a lesson i learned essay

Essays About Life Lessons: Top 5 Examples and 7 Prompts

Read our guide to see the top examples and prompts on essays about life lessons to communicate your thoughts effectively.

Jordan Peterson once said, “Experience is the best teacher, and the worst experiences teach the best lessons.” The many life lessons we’ll accumulate in our life will help us veer in the right direction to fulfill our destinies. Whether it’s creative or nonfiction, as long as it describes the author’s personal life experiences or worldview, recounting life lessons falls under the personal or narrative essay category. 

To successfully write an essay on this topic, you must connect with your readers and allow them to visualize, understand, and get inspired by what you have learned about life. To do this, you must remember critical elements such as a compelling hook, engaging story, relatable characters, suitable setting, and significant points. 

See below five examples of life lessons essays to inspire you:

1. Life Lessons That the First Love Taught Me by Anonymous on GradesFixer.Com

2. the dad’s life lessons and the role model for the children by anonymous on studymoose.com, 3. studying history and own mistakes as life lessons: opinion essay by anonymous on edubirdie.com, 4. life lessons by anonymous on phdessay.com, 5. valuable lessons learned in life by anonymous on eduzaurus.com, 1. life lessons from books, 2. my biggest mistake and the life lesson i learned, 3. the life lessons i’ve learned, 4. life lessons from a popular show, 5. using life lessons in starting a business, 6. life lessons you must know, 7. kids and life lessons.

“I thought I knew absolutely everything about loving someone by the age of fourteen. Clearly I knew nothing and I still have so much to learn about what it is like to actually love someone.”

The author relates how their first love story unfolds, including the many things they learned from it. An example is that no matter how compatible the couple is if they are not for each other, they will not last long and will break up eventually. The writer also shares that situations that test the relationship, such as jealousy, deserve your attention as they aid people in picking the right decisions. The essay further tells how the writer’s relationship became toxic and affected their mental and emotional stability, even after the breakup. To cope and heal, they stopped looking for connections and focused on their grades, family, friends, and self-love.

“I am extremely thankful that he could teach me all the basics like how to ride a bike, how to fish and shoot straight, how to garden, how to cook, how to drive, how to skip a rock, and even how to blow spitballs. But I am most thankful that could teach me to stand tall (even though I’m 5’3”), be full with my heart and be strong with my mind.”

In this essay, the writer introduces their role model who taught them almost everything they know in their seventeen years of life, their father. The writer shares that their father’s toughness, stubbornness, and determination helped them learn to stand up for themselves and others and not be a coward in telling the truth. Because of him, the author learned how to be kind, generous, and mature. Finally, the author is very grateful to their father, who help them to think for themselves and not believe everything they hear.

“In my opinion, I believe it is more important to study the past rather than the present because we can learn more from our mistakes.”

This short essay explains the importance of remembering past events to analyze our mistakes. The author mentions that when people do this, they learn and grow from it, which prevents them from repeating the same error in the present time. The writer also points out that everyone has made the mistake of letting others dictate how their life goes, often leading to failures. 

“… I believe we come here to learn a valuable lesson. If we did not learn this lesson through out a life time, our souls would come back to repeat the process.” 

This essay presents three crucial life lessons that everyone needs to know. The first is to stop being too comfortable in taking people and things for granted. Instead, we must learn to appreciate everything. The second is to realize that mistakes are part of everyone’s life. So don’t let the fear of making mistakes stop you from trying something new. The third and final lesson is from Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” People learn and grow as they age, so everyone needs to remember to live their life as if it were their last with no regrets.

“Life lessons are not necessarily learned from bad experiences, it can also be learned from good experiences, accomplishments, mistakes of other people, and by reading too.”

The essay reminds the readers to live their life to the fullest and cherish people and things in their lives because life is too short. If you want something, do not let it slip away without trying. If it fails, do not suffer and move on. The author also unveils the importance of travelling, keeping a diary, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

7 Prompts for Essays About Life Lessons

Use the prompts below if you’re still undecided on what to write about:

As mentioned above, life lessons are not only from experiences but also from reading. So for this prompt, pick up your favorite book and write down the lessons you learned from it. Next, identify each and explain to your readers why you think it’s essential to incorporate these lessons into real life. Finally, add how integrating these messages affected you. 

There are always lessons we can derive from mistakes. However, not everyone understands these mistakes, so they keep doing them. Think of all your past mistakes and choose one that had the most significant negative impact on you and the people around you. Then, share with your readers what it is, its causes, and its effects. Finally, don’t forget to discuss what you gained from these faults and how you prevent yourself from doing them again.

Compile all the life lessons you’ve realized from different sources. They can be from your own experience, a relative’s, a movie, etc. Add why these lessons resonate with you. Be creative and use metaphors or add imaginary scenarios. Bear in mind that your essay should convey your message well.

Popular shows are an excellent medium for teaching life lessons to a broad audience. In your essay, pick a well-known work and reflect on it. For example, Euphoria is a TV series that created hubbub for its intrigue and sensitive themes. Dissect what life lessons one can retrieve from watching the show and relate them to personal encounters. You can also compile lessons from online posts and discussions.

If the subject of “life lessons” is too general for you, scope a more specific area, such as entrepreneurship. Which life lessons are critical for a person in business? To make your essay easier to digest, interview a successful business owner and ask about the life lessons they’ve accumulated before and while pursuing their goals.

Use this prompt to present the most important life lessons you’ve collected throughout your life. Then, share why you selected these lessons. For instance, you can choose “Live life as if it’s your last” and explain that you realized this life lesson after suddenly losing a loved one.

Have you ever met someone younger than you who taught you a life lesson? If so, in this prompt, tell your reader the whole story and what life lesson you discovered. Then, you can reverse it and write an incident where you give a good life lesson to someone older than you – say what it was and if that lesson helped them. Read our storytelling guide to upgrade your techniques.

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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A Life Lesson I Have Learned and How It Continues to Shape Me

Table of contents, the unexpected turn of events, the power of perspective, the importance of self-compassion, the ripple effect on other areas of life.

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Some Lessons I’ve Learned From Reflecting On Life In 150 Essays

As I look back over my last 149 essays, I see memories, heartbreaks, and joys, all poured into my essays of size 12 font. I see times I was feeling high on life, and simultaneously, times I was struggling and felt as though I was stuck in the dark.. But even more than a simple timeline of moments and checkpoints, I see someone trying desperately to make sense of a messy world full of complicated emotions. I see someone a little bit lost at times, a little bit curious, and also a bit hopeful – someone just trying her best to seek meaning, inspiration, and above all, healing. 

It is an understatement to say that writing has been therapeutic for me. When I have felt lonely, or afraid, or let down, I have often sought comfort in writing. Words have been magical – they have been a way to gain a new perspective on my life and on the lives of all of the people around me. Writing has unfailingly encouraged me to look twice at life – to examine what lies beneath the surface, rather than accepting things at face value. 

And when I look back at all of these thoughts I have spilled across the white pages of my MacBook, I see many themes that seem to pop into my life over and over again, with each passing year. These themes are mainly lessons – those that I have learned, and those that I am still learning (or relearning).  Looking over my writing, I can’t help but notice how as human beings, we are constantly learning. We never seem to stop changing, growing, or healing.  

While I do not have all of the answers (or any answers with certainty), I do hope that some of the thoughts I have gathered and the lessons I have learned through examining the world through words may resonate with you as well. I hope they can bring you some comfort or reassurance in the midst of the mountains and valleys of your own life. 

1. It can feel comforting to seek home in nostalgia – to live in our memories, to replay them over and over again, like little film strips that continue to roll on. But at some point, we have to remember that life is still happening and the earth is still spinning, right here, right now. At some point, we have to be here for ourselves and for our hearts in the present. We have to be brave enough to hope that the present and the future will be just as good, if not better, than the old memories we are living in.

2. I’m learning that joy doesn’t necessarily mean the absence of sadness, and grief doesn’t necessarily imply the absence of joy. Though we often want to choose an either o r, life is not quite as binary as we make it out to be.

3. I’m realizing that being at peace with life doesn’t mean that everything is perfect, or that we don’t have any troubles or tribulations or low energy nagging at our hearts. Being at peace doesn’t mean that life is wonderful, or that we aren’t stressed, or facing anxiety. More so, being at peace means finding some form of “okayness” amidst all of the parts of life that are not (yet) “okay.” It means sitting amidst the chaos and making the conscious decision to remain calm. To be okay. Ultimately, finding peace means acknowledging the storm and coexisting with it, rather than sitting in the eye of the tornado.

4. It’s the hardest lesson in the world, but sometimes, the best thing we can do is let them go. Sometimes we have to say goodbye to someone good and wait patiently for someone better. 

5. Something odd about life is that the right choices don’t always feel right in our bodies. Sometimes, though difficult, we have to find the courage within us to pursue what we need, rather than what we want in the present. We have to take care of ourselves by honoring what we know is best for us in the long run. And oftentimes, in the present, it really does hurt a lot. The pain doesn’t mean the decision is wrong. Sometimes the best choices can leave us let down and hurt. But later on, we will be thankful.  

6. I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason. I don’t believe in fate. But I do believe that we can give meaning to some of our hardest most heartbreaking moments. We don’t need to build an identity that is rooted in our grief or in our trauma or pain, but if or when we want to, we can allow the healing process to bring out our best. We can grow new, fresh roots, and we can choose to define ourselves by how we rise back up again.

7. We can’t expect others to heal us – no one can love us so much that we automatically love ourselves. But maybe, when someone does love us, they can remind us what love feels like. They can help us to believe that we are loveable. And this can be the first step of loving ourselves – knowing that we deserve to be loved.

8. Grief is ugly and painful and devastating. Grief is dark swollen eyes and tear-stained cheeks. Grief hurts.  But we cannot deny the sheer beauty that grief holds. We cannot deny that grief is, in some ways, a gift. To grieve means that we are blessed enough to have loved and to have been loved by someone special – and this is remarkable. Grief means we are missing someone – someone who touched our lives in an irreplaceable way. And thus, I’d like to believe that the sadness and grief we endure when we lose someone close to us is simply the price we pay for loving them. And there’s something so dear and precious about this.

9. As hard as it is to hear, some people aren’t meant to stay in our lives forever. They are passerbys, like boats in the night. And though they may only stay for a short while, they stay safely in our hearts indefinitely.  Temporary people can leave permanent footprints.

10. Anxiety and overthinking do not change the situation. They only turn a gentle rain shower into a hurricane.

11. We can miss someone, but we can’t lose ourselves when we lose them. We can miss them, but we can’t let our lives be over when they are gone. Because we still have our lives to live. And we still have so much love left in us to give. 12. We don’t need a reason to have hope – we don’t need evidence or logic, as much as we think we do. We don’t even need to fully understand or grasp what hope is. We just have to find it in our hearts to believe that hope exists. We have to bravely decide to give in to hope, even when we can’t see it or touch it – even when we don’t know if it is there. When life is dark, we have to believe that there is something still worth living for around the corner. And this belief – this hope – this is what will help us move forward. 

13. It’s okay to find home in another person. It’s one of the sweetest, purest parts of life. But somewhere along the way, we must also find home within ourselves.

14. We know we are healing when we piece back together our broken parts and turn them into something greater than what we had before.

15. Perhaps, when someone doesn’t love us or doesn’t fight for us, it isn’t actually a reflection of us. Perhaps their inability to love us does not mean that we are unloveable, or hard to love. Maybe it means that they have been hurt one too many times before and that their walls are now built high of concrete and stone. Or maybe it means that they have been defeated by love one too many times – maybe love continues to let them down, time and time again. And maybe, even if they want to love us, they simply cannot. And we can keep trying and trying to knock down those walls. But perhaps when they don’t love us, the very best thing we can do is to hug them close, wish them the best, and then walk away.  Because even if they were special, we each deserve someone who is ready to let us in fully.

16. Most of the time, when we think we need closure from someone else, what we truly need is closure from ourselves – permission from ourselves to let things be. To accept the ending and to understand that it’s time to let the ending stay an ending. We must find the strength to seek peace and healing on our own. Healing is our responsibility, not the responsibility of the person who hurt us.

17. Sometimes growth is quiet and subtle and doesn’t look like growth. Sometimes growth is simply viewing a situation from a fresh perspective. Sometimes growth is trying something new, despite whether or not it ends up being a good experience. Sometimes growth just means making it through each day and noticing one small good thing about the world each night. Some seasons are for making leaps and bounds, while others are simply for surviving and just being. Both seasons are important. Both are needed. 

18. How do we know when we are healing? I think we know that we are coming close when we feel immense gratitude that something happened, rather than devastated by the fact that it ended. 

19. We don’t always need to find the silver lining. Sometimes really crappy, awful things happen, and there is much more bad than good in the world. Sometimes we go through devastating, heartbreaking experiences that don’t have a silver lining, and the idea of trying to find one only hurts us further. In these really rough moments, we don’t need to search for the light. But maybe, when we are ready, we can remind ourselves that there is still light in the world. Maybe there’s no shining light in our situation, but there is still goodness somewhere out there. And hopefully knowing this will help us make it to the other side

Perhaps the secret isn’t avoiding pain or numbing ourselves from pain, but rather, putting our energy into cultivating joy and peace. Perhaps when we value joy over pain, life becomes a little bit easier. 

Colleen George

“there can be magic in the messes” @apeaceofwerk

Keep up with Colleen on Instagram , Amazon and linktr.ee

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• Jun 16, 2020

The Greatest Lessons I’ve Learned in Life…So Far

I don’t know everything or have all the answers, no one does. But one thing I do know, is that when I started to look at my life as a series of learning experiences, I was able to view the world from a clear, more positive perspective. Every day of my life I learn something new. I am observant on purpose . Some of the things that I learn really cause me to ponder...

During these 50 years of my life I have come to realize that many things I've been through were lessons I needed to learn in order to grow. These times in my life have contributed to the person that I am today, and honestly, I like who I have become. It has taken me a long time to realize that these things have helped to shape my life... in a positive way... even though some of the things I went through didn't seem so positive at the time.

These lessons I've learned over the years may seem like no-brainers to some people, and that's okay because we are all living our lives the best way we know how. Everyone has their list of life lessons that are a direct result of the situations and circumstances that have shaped who they've become. I know this is true for me.

Some of the Lessons I’ve Learned in Life

1. A good laugh or cry always makes you feel better.

I don’t know why it is, but letting go of emotions always makes me feel a sense of relief. There is nothing better than laughing out loud with friends or family, even if it is laughing at the most ridiculous things.

On the other hand, a good cry through whatever adverse situation you are going through also releases the built up emotions that have been bottled up inside. I always feel a sense of calm after facing situations and dealing with the emotions, good or bad, that go with them.

2. We are all going to fail at some point. Don't miss the lesson the failure is meant to teach you.

It’s inevitable, we all fail sometimes. What is important about the failure is how you deal with it. It takes a while to learn to take a step back from a failure and ask yourself: “What am I supposed to learn from this?”

Maybe the answer is as simple as learning to pick yourself up and start over. Maybe it's an opportunity to give you a reason to try harder. Whatever the lesson may be, it is there to help shape us and mold us into the person we are meant to be. When you view failure as a positive experience, you will decrease the negative feelings that failure can bring.

3. Not everyone will like you, and that's OK!

This was a hard lesson for me to learn because I have always looked at myself as a “likable” person. I always try to be friendly and welcoming, but that doesn't always equate to being liked. It’s hard to accept that there are just some people who do not like me, for whatever reason.

As I get older, I realize that whoever these people are, they have their reasons for the way they feel and they are free to feel that way. As long as I know that I do my best keep my integrity and treat others respectfully, they cannot affect who I am if I do not let them.

4. YOU are accountable for your actions and choices…and NO ONE else!

I have been trying to instill this fact in my children since they were old enough to understand. A lot of people are very quick to blame others for their misfortunes, bad choices, and situations when in reality, they need to take a good look in the mirror. For some people, it is always someone else’s fault.

The truth is, each of us is responsible for ourselves and need to accept the outcome of our actions and choices. Accountability for your own actions is an important part of maturity and understanding that each choice you make has a consequence is something you can never forget.

5. It’s best to take a deep breath and pause before you show your anger.

This has been a struggle for me. Sometimes I can be quick tempered and it is something I work on every day. I think that I have gotten better as I get older. Honestly, I know from experience that it is always best to take a step back and collect yourself and your thoughts before lashing out. I always try to remind myself that I cannot take back words or actions once I've let them out.

The same goes for sending a nasty email or text. Never send an email or text when you are angry. Write it if you must, but never hit send until you have time to cool down!

6. Having a victim mentality will always keep you a victim.

We are supposed to learn from the things that happen in our lives and move on. I'm not saying to forget the bad things, I'm saying don't let them define who you are.

Many people are stuck in the past and cannot see what greatness and potential lies ahead. You cannot move forward if you’re constantly looking backward. Create a future based on your past experiences and use the pain to make your life meaningful...like helping others through the same type of experience.

7. No one owes you anything .

Seriously, they don’t. I mean it, NO. ONE. OWES. YOU. ANYTHING. Having an "I'm entitled" mindset will not lead you anywhere. I tell my boys this over and over. Which brings me to #8 ....

8. If you want something…you have to work hard for it.

This is an extension of #7 . If you want something bad enough, work hard to get it. Work until your fingers bleed. Work until you are tired and can’t see straight. Don’t wait for whatever it is you want to fall in your lap or for someone to give it to you. Go out and grab it.

Trust me, you will be much more protective of whatever it is if you earn it, rather than having it handed to you. Nothing can replace the feelings of success when you work with everything you have for whatever it is you desire.

9. Every decision you make or action you take has a consequence.

This is really an extension of #4 but needs to be reiterated. Every decision, choice and action you make really does have consequences; some good, some bad. You cannot go through life thinking that you can do anything you please without some kind of consequence.

It’s very simple…If you commit a crime, eventually you will get caught. If you work hard, you will eventually see the fruits of your labor. That is why I pray so hard when faced with decisions to make. If it is in the will of God, He will assist me to make the right choices. This is an important lesson that I have had to learn...more than once.

10. The people you love will hurt you sometimes.

People you love may not want to hurt you, but sometimes they do. This is a part of life and love and relationships. This is why unconditional love is so important. Unconditional love allows us to see beyond the hurt and into the heart of the person who hurt us and to know their true intentions. It also allows us to make a decision as to whether or not the person who hurt you even has a place in your life. Remember, God places people in your life, but He also removes them from your life.

11. Prayer works

This is actually the most important lesson that I have learned. Call it saving the best for last... it is the one I want to leave fresh in your mind.

I honestly don't know where I would be without God in my life. I have to pray . I have to seek God's Word. I have to know that I am doing what He has laid out for me. I have to pray for others.

God is there - always; in the darkest hours and on the brightest days. He answers - always. His answers may not be what I think they should be, but He knows best. Prayer is what gets me through everything and without it, without Jesus, I would be lost.

Related Post : Things I Know For Certain

Each of these lessons that I listed are a result of my own personal experiences. Perhaps you can relate to some of them. I'm sure that as I continue to experience new things, I will add to the list.

What are some life lessons that you have learned? Maybe you are stuck in an area of your life and are unsure of the lesson. If so, pray through it and ask God to reveal it to you... He will.

Don’t forget that every lesson is meant to build you up to become the best version of yourself. There are no bad lessons… each one serves a purpose in your life.

Count each lesson in your life as a blessing, even when it seems like an impossible thing to do.

#Inspiration #Life #PrayerWorks #GodIsInControl #LifeLessons

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11 Most Valuable Lessons Learned in Life: Essay Ideas

Published on december 3, 2015 at 4:13 pm by caroline delbert in lists.

Every fall, teens applying to college ask themselves the same well-worn questions. Who is my best role model…in an essay of 500 words. What experience have I learned the most from…in an essay of 500 words. It’s common to ask high schoolers about life lessons, but what are the 11 most valuable “lessons learned in life” essay ideas?

For this list, I’ve mined life lessons from a variety of sources, from contemporary writers and motivational speakers like Ashli Mazer and Barrie Davenport to Jesus Christ, Jane Goodall, and Edward R. Murrow. New York Times readers offered their own best life lessons and so did a poll of 2,000 parents in the United Kingdom. Many lessons came up again and again and I’ve ranked them based on frequency, awarding 1 point for each of the nine total source lists where that lesson appeared.

moomsabuy/Shutterstock.com

I was pleased to see that clichés like “things happen for a reason” or “always smile” were not widely cited. Human beings are smarter and more complex than cross-stitch samplers. And there are plenty of less common life lessons that don’t make the cut for the 11 most valuable but are good to keep in mind anyway.

The wisdom of Jane Goodall encourages us to be kind to the Earth and ensure our legacy in caring for the environment. One New York Times reader gives the great advice to avoid con artists and egomaniacs — even if they’re related to us. Barrie Davenport reminds us that our children are their own people and need to have room to grow and be themselves.

Some of the less common life lessons are bittersweet, like learning about the luck of the draw and that time and forgiveness help to heal our emotional pain. Being honest with yourself is a great life lesson but one that is often the most hard fought. Life is not about money, but life without money is incredibly hard and limits our choices and opportunities.

Just barely missing the list were many important ideas worth mentioning, too. Manners go a long way. Choose a good life partner. Learn to get along and to resolve your differences. Maybe one of these lessons will spark a memory that you know will make a terrific essay even though it isn’t one of the most common overall life lessons.

I remember my alma mater offering a very welcome “none of the above” prompt on its application form, and I remember stopping short at an outlandish prompt offered by a very prestigious university. The college essay has almost become a parody, with prompts themselves joining in on the joke. (Maybe you remember Rory Gilmore realizing in horror that all her classmates had  also chosen Hillary Clinton as their role model topic — and she attended a school like one of the 10 most expensive boarding schools in the world .) But the college essay is real, and it’s required, and you have these role models, life experiences, or life lessons stored in your mind. They’re waiting to get out. If you’re someone with excellent prose, skip to the next part. If not… well, no need to wonder, “I need help to  write an essay for me ,” just seek online help from CustomWritings service. Time’s precious!

Just wait, though, because after you graduate from the college of your dreams, you’ll be faced with an interview question that makes every job seeker long for an insipid college essay prompt instead: What is your greatest strength, and what is your greatest weakness?

11. Learn from your mistakes — 5 points

There’s an old adage: “Never make the same mistake twice.” That advice isn’t always practical — you’ve probably Game Over’d many times on the same tough level, and eventually got through it. Learning from our mistakes isn’t instant or automatic, nor is it obvious what exactly we end up learning.

B Calkins/Shutterstock.com

10. Give back — 5 points

Western society can get very hung up on the idea that charity is a matter of money alone, but giving back is a huge category. Think about how you spend your time as well as your money, and think about how your extra resources could improve the lives of others or simply brighten their day.

9. Don’t judge — 5 points

This idea is so simple yet so challenging to really do. What other people do, say, or believe generally doesn’t concern you. More than that, as a few lists also included, we should mind our own business. In a time when the microscope of social media is always pointed at everyone we know, it takes guts to step away and not engage. That choice to accept-not-except stands out in the 11 most valuable “lessons learned from life” essay ideas.

8. Put yourself out there — 5 points

The barebones archetype of putting yourself out there is asking someone on a date. It’s nervewracking and feels just as terrible every single time you psych yourself up to do it. But putting yourself out there is more than just romance — it’s applying for a challenging job, making a new friend, taking an improv class, and so much more. Without risk there is no reward.

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THE LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED SAMPLE ESSAY

Sample by  My Essay Writer

W hen going through post-secondary school, writing is a substantial component in ensuring good grades. This is because while students may have the right ideas, they may not know how to effectively communicate this information. In order to successfully complete the assignments that are asked of students, they need to develop the proper strategies that will facilitate a clear communication, and help the person who is marking them to understand that the student knows the material well, and can communicate that information in an effective way. In this essay, I will discuss three skills that I have learned in this course, including critical thinking skills,  developing an argument , and communicating myself clearly, which I consider to be the pillars of successful writing. I will discuss how these skills will benefit me in future courses, while giving specific examples about how I managed to learn these skills during this current course.  Critical thinking, developing an argument, and clear communication are building blocks of this course, and they are vital to my future academic success.

As one of the most important skills that I have developed, critical thinking will be valuable in the execution of my future studies. I developed this skill in this class by writing essays on topics that had more than one opinion to argue. It was important in these essays to take a look at each issue by examining many sources that had something to say about the topics. This analysis typically required reading many academic and news sources. After feeling like I had developed a solid understanding of the various opinions, I was then able to ascertain the two main arguments. It was important for me to consider the two sides thoroughly, and this allowed me to come to my conclusions. This critical thinking is a skill that will be required of me in future courses, as a solid argumentative essay always acknowledges the other side of the debate, and refute its claims.

In order to be successful at examining both sides of an argument by thinking critically about the material, I need to know how to develop an argument clearly. I learned in this course that an argument can be developed by examining how I feel about each perspective that is being argued. This is what I needed to do when writing each of my essays for this class. I needed to figure out which side I agreed with most, and this often included a thorough ethical examination. For example, when reading about material dealing with a major political event, I needed to examine who this event effects, and how each side argues its claims. The more ethical argument gets my vote every time, and this is typically synonymous with an argument that is most logical. Developing my argument will be needed in my studies because I will need to be able to defend the argument that I chose, particularly if I decide to write my Master’s Thesis. However, it will also help with a basic degree.

Critical thinking and developing an argument is useless if I do not know how to properly communicate myself. This is where writing outlines really helped me. The outline allowed me to develop my thesis statement and then topic sentences. This provided a framework that facilitated the ease of communication to my reader. Furthermore, drafting annotated bibliographies allowed me to evaluate my sources, and think about how they will fit into my paper. The better I was at developing my own understanding of the topic, and how I will present it to my reader, the easier it was for my reader to understand my position. If I had not gone through these processes, my writing would have been more free-form, which does not often facilitate communicating myself clearly. Without being able to clearly communicate, the person who is marking my future papers will think that I do not have a solid understanding of what I am writing about, and this could result in very poor marks. Clear communication is therefore one of the most important skills that I have learned in this course.

Breaking down the structure of writing an  effective essay  was the most important lesson I learned in this course. All three of the skills mentioned in this essay fall into the broader category of essay structuring. This course allowed me to see the basics of writing an essay, and that is a skill that will be helpful throughout my schooling because it is one that is vital for me to achieve the types of marks that I need to be a success. These three skills act as pillars from which I can build a further understanding of essay writing, and this foundation is necessary for me to have a successful academic future.

• Tags THE LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED SAMPLE ESSAY

By Hanna Robinson

Hanna has won numerous writing awards. She specializes in academic writing, copywriting, business plans and resumes. After graduating from the Comosun College's journalism program, she went on to work at community newspapers throughout Atlantic Canada, before embarking on her freelancing journey.

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• Speech Writing /

Speech On The Best Lesson I Have Learned

• Updated on  
• Nov 21, 2023

‘Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.’ – Helen Keller. School and college students are often given assignments to write speech on the ‘Best Lesson I Have Learned’, their personal experiences, and differences in understanding things. Students often deal with many situations, most of which they have never experienced before. The best lesson for a student can vary, depending on their situation, hobbies and interests , and willingness to learn new things. As students, most of us are like a blank canvas, easily dyed into any color. Best life lessons teach us how to deal with ourselves and the people around us. Let’s dive deeper into this concept and learn more about the ‘Best Lesson I Have Learned Speech’ for students.

Table of Contents

• 1 10 Best Life Lessons Students Must Learn
• 2 1-minute Speech on the Best Lesson I Have Learned
• 3 Speech on The Best Lesson I Have Learned
• 4 Popular Quotes on Life Lessons

‘The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.’ – Unknown

Also Read: 160+ Best and Easy English Speech Topics for Students

10 Best Life Lessons Students Must Learn

Here are the 10 best life lessons students can learn. Feel free to use them as examples in your speech topics.

• ‘There will always be someone who disagrees with your views.’
• ‘You are stronger than you think.’
• ‘Life is not fair and prepare yourself for the worst.’
• ‘Surround yourself with positive people for a better future.’
• ‘Time is the most precious resource.’
• ‘Observe others and learn from their mistakes.’
• ‘Learn to let go.’
• ‘Loneliness is different from solitude.’
• ‘Patience is the key to success.’
• ‘You can achieve everything with experience and patience.’

Also Read: Speech On Benefits of Yoga  

1-minute Speech on the Best Lesson I Have Learned

‘Hello and welcome to everyone present here. Today, I’ll be talking about the best lesson I have learned in my life.

‘I think the best lesson I learned was about my creative writing skills when I was in 8th grade. There was an inter-class essay writing competition, where we were told to pick any topic related to our academics.’

‘I wrote an essay on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media . My teachers appreciated my writing skills and how I elaborated on real-life experiences. Social media is a tool which needs to be used only as a source of information and entertainment.’

‘We all must understand what makes us unique and how far we can go to make ourselves the best version of ourselves. I know it takes a lot of hard work and deliberate practice to do so, but even more important than that is to know who we really are. I once read a quote, that says, ‘We all have two lives; one when we are born and the other when we realize what we are meant for.’

Also Read: Pros and Cons of Online Learning Speech

Speech on The Best Lesson I Have Learned

‘My fellow classmates and teachers, I welcome you all today where I’ll be representing myself on the best lesson I have learned speech. Life is a rollercoaster; we get knocked down, learn from our mistakes, gather the courage to stand up again and the cycle goes on.’

‘The best lesson I have learned is the power of resilience. The ability to bounce back from setbacks, face adversity with courage, and continue moving forward is a skill that has transformed my perspective on life.’

‘I once faced a seemingly impossible obstacle where I felt like the world’s weight was on my shoulders, and the road ahead was shrouded in darkness. I almost gave up before realising my true strength; resilience that allowed me to endure, adapt, and ultimately overcome.’

‘Resilience is not the absence of challenges but the courage to confront them head-on. It’s the understanding that failure is not a destination but a stepping stone towards growth. Each setback, every stumble, and all the seemingly impossible moments became opportunities for self-discovery and improvement.’

‘Learning things requires patience, self-reflection, and a willingness to embrace discomfort. I learned that setbacks are not indicators of inadequacy but invitations to evolve. The process of overcoming challenges instilled in me a newfound confidence—a belief that I possess the strength to navigate the unpredictable currents of life.’

‘Not only this, it also taught me the importance of a positive attitude. Maintaining a hopeful outlook and focusing on solutions rather than problems can make all the difference in the face of adversity. Resilience, coupled with optimism, becomes a potent force that propels us forward, even when the path ahead seems arduous.’

‘Facing adversity with unwavering optimism can help us realise our true potential.

Thank you.’

Also Read: Speech On ‘If I Had A Superpower’ For Students

Popular Quotes on Life Lessons

Here are some popular quotes on life lessons we all must know about. You can use them in your academics or real-life situations.

• ‘Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.’ – Roy T. Bennett
• ‘In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.’ – Robert Frost
• ‘Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.’ – Allen Sanders
• ‘The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• ‘Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.’ – Confucius

Ans: Here are some of the important lessons students must learn; ‘You are stronger than you think;’ ‘‘Life is not fair and prepare yourself for the worst;’ ‘Surround yourself with positive people for a better future;’ ‘Time is the most precious resource;’ ‘Observe others and learn from their mistakes;’ and ‘Patience is the key to success.’

Ans: Best life lessons teach us to become the best version of ourselves. What we were and what we want for ourselves, can be distinguished from the best life lessons we learn. These lessons can be learned from multiple sources, but learning from personal experiences is the best way to learn about ourselves.’

Ans: Life teaches us lessons like life is not so fair, we will get knocked down multiple times before standing on our feet, people around us will try to drag us down, nobody is coming to save us, we are our own ally, what we dream for ourselves will only be fulfilled by our own work.’

Related Articles

For more information on such interesting speech topics for your school, visit our speech writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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Essay on 2 Lessons I Learnt in My Class that Helped Me in Daily Life

2 lessons i learnt in my class that helped me in daily life.

From childhood, I have heard from my mother that there is no end to learning. We keep learning as we live our life. We learn from our surroundings, our friends, books and everything that we come across on daily basis. When I was 10 years old, my mother taught me the importance of hard work. She said, “If you have knowledge, but you do not work hard, it is not possible to achieve success.” She told me the story of Arjuna in Mahabharat. How Arjuna taught us that, through his hard work, he became the great warrior and loving person of Lord Krishna for his great skills, good personality, good knowledge, and so on. Keep learning will make us more powerful, which will help in our daily lives to create positive surroundings.

Today, in the current era, school is the place after home where we will get the most knowledge, from our textbooks and from our beloved teachers. In nearly 14 years, our school period will continue from UKG to Class 12. In this period, we become familiar with different subjects, topics of each subject, their details, histories, geography of the world, physics, chemistry, etc. Besides textbooks, in this period we have also become familiar with different sports. There are so many lessons that I have learned that are even helping me at my age of 30. Out of them, I am following only two. As per my view, these two lessons are helping me enough in my daily life.

1.) Extraordinary from others in class:

I am always trying to be extraordinary in my own life. From my clothes, my thinking, my work, and my advice, I am always trying to be extraordinary, and even so, it continues. I got the great taste of being extraordinary from my class at 8th standard. There were nearly 40 students in my section. One of our teachers, Mr. Ritesh Aggarwal, the physics teacher of the school, always asked us technical questions from his textbook lessons. Most of the students, out of 40, can’t give an accurate answer. But in that time, me and some of my 2 and 3 friends, when we had answered accurately on a on a daily basis, our teacher also started to give us extra priority. From that time, I have learned that being extraordinary from others is really a great lesson. In my present days, I am also giving my 100% in my every work and also trying to be extraordinary.

2) Not kind to everyone:

Since my childhood, I have always tried to be the best person so that I can certify myself from my own perspective. I have tried to be a good man like Arjun, and even now. But that does not mean I have to be kind to everyone. There are so many fake people in our surroundings who have always tried to cheat us from different sections. We should not be kind to those types of people who are not honest in their lives. We have to talk against them, and that doesn’t mean I am bad.

I have also learned this in my class. When I was in class 11, one day there were some students who used bad languages in the class. When our teachers tried to investigate those students, no one can tell their name because some students dare on that group, as they are so quarrelsome, and some students also think that if they tell their name, they will get a huge punishment from the class teacher and also from the principal. In that time, my class teacher told us one thing: ‘Don’t be kind to everyone’. If you want to be a certified human by yourself in life, then raise your voice against the wrong things.

[NOTE : In this Essay our editor has shared his views on the lessons he learned during his school life. Please do not copy this essay as it is. Use this essay as a reference to write about your own learning in school. ]

SEE ALSO :   Essay Writing 

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What I’ve Learned From My Students’ College Essays

The genre is often maligned for being formulaic and melodramatic, but it’s more important than you think.

By Nell Freudenberger

Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either their upbringing hasn’t supplied them with several hundred words of adversity, or worse, they’re afraid that packaging the genuine trauma they’ve experienced is the only way to secure their future. The college counselor at the Brooklyn high school where I’m a writing tutor advises against trauma porn. “Keep it brief , ” she says, “and show how you rose above it.”

I started volunteering in New York City schools in my 20s, before I had kids of my own. At the time, I liked hanging out with teenagers, whom I sometimes had more interesting conversations with than I did my peers. Often I worked with students who spoke English as a second language or who used slang in their writing, and at first I was hung up on grammar. Should I correct any deviation from “standard English” to appeal to some Wizard of Oz behind the curtains of a college admissions office? Or should I encourage students to write the way they speak, in pursuit of an authentic voice, that most elusive of literary qualities?

In fact, I was missing the point. One of many lessons the students have taught me is to let the story dictate the voice of the essay. A few years ago, I worked with a boy who claimed to have nothing to write about. His life had been ordinary, he said; nothing had happened to him. I asked if he wanted to try writing about a family member, his favorite school subject, a summer job? He glanced at his phone, his posture and expression suggesting that he’d rather be anywhere but in front of a computer with me. “Hobbies?” I suggested, without much hope. He gave me a shy glance. “I like to box,” he said.

I’ve had this experience with reluctant writers again and again — when a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously. Of course the primary goal of a college essay is to help its author get an education that leads to a career. Changes in testing policies and financial aid have made applying to college more confusing than ever, but essays have remained basically the same. I would argue that they’re much more than an onerous task or rote exercise, and that unlike standardized tests they are infinitely variable and sometimes beautiful. College essays also provide an opportunity to learn precision, clarity and the process of working toward the truth through multiple revisions.

When a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously.

Even if writing doesn’t end up being fundamental to their future professions, students learn to choose language carefully and to be suspicious of the first words that come to mind. Especially now, as college students shoulder so much of the country’s ethical responsibility for war with their protest movement, essay writing teaches prospective students an increasingly urgent lesson: that choosing their own words over ready-made phrases is the only reliable way to ensure they’re thinking for themselves.

Teenagers are ideal writers for several reasons. They’re usually free of preconceptions about writing, and they tend not to use self-consciously ‘‘literary’’ language. They’re allergic to hypocrisy and are generally unfiltered: They overshare, ask personal questions and call you out for microaggressions as well as less egregious (but still mortifying) verbal errors, such as referring to weed as ‘‘pot.’’ Most important, they have yet to put down their best stories in a finished form.

I can imagine an essay taking a risk and distinguishing itself formally — a poem or a one-act play — but most kids use a more straightforward model: a hook followed by a narrative built around “small moments” that lead to a concluding lesson or aspiration for the future. I never get tired of working with students on these essays because each one is different, and the short, rigid form sometimes makes an emotional story even more powerful. Before I read Javier Zamora’s wrenching “Solito,” I worked with a student who had been transported by a coyote into the U.S. and was reunited with his mother in the parking lot of a big-box store. I don’t remember whether this essay focused on specific skills or coping mechanisms that he gained from his ordeal. I remember only the bliss of the parent-and-child reunion in that uninspiring setting. If I were making a case to an admissions officer, I would suggest that simply being able to convey that experience demonstrates the kind of resilience that any college should admire.

The essays that have stayed with me over the years don’t follow a pattern. There are some narratives on very predictable topics — living up to the expectations of immigrant parents, or suffering from depression in 2020 — that are moving because of the attention with which the student describes the experience. One girl determined to become an engineer while watching her father build furniture from scraps after work; a boy, grieving for his mother during lockdown, began taking pictures of the sky.

If, as Lorrie Moore said, “a short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage,” what is a college essay? Every once in a while I sit down next to a student and start reading, and I have to suppress my excitement, because there on the Google Doc in front of me is a real writer’s voice. One of the first students I ever worked with wrote about falling in love with another girl in dance class, the absolute magic of watching her move and the terror in the conflict between her feelings and the instruction of her religious middle school. She made me think that college essays are less like love than limerence: one-sided, obsessive, idiosyncratic but profound, the first draft of the most personal story their writers will ever tell.

Nell Freudenberger’s novel “The Limits” was published by Knopf last month. She volunteers through the PEN America Writers in the Schools program.

Home / Essay Samples / Life / Mistake / Personal Narrative: Learning From My Mistake

Personal Narrative: Learning From My Mistake

• Category: Education , Life
• Topic: College Days , Mistake , Personal Experience

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