career goals essay is generally used in three situations:

When applying to a school or college
When applying for a scholarship to fund education
When applying for a new job

It allows the reader to better understand your personality and fully appreciate why you are making the application.

Career goals essays help admissions staff and hiring managers to select the ideal candidates for a position.

What Should a Career Goals Essay Contain?

A little backstory.

This essay is an opportunity for you to allow your personality and experiences to shine, so avoid generic statements.

The document should be personal and concisely describe your life experiences.

You should explain why you have chosen this career path.

If there was a pivotal moment in your life that led you to this application, be sure to highlight it.

Outline Your Goals

The main focus of the essay should be your goals for the future.

Readers want to see that you are ambitious and driven, with a genuine passion for the role or course you are applying for.

These career goals should be split into your short-term goals (looking over the next one to three years) and your long-term goals (which might look as far as 10 years into the future).

Show How This Application Will Help You Reach Your Goals

Critically, your career goals essay must show how this degree or job will help you achieve your goals .

If your long-term goal is to become a veterinary surgeon, studying a veterinary medicine program will obviously be essential.

However, your goal may be more nuanced than that. For example, you might want to become an expert in a particular piece of technology or software. Your application must show how your success in this role will enable you to become an industry leader.

This will also emphasize to the reader that you have done your research and understand the skills required for that particular sector.

You will have likely submitted a CV and covering letter at other points throughout the application process.

Remember, your career goals essay should complement these documents rather than repeat them.

This letter allows you to expand on the points mentioned in the earlier documents, aligning your previous experience with your goals for the future.

If you are writing a career goals essay as part of an application for a new job, be sure to refer back to the job description and person specification.

These documents highlight the exact type of individual the employer is searching for, so be sure your career goals essay matches the content in them.

Most career goals essays will be submitted via email, so an appropriate title is essential.

‘The Career Goals of [Name]’ isn’t a title that will make you stand out from the crowd.

Don’t forget, whether you are applying to a school or an employer, the reader will have the job of sifting through hundreds, if not thousands, of applications .

Where candidates have very similar experiences and education, their creativity and personality will be used to make the final decision.

Example titles:

How a Digital Marketing Degree Will Allow Me to Support Sustainable Businesses

How My Next Role in Nursing Will Help Me Help Others

How to Write a Career Goals Essay (with Examples)

An Introduction

Your introduction should set the theme for the essay, and crucially, outline your why .

Many candidates find the introduction the most challenging part of the essay to write. Therefore, it often makes the most sense to write it last.

Your introduction should be an honest and personable account of why you have chosen this field of study.

Starting with a generic opening paragraph will not inspire or motivate your reader. Stay away from phrases such as “I have wanted to be a lawyer ever since I was a little girl.”

This sentence tells the reader very little about your current aspirations.

It can also damage your integrity, as we all know most small children dream of being a movie star or astronaut before the job of lawyer ever springs to mind.

Example introduction:

Most individuals in the US are lucky enough to never need the law to protect them. However, many fail to see how the intricate details of the constitution support their life every day. I have a particular fascination with criminal law after being introduced to the field by a family friend. The monumental impact a lawyer can have on the life and welfare of an individual truly astounded me, and I have spent the years since investigating the effects of the American legal system. This is why I have tailored my education so far to prepare me for a legal career. I work every day on developing my research and analytical ability, and now feel ready to dedicate myself fully to the legal field.

School-Specific Content

Admissions staff, tutors and hiring managers want to know that their applicants have done their research.

You can show them that you have done yours by adding a small paragraph straight after your introduction showing why you chose this school to study at or this company to work for.

First example of school-specific content:

[Insert company name] has an incredible global reputation, with clients in every continent. I can see that staff retention rates are incredibly high, indicating strong career opportunities and the prospect of continuous development. The company values show that diversity and integrity are of the utmost importance, and I would love the opportunity to work for an organization whose principles align with my own.

Second example of school-specific content:

[Insert school name] is well known for producing the highest caliber of graduates, with an excellent global reputation. The school leaderboards show that the grades from [insert school name] ranked within the top five in the country for the past 10 years. I would be proud to associate myself with an establishment that holds itself in such high regard and am thrilled at the prospect of learning alongside the best.

Your Long-term Vision

Remember, it is crucial you show why and how you are actively working towards these goals. For example, merely stating, 'My long-term goal is to become a lawyer with my own practice’ is worthless.

The reader wants to see how this goal aligns with your personality and why you have chosen this route.

The goals set out in this essay should be precise and meaningful .

Example of long-term vision:

Law is an area of study that affects us all. The law protects us, and I am fascinated by its impact on both an individual and global scale. Of course, I want to graduate with a top-class degree, but I am also passionate about the connections and network I will build along the way. My goal is to open my own practice one day, specializing in family law. At the moment, I volunteer in my local practice, gaining experience and building a network that will help me later in my career. I believe the combination of world-class education and hands-on legal experience will help me to achieve this ambitious long-term goal.

Your Short-term Vision

Next, it is crucial to discuss your short-term goals .

If you're applying to school, your short-term goals will explain what you aim to achieve throughout the degree or program.

For a job application, these goals will outline your targets for your first year in the role.

Example of short-term vision:

In the short term, my goal is to build a network in the legal sector. I have already begun doing this through my weekly volunteering role. However, this degree will undoubtedly allow me to meet a much broader spectrum of people. I am excited to curate this network with a range of legal specialists, from students at the start of their careers to tutors with many years of experience in the industry.

The Conclusion

As with any essay, your conclusion should summarize what you have discussed throughout.

You should not throw in any new ideas, subjects or theories at this point. Otherwise, it indicates to the reader that you have not cohesively written the essay.

Your conclusion should be about the same length as the introduction, mentioning your final goals and the name of the establishment you are applying to.

You must outline again why you want to work for this company or study at this school. Using a statistic or fact will show that you have conducted thorough research.

Example conclusion:

I am immensely excited to begin my experience with [insert school name]. Ultimately, this education will allow me to fulfill my dreams of becoming a lawyer and one day opening my own practice. I will bring hard work, determination and enthusiasm to the law school, never forgetting why I began this journey.

Vague or Weak Statements

Every sentence in your essay should be specific to you.

For example, statements such as ‘I want to study medicine because it will allow me to get a good job’ does not show the reader that you are passionate or enthusiastic about this position.

Discussing Financial Remuneration

Whether the essay is aimed at a prospective employer or a college admissions office, they want to see why you want the position personally.

Someone solely focused on the financial rewards will likely not have longevity in the career.

Controversial Topics

Of course, there will be times where politics and current affairs are relevant to the discussion.

However, showing a one-sided argument that doesn’t align with the readers can alienate your application before you even begin.

A career goals essay is an opportunity for your personality to shine through. It isn’t a test of who has the best grades or the most experience , but a chance to show how this job or degree can change your life.

Although the reader is excited to hear about your goals, they are more interested in how this role links to your ambitions.

Be sure to constantly reflect upon how obtaining a place on this course, or securing the job role, is intrinsically linked to your goals.

A word limit is often applied to career goal essays. Where there is no limit, be sure to write no more than 1,000 words.

This piece should be concise and to the point, showing the reader you can effectively convey your thoughts and ideas.

You might also be interested in these other Wikijob articles:

Career Growth vs Career Development (2024 Guide)

Or explore the Jobs & Careers / Career Planning sections.

13 SMART Goals Examples for Improving Your Communication Skills

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Communication is one of those interpersonal skills that you may not think you need much help with.

You may think, “Communication is easy, I can relay a message to another person!”

But communication is so much more than being able to shoot someone an email.

The methods we use to communicate with each other is continuously changing. While Zoom may have been familiar to only a small portion of the business population two years ago, it’s now an everyday method of communication that employees from businesses worldwide have become very familiar with.

The truth is that we now have a growing variety of choices when it comes to modes of communication. And a lot of the methods that we once used to communicate are becoming less relevant as time goes on, and communication barriers that we once faced (like physical distance) is no longer an issue.

So it’s no wonder that having good communication skills has continuously ranked as the #1 most sought-after skill by employers. And it’s not as easy to come by as you may think. Being a good communicator means that you’re a skilled listener , you can interpret non-verbal communication, you can pick up on other people’s emotions , and you know the right questions to ask when you’re having a conversation .

If you can do all of these things in addition to delivering messages in a clear and concise way, there’s a good chance you know how to get what you want , overcome obstacles , make friends, build rapport with colleagues, and gain respect from others.

But, being able to do all of those things, and being able to do them well , is a tall order.

Engaging in proper communication is a complex task due to the complicated nature of human thought processes. ( Learn more about the elements of communication here. )

It can be difficult to formulate your thoughts into words, and even more challenging to voice your message in a way that will be interpreted by your audience the way you intend it to be. Your statements may be misunderstood–or worse, you could be caught using faulty logic , which could open you up to criticism.

Think back to a time when you’ve felt misunderstood. Maybe you got accused of giving someone a “look” that you were oblivious to, or someone took your quick response to something you wrote in a hurry as being rude. Think not only of the trouble that could have been avoided with more clear communication, but also the feelings that could have been spared and the time that could have been saved from others who dwelled on these momentary lapses of proper communication.

Think of the consequences that could result, should one of these misunderstandings lay the foundation for a potential employer’s first impression of you. Or, what if it’s a first date who misinterprets your message? Poor communication can have a strong negative influence on your life’s journey, which could be easily avoided if you were to be more intentional about your interpersonal interactions.

And having good business communication skills isn’t just important for your professional wellbeing– it’s also an important factor whenever you’re a part of a team. Research consistently shows that communication plays a vital role in the success of teams and maintaining a positive team dynamic.

But, whether you’re unintentionally misleading–or even offending– the person you’re talking to, ineffective communication can lead to unnecessary conflict, low company morale, and missed opportunities.

So in this article, we are going to look at seven SMART goals that you can use to help improve your communication skills. Even if you think you’re a pretty good communicator, it’s worth it to set some goals in this area because this is a skill that will continue to look different as technology continues to evolve.

But first, let’s define SMART goals more clearly so you can recognize the value in this goal-setting strategy.

Table of Contents

What Is a SMART Goal?

SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. When your goals meet all of these criteria, it’s nearly impossible to fail. Setting your goals according to the SMART goal framework ensures that you have a solid plan in place for achieving your objectives.

Let’s break down each component of a SMART goal.

SMART goals are:

Specific- The statement is narrow and it answers the questions who, what, when , where and why .
Measurable- You can clearly define how you will know you’re making progress along the way or at what point you’ve reached your goal.
Achievable- It is reasonable to accomplish your goal by the deadline that you’ve set. It is not so far out of reach that it is impossible to achieve.
Relevant- Your goal aligns with your long-term plans and your values.
Time-bound – SMART goals are limited by a set deadline, which will keep you motivated and ensure you prioritize reaching your goal.

These elements work together to create clear goals that are trackable and within your ability and skill set to achieve. If you haven’t been successful with meeting your goals in the past, they were probably poorly-written, making them impossible to manage. However, when you’re using the SMART goal structure, your goals will start with a solid foundation that sets you up for success.

Let’s take a look at some examples of SMART goals that you could use if you’re trying to improve your communication skills. Depending on the goal and where you are on your journey to better communication, you can change around the numbers a bit to suit your needs.

1. Encourage Quieter Team members to Speak Up

“Over the next six weeks, I will balance the communication dynamic on my team by encouraging quieter team members to speak up and reminding more talkative members that we want to hear from everyone. I will do this by giving verbal reminders throughout all team meetings.”

S : This statement sets forth exactly what this person plans on doing in order to balance the communication dynamic among his team members.

M : Each meeting over the next six weeks counts as one step toward meeting this goal.

A : This is an achievable goal.

R : This goal is relevant for any leader who wants to ensure the success of their team.

T : This goal-setter will practice this goal for six weeks.

2. Do a Mental head-to-Toe Language Check

“For the next week, I’ll do a mental head-to-toe body language check whenever I have a conversation that lasts over one minute to increase my self-awareness of my non-verbal communication.”

S : This SMART goal states this person’s plan to improve their self-awareness of their non-verbal communication so they can actively work to improve it.

M : Each conversation that lasts over one minute over the next seven days counts as one unit of measurement.

R : This is a relevant goal for those who want to improve their non-verbal communication.

T : This goal will be completed in seven days.

3. Keep an Open Mind

“For the next four weeks, I will keep an open mind while talking to other people. I will do this by verbally empathizing with others’ points of view whenever I don’t share their opinion.”

S : This goal articulates this person’s plan to keep an open mind when talking to people who have opinions that differ from the goal setter’s.

M : Each conversation that this person has over the next four weeks with someone he disagrees with will count as one unit.

A : This is an achievable goal, especially for those who have a lot of conversations on polarizing topics.

R : This is a relevant goal for people who want to expand their mindset and foster a culture of open-mindedness and respect.

T : This goal will be complete in four weeks.

4. Initiate Conversations

“Over the next two months, I will initiate at least one conversation per week with a stranger to increase my confidence when talking to people from different backgrounds.”

smart goal for verbal communication | goals for improving communication skills | smart goals to improve verbal communication

S : This goal describes this person’s plan to increase their confidence when talking to people who come from a different background.

M : This person must initiate at least one conversation per week over the next two months, so eight conversations overall.

A : This is an achievable goal for those who want to be inclusive of diverse perspectives.

R : This is a relevant goal for people who are in the beginning stages of their communication-improvement plan.

T : This goal will be complete in two months.

5. Plan Before Communicating

“In order to reduce barriers to proper communication, I will improve my planning prior to communicating by considering the goals, needs, and attitudes of my audience, in addition to how others will be impacted by my message. I will do this intentionally prior to sending any written communication until June 1st.”

S : This person’s goal is to reduce the breakdown of communication by intentionally planning and thinking through all written communication until June 1st.

M : Each written form of communication between now and June 1st is one unit of measurement.

R : This is a relevant goal for those who want to minimize barriers to proper communication.

T : This goal will be complete by June 1st.

6. Make Office Conducive to Listening

“By the end of the week, I will make my office more conducive to being a good listener by removing distractions, setting a chair up for people to speak with me at eye-level, and posting a “come in” sign on my door.”

S : This person’s goal is to actively work on their listening skills by creating an environment that is conducive to doing so.

M : This person has three tasks to complete by the end of the week.

R : This is a relevant goal for anyone who wants to focus on the receiving part of their communication skills.

T : This goal will be complete by Friday afternoon.

7. Plan Before Making Commitments

“I will spend 10 minutes focusing on a plan for following through prior to making any promises for the rest of the month. When my actions contradict my promises, others will discount my words, so I will carefully consider the impact of my commitments before I make them and I will alter my message accordingly before sending it.”

S : This person will spend time analyzing the potential impact of their messages before they’re relayed in order to ensure they can follow through on their words with appropriate action.

M : This person will do this for 10 minutes before making any promises for the rest of the month.

R : This is a relevant goal for those who want their verbal communication to be trusted.

T : This goal will be complete by the end of the month.

8. Find One Person to Encourage

“I will take thirty minutes within the next week to create a plan to find one person to encourage and motivate once a week. Each week I will write a letter of encouragement motivating this person towards achieving their goals.”

S : This goal is geared toward generating encouraging written communication through creating a plan for weekly letter writing.

M: The goal calls for 30 minutes to be set aside within one week to create the plan. Also, it has been determined that letter writing occurs weekly.

A: Creating a plan can be easily done within 30 minutes. Furthermore, one letter per week does not require too much time; therefore, it will not add any undue burden to one's schedule.

R: Encouraging and motivating communication will strengthen the relationship you have with the person you are writing to.

T: A plan is to be created within one week. This allows you to be able to fit the 30 minute planning period within your schedule.

9. Solicit Feedback on My Workplace Communication

“Over the next month, I will solicit feedback from at least one individual per week on my workplace communication. Then, I will spend 30 minutes during the last week of that month creating a plan for improving my job performance based upon that feedback.”

S: This goal focuses on receiving feedback on how well you communicate at work. Moreover, it requires that you solicit this feedback from one person weekly for four weeks.

M: You can easily measure your success by counting the number of people you solicited feedback from each week. If you've had one conversation that week concerning your workplace communication for four weeks in a row, then you've been successful. Furthermore, you can easily mark off 30 minutes for a planning period. Furthermore, you can include measurements within your plan for improvement.

A: Asking one person per week to provide feedback is achievable. It doesn't require much of your time. Also, it doesn't require much effort. In addition, four people in four weeks provide enough feedback to create an effective improvement plan. Finally, 30 minutes is enough time to create a plan.

R: Feedback is part of the communication process. It keeps the communication process going and allows you to grow as a communicator. No one is a perfect communicator. We all have areas in which we can grow. This goal will only help you in your workplace communication, which will in turn help you be a better communicator in other roles within your life.

T: By setting the time frame for communication at one per week for a month, this gives you enough time to solicit the feedback. As for the 30 minutes for planning, setting a time limit will help you stay focused during your planning.

smart goals for communication | smart goals for communication in work | smart goals for written communication

10. Ensure Concise Wording in Emails

“In the next week, I will create an outline for each email I send to ensure that I use concise wording and to edit out any sentences that don't fit the outline before sending the email.”

S: By writing an outline for each email, you'll send better emails. They will be concise, which will allow you to stay on point and express exactly what you intended to say.

M: You can measure whether or not you achieved your goal by counting up the number of emails in your sent file and comparing that number to the number of outlines you've created. If the totals match, then you were successful.

A: Creating an outline doesn't take much time. Outlines are meant to be phrases, not complete sentences. Therefore, an outline is a simple, yet effective, way to organize the content of your emails.

R: Written communication is one of many different modes of communication. Being concise in written communication allows your ideas to come across effectively and accurately. This will help reduce communication breakdown. Plus, concise emails don't waste your reader's time.

T: One week should be plenty of time to establish a habit of outlining emails before writing them, especially if you send numerous emails per week. To develop positive communication habits, consistent repetition is required.

11. Create an Active Listening Checklist

“In the next week, take 20 minutes to create a 4-item active listening mental checklist. Then, over the following week, mentally assess your active listening during every conversation to determine if you are using active listening skills.”

S: A 4-item mental active listening checklist will require you to pay attention to your conversations to see if you're actively listening. You will have to assess your role in the conservation to determine whether or not you are using the 4 active listening skills you've included in the checklist.

M: As your conversation progresses, you can mentally check off if you have used the four skills you have included on the checklist.

A: four items is a good number of items to include on a mental checklist. You won't have to memorize too much. Plus, it won't take your attention away from the conversation. If your mental checklist is too long, you won't be able to concentrate on the conversation. Thus, you defeat the purpose of improving your active listening.

R: Effective communication requires active listening. Active listening shows the speaker that you're paying attention to them. There is a difference between listening and hearing. Listening requires you to process what you've heard and respond appropriately.

T: Again, one week should provide plenty of opportunities to implement the mental checklist. Also, 20 minutes should be enough time to create a four-item checklist.

12. Take Notes During Conversations

“For the next two weeks, take notes during conversations. Be sure to write down important information, such as instructions, dates, or times. Then, summarize your notes back to the speaker at the end of the conversation to clarify your understanding of the conversation.”

S: This goal focuses on keying in on important details of a conversation. The important details may get lost in the other bits of information during a conversation. For example, you may miss out on the date of an important event your friend wants you to attend.

M: You will be able to measure your achievement if you have at least one item in your notes at the end of every conversation.

A: You can easily jot this information down on a piece of paper. Or, you can use apps on your smart phone. It doesn't take much effort to say, “Hang on a second and let me put this on my calendar.”

R: In the midst of your daily interactions, so much can be said that it becomes easy to forget the important details. One of the purposes of communication is to inform. When someone is giving you information, your role as the listener is to process the information being presented so you can act on it. Taking notes cuts down on the chance of you not acting on the information because you forgot.

T: Two weeks will give you time to establish a habit of taking note of important details in a conversation. Again, habits result from consistent repetition.

13. Put Away Mobile Phone

“Over the next month, I will put down my cell phone when someone is speaking to me.”

S: This goal addresses a common communication block that many people create by continuing to look at their smart phone when someone is talking to them.

M: By requiring that you put down your phone for every in-person conversation, you can easily measure whether or not you've achieved your goal. If you keep looking at your phone during at least one conversation, you've not achieved your goal.

A: For some, this goal will be tough. Looking at our phones during conversations has become a bad habit, yet it's not impossible to break a bad habit. It just takes more work. Therefore, this goal is achievable with effort.

R: A communication block is anything that gets in the way of proper communication. Continuing to look at your phone while someone is attempting to talk to you definitely gets in the way of communication. It's a distraction that splits your focus. Also, it conveys the message that what you're doing on your phone is more important than what the speaker is saying.

T: Unfortunately, it takes longer to break a habit than to start one. Therefore, a month is an appropriate time limit for this goal, as opposed to a week or two.

Final Thoughts on SMART Goals Examples for Improving Your Communication

It would be hard to claim that there is nothing more someone could learn to improve their communication skills. For most people, improving communication skills will be a lifelong, ongoing process. You (and everyone around you) will continue to make mistakes and learn from the situations that result.

Investing your time in improving your communication skills is sure to pay off in the end. Try one or two of these SMART goals in your own life and see what you can notice and learn just in the short time it takes to complete a goal listed in this article. Chances are, once you finish one, you will be eager to start on another.

And if you want more SMART goal ideas and examples, be sure to check out these blog posts:

11 SMART Goals Examples for Your Public Speaking Skills
7 SMART Goals Examples for Improving Your Networking Skills
6 SMART Goals Examples for Improving Your Writing Skills

Finally, if you want to take your goal-setting efforts to the next level, check out this FREE printable worksheet and a step-by-step process that will help you set effective SMART goals .

Connie Mathers is a professional editor and freelance writer. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. When she is not writing, Connie is either spending time with her daughter and two dogs, running, or working at her full-time job as a social worker in Richmond, VA.

smart goals for communication | smart goals for communication and relationship building | smart goals for written communication

Communication Style Development Goals Essay

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How we communicate with others undoubtedly has a dramatic, profound, and sometimes permanent effect on how we are perceived as a person in general and certainly determines what kind of reaction we are likely to evoke from those around us at a given moment. In this regard, I would like to improve my communication strategies and easily navigate in cases where it is necessary to apply one or another style of communication that is appropriate for the situation. At the moment, an important goal of developing my personal communication is to convey my thoughts to the interlocutor. It is sometimes problematic for me, as I am used to thinking quickly, and sometimes I need more time to formulate my thoughts clearly. Since this is the main cause of most communication failures in personal, unprepared communication, my goal now is to learn how to convey my ideas to the addressees more clearly and legibly.

Now I am at the beginning of my journey to achieve my goal. Recently, I started to train my diction, and I also try to read more to immerse myself in competent speech and expand my vocabulary. However, personal communication is influenced by many factors, such as the environment, emotions, feelings, memory, confidence, and more (Floyd, 2021). This goal is not too extensive; however, it may take a long period of time. I suppose that in order to achieve this goal successfully, I need six months or a year to learn how to confidently and clearly formulate my thoughts in personal, spontaneous communication. I can track my progress on smaller goals that will take less time, like improving my memory or keeping a diary.

As for professional and academic communication, I do not have problems with conveying the main message since, most often, these situations involve prepared communication. However, the main communicative task of the organization is to achieve the least possible degree of uncertainty (Floyd, 2021). In the era of globalization and the spread of intercultural organizations, I consider it important to be aware of the cultural characteristics of professional communication. In this regard, I would like to learn how to conduct business communication with intercultural representatives.

This goal is very high and broad since it is impossible to study and remember the communication features of all existing cultures. Therefore, this goal can be rewritten and it will now be to study the communication styles of the countries of the most common partners in my professional field. At the moment, I am already familiar with Mexican culture, and I can establish successful business communication with them without any problems. This goal can constantly change depending on the environment in which I work, so it is impossible to track progress toward it or set a time frame. However, this has its advantages, as it allows to learn something new from the field of professional communication throughout life.

The modern dynamic format of communication and interaction of individuals in the process of cognitive and professional activity leads to the interpenetration of the genres of public speaking to the blurring of the boundaries between them. The format of modern public speaking dictates the need to take into account the strategies of speech impact and various tactics that ensure the effectiveness of communication (Floyd, 2021). I would like to master various tactics of academic discourse, so this will be my main goal in improving academic communication. It will allow me to feel more confident during my studies and help me in my professional activities. At the moment, I already have basic speaking skills in front of an audience, so a full familiarization with possible tactics can be done during the semester.

Effective communication skills are one of the most important and necessary skills to cope with any situation in life. The chances of success at work and in society, gaining respect from friends and family, children, spouse, boss, or colleagues, depend on how effectively one communicates. Although many people recognize their inefficiency in terms of communication, each of us can develop effective communication skills over time through practice.

Effective communication can build trust, help people understand a person better, gain someone’s respect, and develop relationships with others. It is necessary to establish reliable contact, as well as to strengthen relationships as needed. Good personal communication can help people share their concerns and feelings with others (Floyd, 2021). Effective presentation of one’s thoughts is necessary to prevent misunderstandings and conflicts; in addition, it will help in the development of friendships and contacts.

People need to be able to speak effectively and confidently, as well as listen and understand the thoughts and ideas of another person. In this regard, I strive to achieve my set goal in professional communication. Effective communication is necessary to change other people’s behavior, properly attuning them to the perception of something and obtaining information from the interlocutor (Nash et al., 2022). That will create a friendly atmosphere in the team and reduce stress when communicating with new people.

With the help of effective communication, unnecessary problems in the team can be avoided. It can be useful in decision-making, formulating conclusions, and solving problems through interaction in conflict situations. Working in a team or group of like-minded people also requires successful communication skills (Floyd, 2021). Achievement, both professionally and academically, largely depends on discourse skills. The speaker must have the confidence to influence people and consider their points of view. In this regard, mastering the tactics of public speaking and generally effective communication can help me in my academic, professional, and personal fields, as well as influence my internal development.

Interpersonal communication involves the exchange of thoughts, ideas, feelings, and emotions face-to-face between two or more people. It includes both verbal and non-verbal elements of personal interaction. At the moment, my strengths as an interpersonal communicator are active listening, teamwork, flexibility, and responsibility. I would also like to develop interpersonal leadership skills, as this includes effective decision-making.

In the conditions of modern society, communication has many means for implementation. Increasingly, this is happening through online channels. For me, non-verbal communication is important in communication, which is sometimes difficult to follow during online learning. Traditional graphic signs and symbols, as well as other non-verbal means of communication, are responsible for conveying the emotional component of communication; they influence the recipient of the message, but this still applies to informal communication and is not always acceptable in academic communication. Thus, I would like to improve my understanding of non-verbal communication in a remote environment.

As for my interpersonal communication in terms of career, I would like to master persuasive communication but not exceed the ethics of interpersonal interactions. In a situation of professional communication, it is necessary to observe a certain official style of communication. It also includes the need to explain the issue in detail to avoid misunderstandings or conflicts. Improving the identified areas will make me feel more confident and contribute to my impact on my career.

Floyd, K. (2021). Interpersonal Communication . McGraw-Hill Education.

Nash, M., Lewis, B., Szempruch, J., Jacobs, S., & Silver, S. (2022). Together, apart: Communication Dynamics among academic librarians during the COVID-19 pandemic . College & Research Libraries , 83 (6). Web.

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Essay on Importance of Communication for Students and Children

500+ words essay on importance of communication:.

Communication is one of the important tools that aid us to connect with people. Either you are a student or a working professional, good communication is something that will connect you far ahead. Proper communication can help you to solve a number of issues and resolve problems. This is the reason that one must know how to communicate well. The skills of communication essential to be developed so that you are able to interact with people. And able to share your thoughts and reach out to them. All this needs the correct guidance and self-analysis as well.

Meaning of Communication

The word communication is basically a process of interaction with the people and their environment . Through such type of interactions, two or more individuals influence the ideas, beliefs, and attitudes of each other.

Such interactions happen through the exchange of information through words, gestures, signs, symbols, and expressions. In organizations, communication is an endless process of giving and receiving information and to build social relationships.

Importance of Communication

Communication is not merely essential but the need of the hour. It allows you to get the trust of the people and at the same time carry better opportunities before you. Some important points are as follows –

Help to Build Relationships

No matter either you are studying or working, communication can aid you to build a relationship with the people. If you are studying you communicate with classmates and teachers to build a relationship with them. Likewise in offices and organizations too, you make relationships with the staff, your boss and other people around.

Improve the Working Environment

There are a number of issues which can be handled through the right and effective communication. Even planning needs communication both written as well as verbal. Hence it is essential to be good in them so as to fill in the communication gap.

Foster strong team

Communication helps to build a strong team environment in the office and other places. Any work which requires to be done in a team. It is only possible if the head communicates everything well and in the right direction.

Find the right solutions

Through communication, anyone can find solutions to even serious problems. When we talk, we get ideas from people that aid us to solve the issues. This is where communication comes into play. Powerful communication is the strength of any organization and can help it in many ways.

Earns more respect

If your communication skills are admirable, people will love and give you respect. If there is any problem, you will be the first person to be contacted. Thus it will increase your importance. Hence you can say that communications skills can make a big change to your reputation in society.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Don’t Go Overboard With Your Point

The conversation is about to express your thoughts. And to let the other person know what you feel. It is not mean to prove that your point is correct and the other person is wrong. Don’t Overboard other With Your Point.

Watch Your Words

Before you say something to Watch Your Words. At times, out of anger or anxiousness, we say somethings that we must not say. Whenever you are in a professional meeting or in some formal place, where there is a necessity of communicating about your product or work then it is advised to practice the same beforehand

Communication is the greatest importance. It is important to sharing out one’s thoughts and feelings to live a fuller and happier life. The more we communicate the less we suffer and the better we feel about everything around. However, it is all the more necessary to learn the art of effective communication to put across ones point well.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Community Service — College Admission: My Goals In Life

College Admission: My Goals in Life

Categories: Community Service

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Words: 616 |

Published: Aug 1, 2024

Words: 616 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Setting my sights on success, embracing personal growth, conclusion: a gateway to a bright future.

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110 Goals Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Setting goals is an essential part of personal and professional development. Goals provide us with direction, motivation, and a sense of purpose. However, coming up with goal essay topics can sometimes be challenging. To help you get started, here are 110 goal essay topic ideas and examples:

My top 3 personal goals for the next year
How I plan to achieve my career goals
Setting realistic health and fitness goals
The importance of setting financial goals
How to set and achieve academic goals
My goals for improving my mental health
Setting relationship goals for better communication
The role of goal setting in overcoming challenges
Setting goals for personal growth and self-improvement
My goals for contributing to my community
Setting goals for work-life balance
Achieving work-related goals through time management
The impact of setting goals on motivation and productivity
Setting goals for learning new skills or hobbies
My goals for creating a more sustainable lifestyle
Setting goals for improving emotional intelligence
The benefits of setting short-term vs long-term goals
How to stay motivated when working towards your goals
Setting goals for better communication in relationships
My goals for building stronger connections with others
Setting goals for personal finance and budgeting
Achieving career goals through networking and professional development
The role of goal setting in personal happiness and fulfillment
Setting goals for personal branding and self-promotion
My goals for reducing stress and improving overall well-being
Setting goals for time management and prioritizing tasks
Achieving personal goals through perseverance and resilience
The impact of setting goals on self-confidence and self-esteem
Setting goals for personal growth and self-discovery
My goals for practicing gratitude and mindfulness
Setting goals for improving physical health and fitness
Achieving academic goals through effective study habits
The benefits of setting goals for professional development
Setting goals for career advancement and promotions
My goals for creating a more inclusive and diverse workplace
Setting goals for improving leadership skills
Achieving goals through collaboration and teamwork
The role of goal setting in building resilience and adaptability
Setting goals for personal finance and investing
My goals for achieving a better work-life balance
Setting goals for networking and building professional relationships
Achieving career goals through continuous learning and skill development
The impact of setting goals on personal growth and self-improvement
Setting goals for mental health and emotional well-being
My goals for improving communication skills in relationships
Setting goals for building stronger social connections
Achieving personal goals through self-reflection and introspection
The benefits of setting goals for lifelong learning and personal development
Setting goals for improving time management and productivity
My goals for creating a more sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyle
Setting goals for improving emotional intelligence and empathy
Achieving goals through effective goal setting and planning
The role of setting goals in achieving success and fulfillment
The impact of setting goals on personal happiness and satisfaction
Setting goals for building stronger connections with others
My goals for contributing to my community and making a difference
Setting goals for improving mental health and emotional well-being
Achieving academic goals through effective study habits and time management
The benefits of setting goals for personal growth and self-improvement
Setting goals for physical health and wellness
Setting goals for improving communication skills in relationships
Achieving personal goals through perseverance and determination
The role of goal setting in building self-confidence and self-esteem
My goals for creating a more inclusive and diverse workplace culture
Setting goals for improving leadership skills and abilities
Achieving career goals through collaboration and teamwork
The impact of setting goals on resilience and adaptability
Setting goals for financial independence and stability
Setting goals for networking and building professional connections
Setting goals for

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How to Turn Your Personal Goals Essay into a Masterpiece

Definition of personal goals.

Establishing relationships on the basis of trust and respect
Having a marriage based on mutual love and respect
Maintaining a perfect balance between work and life to enjoy both doing your job and entertaining
Living honestly with integrity
Giving inspiration to others

Why Are Goals Important for Students

What is a goal essay, how to start a personal goal essay.

Can you define your key long-term and short-term objectives in the goals in life essay?
What would you like to do in fifteen years?
Is your purpose based on any life events?
What is your preferable major? How will it facilitate achieving the goals?
Which skills do you need to be successful in achieving the goals?
If you want to be a valuable asset for the society, which impact do you want to produce?

How to Write a Personal Goals Essay

If you ask the question ‘How to write an essay about my goals in life?’ you can start with learning how to structure your paper.

Introduction

It is the first paragraph with a hook sentence and a thesis statement with a specific life plan.

Paragraphs of the Body

Make sure that all the paragraphs are related to the main idea of the paper. Make your narration focused on your experiences, events from your life, and developed skills. Your background ought to serve as a foundation of your plans for the future.

The body of your personal goals essay is to be devoted to the presentation of your long-term and short-term objectives and their connection to your future ambitions.

It is the final paragraph with a clear summary of all discussed ideas from the paragraphs above. Restate the thesis statement and mention the benefits for the society you would like to bring in the future.

You must have found yourself in a situation when your only thought was ‘How can I manage writing my life goals essay?’ In that case, hiring an expert writer is a very reasonable idea.

Personal Goals Essay Examples

University education is a very important achievement in my life and that I believe will be very useful in helping me achieve personal enrichment and career goals. The degree certificate that I will obtain after taking the studies at the higher education level in the university will be a major step towards my enrichment and objectives in my career. This degree will help me accomplish my career goals in a number of ways. First, I will be in a position to carry out activities with agility, secure a good job, and perfect my personal performance and offer services of high quality. After intensive learning and understanding of a specific discipline in education, I will be given a degree in that particular subject. The knowledge and skill I attain will assist in me carrying out the requisite activity through the job with agility. In this way, my goals will be attained. University education is a multifaceted resource. Through my learning at the University, I will learn how to relate with people and participate in group work. This element will be very useful for my personal enrichment. I am very convinced that being useful is more than just passing well in my exams. Knowing how to relate with others in a global scale is a very important aspect in turning out successful in my career. The enrichment and shaping of my personality will thus be greatly enhanced through university education and thus help in propelling my career goals. University will provide a very strong and useful foundation upon which by career and personality will be built. The university education will thus come in handy in enriching my personality as well as promoting my career goals. This way, I will be in a position to confidently search for a job. This is so because I will be enabled to demonstrate with a resume my personality first and the high education level I managed to acquire. The degree attained from university will give me a great opportunity to conduct these activities and create a good platform for me to get a very good job. The number of jobs that need a university degree as a very useful requirement is on the increase. Previously, there was availability of jobs at different levels and without university education; some people would still get jobs with high school diplomas. All the same, the current generation is faced with great challenges and therefore I need to tailor my efforts of getting a job by acquiring university education. This is not the guarantor but just a step towards the right direction. Getting to university first provides the right environment for my personal growth and development in opening up my way of thinking and approach to real life situations. An individual effort is also required to supplement the university education through personal initiative to know how to relate with others corporately. In most of the jobs in this generation, university education is very much necessary along with other individual attributes. I want to be well versed with the trend in the job market and even go further to stand a good chance of excelling in my career. Through university education, I will raise my abilities to the height of my goals. This will be very useful because setting goals within my capability could be detrimental after graduation. I therefore want to stay ahead of competition and be competent through quality service and delivery. Most employers anticipate employees with well rounded foundational education so that they may be set in a position to realize high profits in their organizations. A university degree creates the first impression of the kind of person the employer is going to meet. When I am well learned in my career field, the output will be easy and efficient. I believe that university education will enlighten all my career areas that I did not know at first and this will ultimately perfect my performance. I am industrious and determined to achieve goals in challenging and dynamic environments and after completing my university education, I will start a career that will provide for my needs and create an opportunity of having secure retirement. University education will enable me to educate my subordinates at my work and through this, production will be enhanced. I am confident that I will be a source of inspiration to others and that is what I want to be. Therefore, having university education cannot be over emphasized since it provides me with the technical knowledge of my job, promotes performance and boost my work mates and with that, my career goals will be accomplished.

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Relationships

How to Communicate Effectively

Seeing the world through another's eyes can help with communication..

Posted July 22, 2024 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

Why Relationships Matter
Take our Relationship Satisfaction Test
Find a therapist to strengthen relationships
There are deeper levels of communication than verbal and body language.
A higher level of communication is seeing the world through another's eyes.
There is a way you can put yourself in someone else's shoes, which will elevate your relationship to them.

We all live in relationship with many others at any given time, from our romantic partners to our children, our extended families, our close friends, other acquaintances, and work colleagues, to name a few. Meaningful relationships depend on effective communication and where relationships often fail is in a failure of communication.

There are many levels to communication, the most obvious being verbal through the words we speak. A deeper layer of communication is through body language , and it has been estimated that 95% of all communication happens in this manner.

Words can often get misconstrued and body language misinterpreted, so the question arises, how do we effectively communicate with each other? I do not have a simple answer to this question and all I can say is that it takes much patience and a willingness to listen deeply to the other person.

There is, however, a deeper level of communication that few of us ever venture to explore and this is becoming the one you are communicating with. What do I mean by this?

When we are engaged in communication with another, there is usually a reason behind it, whether we need something from them, we are trying to help or guide them or we are catching up on lost time. What most people fail to do when connecting with someone else is to put themselves in that person’s shoes.

What do I mean by this and why does it matter? I can best illustrate this with an example. I am a critical care physician and communicate a lot with nurses in the intensive care unit. Nurses come to me with many concerns about their patients who usually have multiple issues at any given time.

Early on in my career , I often did not take some of their concerns seriously, as I did not understand the importance of what they were trying to convey. One common nursing concern is a low urine output. When the cause of this is not obvious, it is easy to blow it off and ignore it at that moment. Sometimes, this is the right call, as I’ve seen this issue resolve with no specific intervention. More times than not, however, a low urine output is a sign of low blood pressure, sepsis, severe heart failure, medication side effects, or a number of other issues.

The cause is not as important as acknowledging it as a legitimate concern that needs to be addressed. I did not understand this until I was able to put myself in the nurse’s shoes. I started to realize that they are not only concerned for their patient’s well-being, but their license is on the line, which is why they must report every concern, even if I see it as insignificant. I was only able to do this by putting myself in the nurses’ shoes when engaging with them.

So how does one go about seeing a situation from another individual’s perspective?

This is a multi-step process, which proceeds as follows:

You must first seek to listen to the other person not only with your ears but with all your faculties, including your eyes, because body language and facial expressions communicate a lot that words often do not.
You need to ask clarifying questions in a compassionate and understanding manner when you don’t understand what the other person is trying to communicate to you.
You then reframe the other person’s ideas and concerns in your own words to affirm whether you understand them correctly.
You ask them how they are feeling about what they are conveying to you and try to discern this through scrutinizing their body language.
Express to them that you are trying to understand their point of view and ask them to help you do that.
Communicate what action you are going to take with the information that has been shared with you, and then act.
Follow up with the individual who originally communicated with you to see if their concerns have been adequately addressed.
If this is not the case, regroup, reframe their concerns and readdress the issues at hand until you reach a mutual understanding.

Communication is a two-way street, which is more effective when you can put yourself in the other person’s shoes by following the steps outlined above. This will help to enhance all of your relationships, personal and professional, and take them to a higher level of understanding and empathy, two qualities that are severely lacking in our disconnected world.

Nauman Naeem, M.D., is a pulmonary and critical care specialist, author, mentor, and speaker in the intersection of flow, awareness, peak performance and optimizing physiology.

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Effective Communication in the Workplace: 11 Tips

A guide to improving employee connection and collaboration.

Effective communication is the foundation of successful organizations and human relationships. Leaders need to articulate their vision so that managers and teams can work toward the organization’s mission and goals, and team members must express ideas clearly and listen actively to prevent misunderstandings and foster collaboration.

Tips for Effective Communication

Stay clear and concise.
Practice active listening.
Keep your audience in mind.
Show appreciation.
Offer and receive feedback.

Communication in the workplace can be complicated, though. Each person brings different experiences and perspectives to the table. In this article, we offer several tips you can use to improve your communication skills, collaborate more effectively and grow as a professional.

Why Communication in the Workplace Is Important

Communication is a two-way street on which employees brainstorm, resolve conflicts, build trust and offer constructive feedback. It ensures everyone is on the same page.

“Communication is crucial,” Brittany Barhite, vice president of communications and brand experience at workplace communication platform FirstUp , told Built In. “We sometimes take it for granted because we communicate every day, but that doesn’t mean you’re good at it.”

According to a 2024 study by Grammarly, environments with effective communication have more productive and satisfied employees — and better team relationships. This is especially important in hybrid and remote-work environments, where employees rely more on text-based communication.

By contrast, poor communication is often what plagues low-performing teams. In a 2024 survey by Lucid Software, 75 percent of workers polled said either ineffective communication or collaboration is a barrier to innovation in their organization.

Related Reading Employee Communication: What It Is and Why It’s Important

11 Tips for Effective Communication in the Workplace

1. think about your audience and format.

When you plan a conversation, think carefully about who should be involved and how that conversation should take place. Loop in relevant stakeholders and consider if it’s a topic that requires real-time discussion. Your coworkers will appreciate you knowing when the occasion calls for a meeting, a one-on-one conversation or an email.

Scheduling lots of meetings is a telltale sign that you’re “compensating for ineffective communication,” Kat Judd, chief people officer at workplace collaboration platform Lucid Software , told Built In. But by communicating effectively, you save time that would otherwise be spent on unnecessary meetings.

2. Accommodate Different Communication Styles

Everyone communicates differently. Learn how your colleagues communicate — their style, format and frequency — and adapt accordingly. If an employee tells you they find it easier to refer back to emails instead of Slack messages, respect their preferences.

“I think the key is to understand how team members prefer to collaborate and communicate so you can best leverage the team’s strengths — and not limiting or favoring a certain group,” Judd said.

In some cases, managers or employees might have to change their communication style . A quiet, introverted employee may have to make an effort to speak up and make sure their perspective is considered in meetings. Or an early-career employee might have to change their tone to adapt to a multi-generational workplace.

“If you’re talking to your boss, you may want to strike a different tone than if you’re talking to your fellow assistant than if you’re talking to your CEO,” Oren Margolis, an executive coach at Pinetree & Palm Consulting , told Built In. “Being aware of your audience always goes a long way.”

3. Be Clear and Concise

Try to be as straightforward as possible in your communication, leaving little room for ambiguity or misinterpretation. Avoid vague statements and aim for more specific details, including examples when necessary. Being direct doesn’t mean being rude or stubborn, though. You should still leave room for questions and suggestions after making your point.

4. Practice Active Listening

Everyone knows how to listen, but they aren’t always good listeners. Too often, they’re planning what they’re going to say next. You can get more out of your conversations with people by practicing active listening . When you actively listen, you are fully engaging with what another person is saying, and you are withholding judgment, summarizing the speaker’s thoughts and asking follow-up questions. When employees feel heard, they are more likely to trust you with important feedback and feel engaged at work.

5. Be Open and Honest

Strive to be transparent with your coworkers. That includes good news, bad news and the rationale for how decisions are made. There may be times when it doesn’t make sense to share information with everyone, of course, but generally speaking, transparent leadership builds trust with employees and makes them feel like a valued partner of the organization.

“A great rule of thumb is to ask ‘If I told them everything I know, would they still agree with me?’” leadership coach Michael Gerharz told Built In. “Ultimately, it means to stop persuading your teammates and start resonating with what matters to all of you so that you can work toward a common goal.”

6. Facilitate Two-Way Communication

Talk with , not at , your coworkers. Value what others think about any given topic, and encourage them to ask any questions they might have. Whether it’s a one-on-one conversation or a meeting, make time for questions, comments and concerns during every discussion.

“You can’t always change the trajectory of an organization,” Barhite said. “But you can listen and say, ‘I hear you. Here’s what I can do. Here’s what I can’t do.”

7. Promote Team Building

Non-work conversations and activities might seem unproductive, but they can help teams feel more comfortable with each other, which improves communication and collaboration. You can facilitate team building by asking ice-breaker questions, playing group games or organizing social events .

“Well-bonded teams tend to work better together and more cohesively,” Caitlin Wehniainen, owner of staffing firm On Cue Hire , told Built In. “They are more likely to be understanding when mistakes occur and more supportive when celebrating successes.”

8. Show Appreciation

If you’re a leader, take time to recognize employees who go above and beyond. Some employees might appreciate a public shout-out at a companywide meeting, while other employees might prefer something more discreet. Either way, when employees see that their hard work is recognized, they feel more engaged with their work and connected with their team.

To make sure she doesn’t forget about employee recognition, Barhite said she keeps a checklist to make sure she is regularly checking in with employees, recognizing them and sharing team communications.

9. Have One-on-One Conversations

If you have employees reporting directly to you, schedule one-on-one conversations with them once a week. Setting time aside for these meetings gives you time to talk about deeper issues that they probably won’t raise in casual office conversation or in a group meeting. The meetings don’t have to be formal, but it’s helpful to create a shared agenda where both parties can contribute conversation topics. That way, your reports are encouraged to talk about what they want — not just what you want.

“Leaders should take the time to ask questions, like ‘How are you?’ or ‘Is there anything I can do to help you?’ and then leave pauses that can open the door for more authentic communications,” Barhite said.

10. Offer and Receive Feedback

Feedback contributes to the evolution of a company and its workforce, so if you’re a manager, make a habit of welcoming input and offering constructive criticism .

Not everyone appreciates negative feedback , but it’s a necessary part of growing professionally. While hard truths might be interpreted as rude, Margolis said it’s actually more compassionate than withholding information that could help them become a better professional. In fact, a Pew Research Center survey found that workers who receive regular feedback have a better relationship with their supervisor.

11. Practice Emotional Intelligence

At the core of effective communication is emotional intelligence , which is the ability to recognize your emotions, read others’ emotions and use that awareness to inform your communication style. It’s a key leadership skill that requires empathy, self-awareness and the ability to regulate one’s emotions. A leader who strives for emotional intelligence will have healthier relationships, happier employees and more impactful communications.

Related Reading What Are Interpersonal Skills?

Benefits of Effective Workplace Communication

Increased productivity.

When leaders and managers communicate effectively, teams align on a shared vision and avoid being slowed down by misunderstandings. Each employee understands what they need to do and is able to work collaboratively to help the company reach its goals.

“If you have departments that are running in silos or opinions that are diverging from one another … you’re going to have a super fragmented and unproductive workforce,” Margolis said.

Higher Employee Engagement

When employees know how their work connects to a higher purpose in the organization, they feel more motivated and engaged in their work, leading to higher employee retention , productivity and customer satisfaction.

“If you don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, it generally results in a lack of trust, a lack of motivation and a lack of understanding,” Margolis said. “We’re motivated when we understand the bigger picture that we’re striving for.”

Fewer Conflicts

Effective communication skills help prevent and resolve misunderstandings that lead to workplace conflicts . People are bound to have different experiences or opinions, but effective communication skills can help them understand each others’ perspectives and reach a mutually agreeable solution.

Contributes to Positive Company Culture

Communication is at the heart of a positive company culture . When employees feel like their voice matters, they have the psychological safety to share honest feedback and innovative ideas. They feel like they belong , and they are more likely to stay and make the company a great place to work for future employees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is communication important in the workplace.

Communication is important because it can help align teams around a shared goal. It’s also critical for collaboration, as effective communication is needed to coordinate efforts, share ideas, build relationships and prevent misunderstandings.

How to improve communication in the workplace?

To communicate effectively, leaders should think about the format and audience of their message. They should also be clear and concise, practice active listening, be transparent, have one-on-one conversations, show appreciation and offer and receive feedback.

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How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

Table of contents

Strategy 1: Open with a concrete scene

Strategy 2: Open with your motivations

Tips for the introduction

Strategy 1: Describe your development over time

Strategy 2: Own your challenges and obstacles

Strategy 3: Demonstrate your knowledge of the field

Strategy 4: Discuss your professional ambitions

Tips for the main body

Strategy 1: What do you want to know?

Strategy 2: What do you want to do?

Tips for the conclusion

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150 Personal Goals Examples (Copy and Paste)

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Educational Goals

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Mental Health Goals

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10 Personal Statement Essay Examples That Worked

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Essay Example #2: Being Bangladeshi-American

Essay Example #3: Why Medicine

Essay Example #4: Love of Writing

Essay Example #5: Starting a Fire

Essay Example #6: Dedicating a Track

Essay Example #7: Body Image and Eating Disorders

Essay Example #8: Becoming a Coach

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