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Reflection 6 -- SEM 1 -- Adi Syachrin

In our last meeting, we discussed a little bit about being more in depth with how we should write our personal statement. Miss told us to write 21 different facts about ourselves. They were all meant to be very general facts and could vary from different things throughout our lives.

I liked that this exercise needed a lot of writing since it encouraged me to stay awake during the lesson. However, I still have to mention the fact that this was somehow so hard for no reason???

As a writer, I obviously write a variety of genres. However, when it comes to personal writing in particular, I find it especially difficult for the very reason that I simply just do not like writing about myself. I think that my life is rather uninteresting and I also just happen to not like to think about myself too much and to try to present that for other people.

This is one of the many reasons why I happen to not like writing journals. I have major  self-awareness "issues" in which I write a journal or a diary almost with the expectation of other people reading it as well. This contributes to why I could never be truly honest with my own words or thoughts.

However, in the sense of this personal statement, Miss did encourage us to stay true to ourselves and to not make lies about our personality or our lives. I did not do that with my writing and the 21 different facts I listed down about myself. A few of them are facts that people were already aware of, such as how I can play the guitar, while other facts are less well-known, such as how I happen to be a huge adrenaline junkie and how I love snakes and would like them as a pet.

Right after, we were told to write a list of pointers in chronological order (or some people did a mind map), on how our lives and experiences built up for us to pick the choices of majors or passions that we would like to pursue. Since the main major that I was aiming for is Pharmacy, I started discussing how as a child, I spent my lonely childhoods in my house garden collecting leaves and herbs and making "potions" out of them. After getting occasionally poisoned a few times from drinking it, this also sprouted my interest in medicine and doctors. I went on and on about how I learned that I in fact liked science and that I also happen to NOT want to be a doctor now that I'm older.

Looking back on all these details and how I could structure it, it sounds like it could be a very entertaining essay despite me saying once already that I consider my life to be very boring.

Miss had us write out the details like this because simply saying the words "I've always wanted to be _____" does not give a good enough insight on a person's personality and life. Okay so, they've always wanted to be a doctor since they were a kid. And then what? You don't get any essence from that sort of essay. Sharing a life story which gradually builds on passion and interest showcases a wider range of possibilities there and allows colleges to understand the sort of person that is applying.

I find that interesting because even though there are some good college essays out there, some of them almost sound AI-generated from how boring they are. You need a life and a character beyond just hopes and achievements. Without a list of "how"s, people do not care about the "why"s.

Anyways, this activity gave me such a good insight on how I should be writing my personal statement and I'm rather excited about how mine will turn out. I sometimes feel myself lacking when compared to other people as I haven't amounted to too much in my life. Truth be told, I don't join competitions, which is why I don't win awards or medals. I'm the sort of person who grow at my own pace without the influences of other people. This is my "uninteresting" and "boring" life. 

But now, I still feel like there is some parts of my story that people might be interested to read even though they're not filled with gold-lined certificates and glory. College essays are always such a hit or miss. I never really understand what it is they're asking for sometimes.

Anyways, that's all for now.

Thank you for reading!

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