personal life essay topic

Personal Essay Topics

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Writing Essays
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M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
B.A., History, Armstrong State University

A personal essay is an essay about your life, thoughts, or experiences. This type of essay will give readers a glimpse into your most intimate life experiences and life lessons. There are many reasons you may need to write a personal essay , from a simple class assignment to a college application requirement . You can use the list below for inspiration. Consider each statement a starting point, and write about a memorable moment that the prompt brings to mind.

Your bravest moment
How you met your best friend
What makes your mom or dad special
How you overcame a fear
Why you will succeed
Why you made a difficult choice
A special place
A place you try to avoid
When a friend let you down
An event that changed your life
A special encounter with an animal
A time when you felt out of place
An odd experience that didn't make sense at the time
Words of wisdom that hit home and changed your way of thinking
A person that you do not like
A time when you disappointed someone
Your fondest memory
A time when you saw your parent cry
The moment when you knew you were grown up
Your earliest memory of holiday celebrations in your home
Times when you should have made a better choice
A time when you dodged a dangerous situation
A person you will think about at the end of your life
Your favorite time period
A failure you've experienced
A disappointment you've experienced
A surprising turn of events
What you would do with power
What superpower you would choose
If you could switch lives with someone
How money matters in your life
Your biggest loss
A time when you felt you did the wrong thing
A proud moment when you did the right thing
An experience that you've never shared with another person
A special place that you shared with a childhood friend
A first encounter with a stranger
Your first handshake
Where you go to hide
If you had a do-over
A book that changed your life
Words that stung
When you had the desire to run
When you had the urge to crawl into a hole
Words that prompted hope
When a child taught you a lesson
Your proudest moment
If your dog could talk
Your favorite time with family
If you could live in another country
If you could invent something
The world a hundred years from now
If you had lived a hundred years earlier
The animal you'd like to be
One thing you'd change at your school
The greatest movie moment
The type of teacher you would be
If you could be a building
A statue you'd like to see
If you could live anywhere
The greatest discovery
If you could change one thing about yourself
An animal that could be in charge
Something you can do that robots could never do
Your most unfortunate day
Your secret talent
Your secret love
The most beautiful thing you've ever seen
The ugliest thing you've seen
Something you've witnessed
An accident that changed everything
A wrong choice
A right choice
If you were a food
How you'd spend a million dollars
If you could start a charity
The meaning of color
A close call
Your favorite gift
A chore you'd do away with
A secret place
Something you can't resist
A hard lesson
A visitor you'll never forget
An unexplained event
Your longest minute
An awkward social moment
An experience with death
Why you'll never tell a lie
If your mom knew, she'd kill you
A kiss that meant a lot
When you needed a hug
The hardest news you've had to deliver
A special morning
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110 Personal Essay Topics

Though written from a lived experience, personal essay topics can be tricky to come up with because they have to be universal enough for other people to relate to.

Since the skill of writing a good essay is being able to paint an image with words, students must choose a topic that will get others interested in the story and what it has to say about life, society, or themselves.

In essence, personal essays are written from a personal point of view and express a writer’s own insights, opinions, and feelings on a particular topic. Additionally, these types of essays lead to an overall point, lesson, realization, or revelation.

Most commonly, personal essays are written by high school students as part of their college applications. However, there are many other reasons that a personal essay may be assigned or written, including:

Scholarship applications
Job interview
Writing contest
Grad school admission

Students and others struggling with a valuable personal essay topic can choose from any of the 110 personal essay topics on this list to help them get started.

How to Write a Personal Essay

Writing a personal essay will require you to follow a traditional essay’s guidelines, structure, and format. However, you will also need to ensure that your essay is personal or tells a story about yourself rather than being entirely academic.

For example, you might want to explain an experience that changed how you saw the world or share an opinion on something important to you – even if the rest of the world doesn’t agree with it.

It often helps to make a list of experiences that you may want to share before starting with the writing aspect of the personal essay.

Introduction

The introduction to your personal essay will set the scene for the reader. Therefore, your personal essay needs to start with a compelling hook that will draw the reader in and make them want to read more.

This hook statement could be a humorous or poignant anecdote related to your topic or a line of questioning that the reader will be interested in following. For example, some possible opening lines for a personal essay could start with:

“I remember exactly where I was when I first realized …”
“What would you do if you knew the world was going to end tomorrow?
“So, I once had this problem …”

These beginning lines will often create questions in the reader’s mind, which is an excellent way to capture their interest and keep them reading. Following this initial opening sentence, you can introduce other details as you build up the main point of the story.

Your introduction should end with a thesis statement that verbalizes the general direction the story will go.

Body Paragraphs

Generally, a personal essay will have no less than three body paragraphs that detail your experience in chronological order. Each section should discuss one part of the story, including the events leading up to it, what happened during the experience, and what you learned from it.

Body paragraphs may also include examples of feelings, emotions, or arguments that support your experience. The goal of a personal essay is to share a compelling story and teach the reader something about life or themselves by using specific details and language.

Consider this formatting when creating the body paragraphs of your personal essay:

1st Paragraph

Beginning of the story that answers questions related to “Who?” and “Where?”
Initial attitudes, moods, feelings, and assumptions about the event or experience about to take place

2nd Paragraph

Middle of the story
Details that show how the situation evolved over time, including any changes in mood or assumption on your part

3rd Paragraph

Ending of the story/resolution
The final analysis on overall feelings, emotions, and mood

By sticking to this formatting for the body paragraphs, students can ensure that they are telling the story correctly and including every key detail as it happens.

Conclusion Paragraph

The conclusion of a personal essay is optional and depends on what you want to accomplish with the telling of your story. If you want to leave the reader feeling inspired or emotionally moved, then focus on summarizing the main points in a short paragraph that ends on a positive note.

However, if this was a darker story, you may want to use the concluding paragraph to sum up your feelings after the experience has ended or explore any unanswered questions that remain.

In any event, your conclusion does need to include an overall moral or lesson of how the writer:

overcame hardship
rose to the occasion
identified new traits or abilities that they never realized existed
turned defeat into success
followed their instincts and made the right choice
came to appreciate something about life after the experience took place

Any of these statements can stand alone as a powerful lesson learned. However, when combined in one concluding paragraph, you will leave your reader with a profound impression.

Using any of these 110 personal essay topics will ensure that you have a strong and interesting story to tell.

Personal Essay Topics About Relationships

What was a time when you made a friend?
What would your worst enemy say about you?
Talk about the death of a friend.
How did it feel to be bullied in school?
The time when you had to get along with a sibling despite being different ages
What you learned from your first relationship
Why marriage isn’t important to you
How you discovered polyamory, and how it changed your view of relationships
How your best friend made you a better person
The lesson you learned from being catfished
The first time you experienced heartbreak
A funny story about how technology ruined a relationship.
How did you learn to recognize love?
Who would you consider your soulmate? What makes them that person specifically for you?
What was your most embarrassing moment as a boyfriend or girlfriend, and what did you learn from it?

Personal Essay Topics About Hardships

The worst thing that ever happened to me
The roughest time in my family’s life
The hardest challenge I’ve ever had to overcome
How did you deal with the stress of moving?
What was your most embarrassing moment as a kid?
What are some reasons that I am grateful for my disability/illness/condition?
When have you had an “Aha!” moment in life?
What’s something terrible that happened to you that turned into something good?
What’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned from my failures?
The time when it almost felt like the world was against me
How did I handle/recover from a severe illness/injury/accident?
When was the first time I realized that life isn’t fair?
What was the biggest struggle I went through in my teens?
The most challenging situation I faced in high school
When was a time when I made a negative impact on someone else?
The first time I got caught stealing
The most embarrassing mistake I ever made with money
What was the most challenging thing about getting sober/clean/overcoming addiction?
When did I realize that life is short and that nobody is promised tomorrow?
How did you learn to persevere through tough times?

Personal Essay Topics About Success & Achievements

Best moment in my sports career
My greatest success story
The time I overcame my fear and found strength I didn’t know I had.
What’s the happiest day of my life?
How did I learn to overcome failure?
The time I knew that dreams really do come true
My greatest triumph over adversity – and what it taught me about myself.
What made you realize that you have to work hard in order to achieve something meaningful in life?
When did I know that I had made it in life?
When was the first time you were acknowledged for your achievements?
The night when my hard work truly paid off
My most powerful moment after overcoming a setback
How did I become successful?
What are some defining moments in my career?
How did I make it through a difficult time in college/university?
What motivated me to become the person I am today?

Personal Essay Topics About Personal Growth & Self-Reflection

Whose lifelong encouragement helped make me who I am today
The first time I took responsibility for my own actions
What gave me the courage to be myself?
The most valuable life lesson I’ve ever received. Who taught it to me, and what was the context?
How did I get through a difficult childhood/adolescence/teenage years?
What did I learn from becoming a yoga master?
How has meditation helped me overcome anger issues?
How did I recover from using drugs and alcohol?
What’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned from quitting my job?
When did I realize that life is too short to hate someone?
The moment when I knew it was time for a change
I made a mistake – and this is how I bounced back
How did I overcome depression/anxiety/mental illness?

Personal Essay Topics About Passions & Hobbies

How did learning a skill change my life?
Why exercise makes me a better person
My passion for writing
What’s the best advice I’ve ever received? Who gave it to me, and in what situation?
The moment when I realized my true calling in life
The importance of keeping a journal and how it has helped me become a better person
My biggest bucket list dream and why it’s so important to me
What is my vision for the future?
How did I find peace, contentment, and happiness?
The time when I truly lived outside of my comfort zone
When was the moment when I felt like I “got” meditation?
My journey towards becoming vegan. What inspired me to make this change, and what were the challenges I faced?
What lessons have been easy for me to learn, and which ones have been harder?
The time when travel changed my life

Personal Essay Topics About Challenges & Failures

The low point of my life and how I got through it
How did an illness/injury/death in the family affect me?
Why did I decide to stop going on blind dates?
What were the consequences of losing my temper, and how did I make amends?
The time when I was broken. What happened, who got hurt, and how did it affect me? How did I overcome this experience?
When was the moment when I realized that my words carry weight?

Personal Essay Topics About Family & Childhood Memories

The time when my family showed me what unconditional love means
My most vivid childhood memory and how it has affected me as an adult
How did I learn to be patient and kind?
What was the moment that sparked a change in my life? What caused this change, and what happened after the changes took place?
The moment when I realized the true meaning of friendship
What lessons did growing up teach me about life?
My childhood dream and what it taught me about myself
How do I feel about my hometown after living in three different places?
Why is it important to visit your birthplace/hometown during holidays/vacations?
My family’s most influential life lesson and how it has affected me
What was the moment when I realized that my parents had their own struggles?
The time when I learned about my family history. What happened, why did this happen, and how did it affect me? How did things change after this event?
What do I know about family traditions now that I didn’t understand as a child?
Why are your family memories vital to you?

Personal Essay Topics About Cultural Heritage & Identity

What does being bilingual/multilingual mean to me? Why is it unique?
My first interaction with someone from another culture
What’s wrong with cultural appropriation, and how did I learn to stop?
The moment when I became aware of my race/ethnicity
My culture’s most influential life lesson and how it has affected me
How I learned to not be afraid of my cultural differences
Why is diversity important in my community? In what ways do I contribute?
The moment I realized that I am proud of my culture
How has the immigrant/refugee experience shaped who you are today?
How traditions have changed the way I view my family

Personal Essay Topics About Childhood Dreams & Aspirations

What were my childhood dreams, and how have they changed over the years?
How did I make peace with the fear of growing up?

Any of these 110 personal essay topics are perfect for students struggling to find a topic that will impress a college admission officer or any other person with whom you’re trying to connect with on a personal level through storytelling.

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What is Personal Essay

Tips for Writing a Personal Essay

Personal Narrative Essay Topics

Personal essay topics for college students, personal cause and effect essay topics, personal argumentative essay topics, unique personal essay topics.

Crafting personal essay topics is like selecting the perfect brushstroke for a painting. Each topic is a brush dipped in the hues of your experiences, capable of creating a vivid tapestry of emotions and thoughts. Yet, it's a delicate art, for these topics must bridge the gap between your personal narrative and the universal human experience.

In my writing journey, I've discovered that personal essays possess a unique power. They allow us to delve into our innermost thoughts, bringing them to life with words. These essays are a dance between the deeply personal and the universally relatable, offering readers a glimpse into our lives while echoing their own stories.

Personal essays transcend mere storytelling; they carry a message, a lesson, a revelation. They find their way into various aspects of our lives, from college applications to job interviews and writing contests. This article'll explore 110 personal essay topics, each a potential masterpiece waiting for you to paint with your words. Let's embark on this creative journey together and discover the topics that will inspire your storytelling prowess.

A personal essay is my heartfelt story, a window into my world. It's where I share my experiences, thoughts, and emotions, inviting readers to connect with my life's moments. Whether reflecting on personal growth, travel adventures, or social issues, it's my voice, perspective, and chance to convey life's significance through my lens.

Nowadays, with advancements in technology shaping our creative landscape, tools like paper typer AI provide an additional avenue for refining our narratives, assisting in the articulation of thoughts and emotions with greater precision and efficiency.

5 Tips for Writing a Personal Essay

These tips were instrumental in shaping my personal essay: ‍

Authentic Voice: Embrace your unique style and voice; authenticity resonates.
Vivid Details: Paint a vivid picture with sensory details; make readers feel your experience.
‍ Engaging Hook: Start with a captivating anecdote or question to draw readers in.
Reflect & Connect: Reflect on your experiences and connect them to broader themes or insights.
Concise Focus: Stay focused on a central theme or message to avoid diluting your essay's impact.

100 Personal Essay Topic Ideas

My most memorable travel experience.
The day that changed my perspective on life.
An encounter with a childhood hero.
A life-altering decision I made.
The role of family in shaping my identity.
A moment when I overcame a fear.
My first job and the lessons I learned.
An unexpected act of kindness I received.
A significant friendship that impacted my life.
My journey of self-discovery through a hobby.
A challenging life lesson learned through adversity.
A cultural tradition or celebration that holds personal meaning.
The impact of a book or movie on my beliefs.
An embarrassing moment that taught me humility.
The importance of a personal passion or hobby.
A life-changing conversation with a loved one.
The influence of a teacher or mentor on my growth.
The role of pets in my life and personal development.
A personal achievement I am most proud of.
The experience of moving to a new place and adapting to change.
The transition from high school to college life.
Balancing academics and extracurricular activities.
My most challenging course and how I coped.
The impact of college friendships on personal growth.
My aspirations and goals for the future.
The significance of internships and career preparation.
Overcoming the fear of public speaking or presentations.
The role of volunteering in shaping my values.
Coping with stress and time management in college.
My cultural identity in a diverse college environment.
The lessons learned from a gap year experience.
The importance of networking and building connections.
Coping with homesickness and maintaining relationships.
The influence of college extracurriculars on personal development.
Navigating the challenges of long-distance relationships.
The impact of studying abroad on cultural awareness.
The role of technology in college life and education.
Coping with academic failures and setbacks.
The influence of college professors on my perspective.
The significance of graduation and future plans.
The effects of childhood trauma on adult relationships.
How personal fitness habits impact overall health.
The consequences of a particular dietary choice.
The impact of social media on mental well-being.
The effects of procrastination on academic performance.
How volunteering affects personal happiness.
The consequences of a specific addiction or bad habit.
The impact of positive thinking on personal success.
How travel experiences change one's worldview.
The effects of peer pressure on decision-making.
The consequences of a significant life decision.
How financial choices impact personal freedom.
The effects of a strong support system on resilience.
The impact of self-care practices on stress management.
How environmental choices affect personal health.
The consequences of a significant career change.
The effects of educational choices on future opportunities.
The impact of personal belief systems on behavior.
How mentorship can shape one's career path.
The consequences of embracing a minimalist lifestyle.
Is technology making us more or less connected?
Should standardized testing be a primary measure of student success?
Is social media beneficial or detrimental to society?
Should college education be free for all students?
Is climate change primarily caused by human activity?
Should the legal drinking age be lowered or raised?
Is homeschooling a better alternative to traditional schooling?
Should animals be used for scientific research?
Is the death penalty an effective form of punishment?
Should marijuana be legalized for recreational use?
Is privacy more important than national security?
Should there be stricter gun control laws?
Is online learning as effective as traditional classroom learning?
Should the voting age be lowered to 16?
Is censorship ever justified in the media?
Should there be limits on free speech in the digital age?
Is genetic engineering ethical for humans?
Should fast food restaurants be held responsible for obesity?
Is the government's role in healthcare too extensive?
Should there be restrictions on the sale of violent video games?
The art of finding beauty in everyday moments.
The connection between music and my emotional state.
A day in the life of a fictional character I created.
The symbolism of a recurring dream or nightmare.
The impact of a specific smell or taste on memory.
The experience of visiting a haunted place.
The role of superstitions in my life and decision-making.
A conversation with my future self.
The journey of learning a unique skill or craft.
The experience of living off the grid for a week.
A personal philosophy derived from a childhood story.
The significance of a lucky charm or talisman.
The lessons learned from a failed creative project.
The exploration of lucid dreaming and its possibilities.
The perspective of an inanimate object in my room.
The influence of a specific piece of art or sculpture.
The impact of color on my emotions and creativity.
The experience of attending an unconventional event or festival.
The role of serendipity in shaping my life's path.
The insights gained from living through a natural disaster.

In closing, I've journeyed through many personal essay topics, each offering a glimpse into the tapestry of human experiences. These topics are not just subjects for writing; they are gateways to self-discovery and connection. As I've explored them, I've learned that personal essays transcend the boundaries of mere storytelling; they are a medium for sharing the depth of our humanity. So, as you embark on your personal essay writing journey, remember that your unique perspective is a gift. Embrace it, nurture it, and let it flow through your words. Share your stories, connect with others, and enrich the world with your personal essays.

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242 Personal Persuasive Essay Topics and Ideas

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

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Personal essays are some of the most diverse assignments you can receive. Whether you’re a student in middle school or university, the best personal essay will highlight an individual’s personal views and unique experience. They’re not confined by the restrictions of literary essays and give plenty of opportunity for introducing the writer’s personality. The key here is selecting the right topics to talk about in a personal essay. Usually, this is the toughest part. After all, it’s the emotional core of your text. A lot of people also struggle to write about themselves and their experience as subjects of the text. Where does one start? Essay topics in general are frustrating to formulate so if you need help with some inspiration, take a look at some more ideas here ! And if you’re wondering what some good personal essay topics are, you’ll find a lot of sample ideas here as well as a guide on how to write a persuasive text.

In this article:

How to Write Personal Essays

Personal narrative essay topics, personal experience essay topics, personal argumentative essay topics, personal cause-and-effect essay topics, personal persuasive essay topics, personal essay topics for middle school, personal essay topics for high school students and college students.

Start by taking a trip down memory lane. The most gripping stories come from personal experience, especially if you’re thinking of writing a personal narrative essay. Think about a memory from your past that includes some inciting incident. If this is the first time you come across this phrase, inciting incidents are typically the metaphorical “ hooks ” of the story that have the audience interested in your text.

You could talk about your experience working as a volunteer, for example, or if you aren’t the volunteering type, you can write about some exciting memories from your childhood and summer vacations. Have you taken a trip abroad that has really left an impression on you? Are you drawn to different cultures because of that exotic trip? Maybe you went to visit a museum of your favourite artist, and this has inspired you to become an artist yourself. Perhaps you were immersed by the sound of a different language and decided to have a go at it. What have you enjoyed the most in the process? What did you hate about it? Perhaps you tried acquiring a new skill, but it went completely the wrong way for you. The list goes on and on.

There’s something there. Just remember the golden rule: always be honest in your personal essays . Trying to change your viewpoint on a subject so that it fits the masses’ opinion won’t make your personal essay enticing. The topic you’ll talk about in your personal essay is extremely important and so is the first sentence. Writing phrases such as “ever since I was a baby, I wanted to become a doctor” isn’t convincing or truthful. Try not to stick to clichés. You want to make an impression with your text, so ask yourself: What would grab your attention if you were reading your persuasive essay? I always think of Charles Dickens’ first sentence from A Christmas Carol : “Marley was dead: to begin with.” It begs for explanation and resolve, and it’s short and simple. The same should go for the personal essay entry sentence.

Why Choose Personal Persuasive Topics for Your Essay

If you’re wondering why you should choose personal persuasive topics for your essay, the answer lies in the question. We are a narrative-oriented society, and much of our relatability comes from convincingly expressing to others our individual, personal experience. What better way to let your personality shine than through conveying your emotions and adventures in a gripping story?

Personal experience essay topics vary depending on your age, and it’s quite likely that a story that worked for a high school assignment won’t have the same effect in your university days. That’s why in the sections below, we have divided the best personal essay topics into different categories. That way, you can easily navigate across all topics (and there’s quite a lot of them – a total of 242 ), but don’t let that restrict you. If you’re confident, you can always choose a topic from any of the categories.

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Of course, there are other important takeaways from writing a great personal essay. Usually, your teacher or admissions officer will look out that you have successfully done the following:

Communicated and implemented your critical thinking skills
Spoken convincingly and from experience about challenging themes that make you stand out from the crowd
Demonstrated your creativity and unique voice all the while applying persuasive techniques in your writing

With all this in mind, you can now start by selecting the right type of personal essay topic from our categories. We have included everything from personal essay topics for middle school to personal essay topics for high school, as well as narrative essay topics and many more. Go on, what are you waiting for?

Personal narrative essays are a great way to tell your unique take on a personal story. You just have to choose a project you feel passionate about. Typically, choosing a story involving your success and personality growth is your best bet, but of course, always make sure to check that your topic is suitable for the task given by your tutors. If you’re wondering what topics are suitable for a great personal narrative essay, check out the following ideas:

Starting your first job
Volunteering for the first time
A memorable teacher that made an impact on you
A dangerous experience
Your first journey abroad/to the countryside
An experience that changed your behavior
An experience that made you gain/lose religious faith
A comedic situation based on some misunderstanding
Events from your summer vacation that changed your life
The first time you got a pet
The experience of meeting your little sibling for the first time
A time when you decided what your future job will be
The change of a relationship with some you didn’t expect you’d like
The first time you experienced a dangerous event of some kind
The first time you won something
Your experience participating in a sport/political/environmental design
A story about a teacher who inspired you
A story about a family member who is dear to you
Your experience of being in charge of something for the first time
Your experience traveling on your own for the first time
How a book you read changed your life
How the most exciting subject in school changed your life
How technology changed the way you access information
The first time you experienced an earthquake or tornado
A story about someone who has become your patron/idol
Your reaction/opinion on an event that influenced your country
A moment you caught someone in a lie
An episode that changed your relationship with your parents
An event which showed you taking responsibility and leadership
An event in which you face discrimination
An experience of successfully fighting procrastination
A time when you helped people in a crisis
The experience of creating secret places in your childhood
An experience playing your favorite game
A time you got lost
Your first time going on a trip by yourself
The influence of technology on your younger siblings vs you
What you would do if you won the lottery for the first time
Your best childhood memory
Your experience of discovering a disability for the first time
A secret talent you have
Your experience learning a musical instrument
Your experience with an inexplicable event that happened to you
A story about the greatest fear you have
How your favorite work of art inspires you
The best advice you have heard in your life
A place you would go to if you could travel in time
A story about the most beautiful place you have visited
Something you witnessed in your lifetime that you will never forget
Your favorite holiday experience
Your most awkward moment in college
Your biggest fear
The most crucial lesson in your life
Your experience of being betrayed by someone and your response to it
An advice your parents gave you that wasn’t useful
Describe your biggest moment of failure
Your biggest argument with a family member
A difficult decision you have made
The day you realized you had made a best friend
The most interesting dream you have had

Personal experience essays aren’t that much different from personal narrative essays. They still have an element of narrative storytelling within them, but this time, they focus more on a level of experience you have gained because of a certain event. Usually, personal experience essay topics are focused around the theme of personal development. Many things can be described and included in a personal narrative essay, and you not only are given the opportunity to demonstrate your personal views on a subject, but you can also have your level of determination and ambition evaluated by a professional teacher or college admissions officer. Usually, personal narrative essay papers are written when submitting a college application, but it’s also possible to receive such an essay in school. In my personal experience, some of the greatest essays presenting an intellectual challenge are in fact the personal experience essays.

Let’s get straight into some essay prompts:

How do you handle stress when attending an important exam?
Which school subject motivated you to study hard?
Did a teacher have a significant influence on your confidence in selecting a career?
Is homework a waste of time?
How would you go about doing research for an essay?
What motivates you to study and pursue your dreams?
Everyone has a plan “A” when it comes to choosing a career. What is your plan “B”?
How has your biggest failure shaped your personality today?
What is your biggest accomplishment outside of college/school, and how did you come to achieve it?
What is the difference between female and male roles in your family? In what way would you change them?
How did a book/film change your worldview?
What role have teams and clubs had in your life?
What role has television had in your life?
What is your relationship with social media?
How have moments of racial or religious discrimination affected you?

Personal argumentative essay topics are generally given to college students or sometimes to people applying for a degree in Humanitarian Sciences. Such essays are a great way for admission officers to evaluate your knowledge of current events and relevant social discussions. Personal argumentative essay topics are usually considered more difficult than narrative essays, for example. For more argumentative ideas and speech topics , check the guide! Thus, if you’re planning on taking up this challenge, make sure you have enough time to prepare. If you have a whole term to prepare for this personal argumentative essay topic, you’ll surely be able to tackle it. Also, if that sounds too engaging, don’t worry, there are plenty of other, easier essay ideas on our lists!

Check out our example personal argumentative essay prompts for argumentative essay topics:

Should prisons be abolished? If so, what is the negative and positive impact of this global decision?
How does higher education affect the merit in meritocracy?
Should artificial intelligence be applied actively in warfare?
Does revolution go hand in hand with violence?
Has the COVID-19 pandemic made us more prepared for the prevention of future epidemics occurring worldwide?
In what way has the instant gratification of social media changed our relationship to technology?
How has the digital age changed children’s relationship to empathy?
What would the impact of a potential legalization of productivity drugs look like in current society?
Is there a difference in work performance between Ivy League alumni and lower-ranking university students?
Is obesity preventable?
Is gun control a necessary method for the prevention of shootings?
Should everyone have the right to vote?
Should the right to vote be exclusively available to people with some form of education?
Does the #metoo movement yield meaningful social change?
Is knife control a necessary and sufficient method of knife crime prevention?
How can the value of digital collectible art be accurately determined?
Is fan fiction writing real writing?
Do all students need to learn a foreign language?
Should students take a gap year between high school and university?
Why should universities teach financial literacy?
Should students participate in the maintenance of school property?

Personal cause-and-effect essay topics are pretty self-explanatory. You’re aiming to express your opinion on a subject that has a cause, for example, supposedly, school uniforms are meant to cause discipline among students. Exercising and backing up your opinion on this essay idea will make it personal. Here is a detailed guide on how to write a great cause and effect essay . Think of a topic that excites you. It could be something you’re unhappy with or something you think is unjust.

Here are personal cause-and-effect essay topics we came up with:

How can video games boost people’s IQ?
Can a personal relationship in a family improve with phone use?
Can going to college make for happier marriages?
How can the involvement of a parent change a child’s education?
How have smartphones impacted general communication?
What is the effect of cookies, and does it make people shop more?
What is the effect of tablets on young children?
What is the effect of mobile usage during class?
Why can’t another popular engine be established in place of Google?
What is the effect of the financial success Disney has had in the last 30 years?
Should dating in school be banned?
Can living together before marriage make a relationship between partners stronger?
Can a couple sleeping in separate beds have a healthy relationship?
What is the effect of bullying on mental health?
What is the cause of bullying behavior?
Why shouldn’t women have to work after an abortion or miscarriage?
What is the impact of smoking on a pregnant mother ?
How can the presence of acne affect the life of a teenager? What about an adult?
Why do some people avoid vaccines?
What causes a lack of interest in sports?
How can teenagers better protect themselves against cyberbullies?
What causes certain social media apps to lose popularity?
Can continuous sporting activities cause character development?
Is “cancel culture” sparking meaningful change?
What is the root cause of racism?
Why is it essential to manage forest fires?
What are the harmful effects of antill hunting on the ecosystem?
Why is it important for everyone to conserve water?
What is the environmental impact of a single-use plastic ban?
Can a long-distance relationship work?
What are the causes and effects of cheating during exams?
Is it a necessity to have an obligatory Sex Ed class ?
How has the Internet changed the public’s sexual education?
Should there be student bars on campus?
Should work become mandatory for anyone over the age of 18?
What causes some sports to be more popular among students than others?
What are the effects of using computers and tablets in school? What about university?
Have libraries become more popular over the last few years?
What caused the General Data Protection Regulation, and why is it necessary?
What are the effects of online dating apps such as Tinder or Grindr?
What are the effects of drugs and alcohol on people?
Should people be allowed to drive after drinking a single unit of alcohol?
What are the effects of a family structure on an individual?
Does having a sibling make a person more responsible?
Are siblings better at sharing?
How has the golden child syndrome affected millennials?
How can teachers positively and negatively affect student lives?
What are the root causes of commitment phobia in men and women?
What is the effect of social media on romantic relationships?
How does eating fast food affect the energy levels of an individual?

Unlike personal cause-and-effect essay topics, personal persuasive essay topics aim to convince the reader that your opinion is right. This type of academic writing assignment explains a particular problem and uses research combined with personal experience in order to end up with a powerful persuasive conclusion. Through logic and convincing evidence, as well as always keeping in mind the goal of persuasion, you can write a powerful assignment.

Here are some personal persuasive essay ideas to choose from for your next writing assignment:

Is chess considered a sport or a game?
How is modern music not as well-composed as music from the past, such as the 1970s?
Is it important to put PG labels on music tracks or films?
Elaborate on the importance of the right education when playing professional music.
Is animal hunting an immoral hobby?
Is it a good idea to keep pets indoors?
The cruelty behind testing beauty products on animals
Is it ethical to breed animals for sale?
Schools have to reduce the amount of homework assigned to students.
SATs and ACTs are not effective ways of examining the knowledge of students.
There should be an Emotional Intelligence mandatory class for all years.
Vaccines can lead to autism.
Astrology isn’t an effective way of predicting future events.
All transport vehicles should be automatic or electric.
Can distant online learning replace traditional classes?
Working from home is better for finance but worse for mental health.
The current taxation system is unfair.
Listening to music when writing homework is an effective way of sparking productivity
Hustle culture has taxing effects on mental health.
People volunteer for their personal benefit, instead of kindness
People who have survived a near-death experience have a newfound appreciation for life.
Is “fake it until you make it” a healthy way of progressing?
Why do people lie on their resumes?
Why book reading during summer vacations should become mandatory.
Weekends should change from 2 days to 3 days.
Why we should be making selective school sports mandatory in school.
Cooking and body health classes should be mandatory subjects in school.
Can e-books and Kindles replace physical books?
Should the death penalty exist?
Why should children have chores?
Why should it be made mandatory for children to contribute to the overall maintenance, cleanliness, and gardening of schools?

When choosing a personal essay topic, it’s important to take on subjects and ideas related to your age. Some topics require a lot more research, while others can be a little too sensitive for a younger writer. Selecting the right one for you will leave you with less workload and can guarantee you a better grade. Of course, if you feel confident and knowledgeable enough, you can try your skills with a more difficult essay idea. Paper writing can be a difficult intellectual challenge, but we’re sure that with these essay ideas, you’ll be able to tell your personal story and write a great essay:

How did you make a best friend?
A special top-secret place you have.
A story of a time a friend let you down.
A time when you disappointed someone.
What is your happiest memory?
Your first time receiving a pet.
Your bravest moment.
A time you felt embarrassed.
What would you do if you were omnipotent?
What would you do if you could switch lives with someone? Who would it be?
How did a book change your life?
What would you do if your pet could talk?
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
If you could shapeshift into an animal, what would you be? What would you do?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Would you change anything?
What’s your secret talent?
The first time you fell in love.
An accident that changed your life.
Talk about the ugliest thing you have seen.
Talk about the most influential family member.
Talk about your favorite gift.
Talk about something you can’t resist.
Talk about a guest you had in your house that you’ll never forget.
Talk about the hardest news you’ve had to deliver.
Talk about a special gift you have received.
Talk about something that if your mum knew, you’d be in a lot of trouble. A lot.
If you could volunteer anywhere, where would it be?
If you won a million dollars, how would you spend them?
What is an unexplained event that stuck with you?
The one thing you can’t resist.
If you could be a superhero, what power would you have? Why?
If you could teleport anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Personal Essay Topics for High School Students and College Students

This list of personal essay topics for high school students will definitely inspire you to practice your personal essay skills. Covering topics like communication, ethical consumption, personal experience and more, you’ll be able to gain new ideas and express your deepest thoughts within the confines of the page. These personal essay topics for high school students are also a great way of reflecting on your growth and personal opinion, while expressing your thoughts and opinions.

What inspires you?
What inanimate object best embodies you?
What’s one thing your parents don’t understand about you?
What is the one quality a good person must have?
Describe the best decision you ever made
What is one thing you would change that you know will make a great difference in your life?
How do you respond to criticism? Talk about a time you were critiqued.
Do you feel the impact of peer pressure in your life? How is it manifested?
Are you religious, an atheist, or agnostic? Why and why not?
Do you feel comfortable in your body? Do you feel pressure from the media about how you “should” look?
What are your views on ethical consumption? Does it matter to you?
What are your views on veganism?
Do you feel like your friends are honest with each other? Why and why not?
When you look back on your time in high school, what part will you remember with fondness?
If you could tell your 12-year-old self something, what would it be and why?
Do you have a dream profession? What is it?
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Do you believe in “soulmates”? Why and why not?
What is your dream goal? Do you feel like you’ll ever achieve it?
Do you believe in the concept of “best friends”? Why and why not?
Do you believe in astrology? Why and why not?
What do you think the world will look like in 100 years?
If you could bring to life any famous historical figure and spend the day with them, who would you pick, and what would you do?
If you could go back in time, would you kill Hitler?
What TV series you saw recently made an impression on you? Why?
What part of high school do you wish you could get rid of?
If you could start your own business, what would you do?
What issues truly motivate you and why?
If you were an admissions officer, what positive qualities would you look for in students?
What period of school do you think is most important?
What is your dream profession? What are it’s positives and negatives?
Do you think the world can function without money? What would that alternative universe look like?
Do you think all students should go to college? Why?

Writing essays is a great way to showcase your writing skills, as well as clearly communicate your views and ideas. Personal essay writing improves your debating, logical, and deductive skills, so it’s important that you select a topic you’re passionate about and inspired by. This will give you enough fuel to power through the most difficult essay topics while at the same time enjoy what you’re writing about. We hope you enjoyed our personal persuasive essay topics! Make sure to bookmark and come back to this personal essay ideas list in the future when you’re given an assignment! Here are some more college essay topics , check them out!

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student opinion

550 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing

Questions that invite students to tell stories, describe memories, make observations, imagine possibilities, and reflect on who they are and what they believe.

By The Learning Network

Update, Sept. 9, 2022: We published a new collection of 445 narrative and personal writing prompts.

We’ve been posting fresh writing prompts every school day for over a decade now, and every so often we create a themed collection like this one to help you find what you need all in one place.

This fall, in honor of our new narrative-writing unit and our first-ever Personal Narrative Essay Contest for teenagers, we’ve rounded up 550 evergreen questions on everything from family, friendships and growing up to gender, spirituality, money, school, sports, social media, travel, dating, food, health and more. (They’re also all available here as a PDF .)

We hope they’ll inspire you, whether you’re entering our related contest or just want to improve your writing skills. Like all our Student Opinion questions , each links to a related Times article, which is free to read if you access it from our site.

So dive in and pick the questions that most inspire you to tell an interesting story, describe a memorable event, observe the details in your world, imagine a possibility, or reflect on who you are and what you believe.

Overcoming Adversity

1. How Resilient Are You? 2. What Do You Do When You Encounter Obstacles to Success? 3. When Have You Failed? What Did You Learn From It? 4. Have You Ever Felt Like an Outsider? 5. What Are Your Secret Survival Strategies? 6. When Have You Reinvented Yourself? 7. How Often Do You Leave Your ‘Comfort Zone’? 8. When Was the Last Time You Did Something That Scared or Challenged You? 9. How Do You Handle Fear? 10. What Do You Gain From Pursuing Something You Do Really, Really Badly? 11. Do You Give Yourself Enough Credit for Your Own Successes? 12. How Often Do You Cry? 13. How Do You Cope With Grief? 14. How Have You Handled Being the ‘New Kid’? 15. How Do You Deal With Haters? 16. How Do You React When Provoked? 17. Does Stress Affect Your Ability to Make Good Decisions? 18. Are You Too Hard on Yourself? 19. How Do You Find Peace in Your Life? 20. Does Your Life Leave You Enough Time to Relax? 21. What Did You Once Hate but Now Like? 22. Do Adults Who Are ‘Only Trying to Help’ Sometimes Make Things Worse? 23. How Well Do You Take Criticism?

Your Personality

24. What Motivates You? 25. What Makes You Happy? 26. What Are You Good At? 27. How Do You Deal With Boredom? 28. Do You Like Being Alone? 29. How Full Is Your Glass? 30. Do You Have a Hard Time Making Decisions? 31. How Much Self-Control Do You Have? 32. Are You a Patient Person? 33. How Well Do Rewards and Incentives Work to Motivate You? 34. How Productive and Organized Are You? 35. Under What Conditions Do You Do Your Best Work? 36. How Do You Express Yourself Creatively? 37. Do You Hold Grudges? 38. How Good Are You at Judging Your Own Talents? 39. How Emotionally Intelligent Are You? 40. Do You Take More Risks When You Are Around Your Friends? 41. Are You a Procrastinator? 42. What Role Does Envy Play in Your Life? 43. How Much of a Daredevil Are You? 44. Are You a Perfectionist? 45. How Impulsive Are You? 46. Are You a Novelty-Seeker? 47. What Annoys You? 48. Do You Apologize Too Much? 49. What Animal Are You Most Like? 50. How Materialistic Are You? 51. How Easy — or Hard — Is It for You to Say No When You Want To? 52. Are You a Hoarder or a Minimalist? 53. Are You an Introvert or an Extrovert? 54. Are You Popular, Quirky or Conformist? 55. How Good Is Your Sense of Direction? 56. How Competitive Are You? 57. What Assumptions Do People Make About You? 58. Are You More of a Leader or a Follower?

59. What Are Your Hobbies? 60. What Are Your Passions? 61. What Would You Choose to Do If You Had Unlimited Free Time and No Restrictions? 62. Are There Activities You Used to Love That Are Now So Competitive They’re Not Fun Anymore? 63. What Activities Make You Feel Most Alive? 64. What Do You Collect? 65. What Work, Sport or Pastime Do You Like to Do at Night?

66. Do You Wish You Had a Different Morning Routine? 67. What Ordinary Moments Would You Include in a Video About Your Life? 68. What Are Your Best ‘Life Hacks’? 69. Do You Spend Enough Time With Other People? 70. How Do You Greet Your Friends and Family? 71. How Do You Remember What You Need to Remember? 72. What’s Your Sunday Routine? 73. How Often Do You Talk to Yourself? 74. When and For What Reasons Do You Seek Silence? 75. What Habits Do You Have, and Have You Ever Tried to Change Them? 76. What Small Things Have You Seen and Taken Note Of Today? 77. What Are the Sounds That Make Up the Background Noise in Your Life? 78. What Sounds Annoy You? 79. What Public Behavior Annoys You Most? 80. What Are Some Recent Moments of Happiness in Your Life? 81. What Are You Grateful For?

Role Models

82. What Heroic Acts Have You Performed or Witnessed? 83. What Are Some ‘Words of Wisdom’ That Guide Your Life? 84. Who Outside Your Family Has Made a Difference in Your Life? 85. What Does the World Need to Know About an Important Person in Your Life? 86. To Whom, or What, Would You Like to Write a Thank-You Note? 87. What Does Dr. King’s Legacy Mean to You? 88. What Six People, Living or Dead, Would You Invite to Dinner? 89. Who’s Your ‘Outsider Role Model’?

90. How Do You Define ‘Family’? 91. What Events Have Brought You Closer to Your Family? 92. What Have You and Your Family Accomplished Together? 93. What Is Your Relationship With Your Siblings Like? 94. Have You Ever Felt Pressured by Family or Others in Making an Important Decision About Your Future? 95. What Possessions Does Your Family Treasure? 96. What Hobbies Have Been Passed Down in Your Family? 97. What’s the Story Behind Your Name? 98. How Have You Paid Tribute to Loved Ones? 99. What Family Traditions Do You Want to Carry On When You Get Older? 100. Did Your Parents Have a Life Before They Had Kids? 101. How Much Do You Know About Your Family’s History? 102. Where Would You Visit To Find Out More About Your Family’s Past?

Parents & Parenting

103. How Close Are You to Your Parents? 104. How Are You and Your Parents Alike and Different? 105. How Much Freedom Have Your Parents Given You? 106. Do You Push Your Parents’ Buttons? 107. How Often Do You Fight With Your Parents? 108. Are Your Parents Addicted to Their Phones? 109. Is Your Family Stressed, Tired and Rushed? 110. How Do You Get What You Want From Your Parents? 111. Do You Ever Feel Embarrassed by Your Parents? 112. Do Your Parents Try Too Hard to Be Cool? 113. Do Your Parents Support Your Learning? 114. Do Your Parents Yell at You? 115. Do You Want Your Parents to Stop Asking You ‘How Was School?’ 116. How Much Do Your Parents Help With Your Homework? 117. How Has Your Family Helped or Hindered Your Transition to a New School? 118. Have Your Parents and Teachers Given You Room to Create? 119. Are You Conforming to or Rebelling Against Your Parents’ Wishes for You? 120. What Advice Do You Have for Teenagers and Their Parents? 121. Do Your Parents Spy on You?

Your Neighborhood

122. What’s Special About Your Hometown? 123. Who Are the ‘Characters’ That Make Your Town Interesting? 124. What Marketing Slogan Would You Use for Your Town or City? 125. After Home and School, Where Do You Find the Strongest Feeling of Community? 126. What Do the Types of Dogs in Your Neighborhood Say About Where You Live? 127. Who Is the ‘Mayor’ of Your School or Neighborhood? 128. How Much Does Your Neighborhood Define Who You Are? 129. What ‘Urban Legends’ Are There About Places in Your Area? 130. Do You Know Your Way Around Your City or Town? 131. How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors? 132. What Is Your Favorite Place? 133. What’s Your Favorite Neighborhood Joint? 134. What Is Your Favorite Street? 135. Do You Hang Out in the Park? 136. What Buildings Do You Love? What Buildings Do You Hate? 137. Have You Ever Interacted With the Police? 138. What Ideas Do You Have for Enhancing Your Community? 139. Where Do You Think You Will Live When You Are an Adult? 140. Would You Most Want to Live in a City, a Suburb or the Country?

141. What is Your Favorite Place in Your House? 142. Do You Wish You Had the Go-to House? 143. Do You Need to De-Clutter Your Life? 144. Do You Plan on Saving Any of Your Belongings for the Future? 145. Is Your Bedroom a Nightmare? 146. What Would You Grab in a Fire? 147. Do You Think You Might Like Communal Living When You’re an Adult? 148. Who Lived Long Ago Where You Live Now? 149. What Would Your Dream Home Be Like? 150. What City or Town Most Captures Your Imagination?

Childhood Memories

151. What Was Your Most Precious Childhood Possession? 152. What Objects Tell the Story of Your Life? 153. Have You Ever Given, or Received, a Perfect Gift? 154. What Were Your Favorite Picture Books When You Were Little? 155. What’s the Best Party You’ve Ever Been To? 156. What Places Do You Remember Fondly From Childhood? 157. What Food or Flavor Do You Remember Tasting for the First Time? 158. What Do You Wish You Could See, Hear, Read or Experience for the First Time All Over Again? 159. Have You Ever Felt Embarrassed by Things You Used to Like? 160. Do You Wish You Could Return to Moments From Your Past? 161. Was There a Toy You Wanted as a Child but Never Got? 162. What Childhood Rules Did You Break? 163. What Is the Most Memorable Thing You Have Ever Lost or Found? 164. What Is Your Earliest Memory? 165. What Nicknames Have You Ever Gotten or Given? 166. What Are Your Best Sleepover Memories? 167. What Old, Worn Out Thing Can You Just Not Part With? 168. What Is Your Most Prized Possession?

169. What Have You Learned in Your Teens? 170. What Rites of Passage Mark the Transition to Adulthood in Your Community? 171. What Letter of Inspiration Would You Write to Your Younger Self? 172. Do You Hate When Adults Ask You What You Want to Be When You Grow Up? 173. Do You Look Forward to Old Age? 174. What Can Older People Learn From Your Generation? 175. What Have You Learned From Older People? 176. What Advice Do You Have for Younger Students? 177. Do You Recognize Yourself in Descriptions of ‘Generation Z’? 178. Do Other People Care Too Much About Your Post-High School Plans? 179. Do You Have ‘Emerging Adult’ Skills? 180. What Do Older Generations Misunderstand About Teenagers Today? 181. What Have You Learned From a Younger Person — and What Have You Taught An Older Person? 182. What Legacy Do You Want to Leave Behind?

Morality & Ethics

183. What Ethical Dilemmas Have You Faced? 184. Have You Ever Taken a Stand That Isolated You From Your Peers? 185. Have You Ever Donated Your Time, Talents, Possessions or Money to Support Anyone in Need? 186. What Acts of Kindness Have You Witnessed or Participated In? 187. Have You Ever ‘Paid It Forward’? 188. How Would You Like to Help Our World? 189. What Would You Invent to Make the World a Better Place? 190. What Would You Risk Your Life For? 191. How Trustworthy Are You? 192. How Comfortable Are You With Lying? 193. When Do You Lie? 194. Have You Ever Lied to Your Parents or Done Something Behind Their Backs? 195. If You Drink or Use Drugs, Do Your Parents Know? 196. Have You Ever Taken Something You Weren’t Supposed To? 197. Do You Ever Eavesdrop? 198. Do You Know How to Say ‘I’m Sorry?’

Religion, Spirituality & Beliefs

199. What Is the Role of Religion or Spirituality in Your Life? 200. How Often Do You Start Conversations about Faith or Spirituality? 201. Do You Believe That Everything Happens for a Reason? 202. How Much Control Do You Think You Have Over Your Fate? 203. Can You Be Good Without God? 204. Can You Pass a Basic Religion Test? 205. What Can You Learn From Other Religions? 206. What Legends and Myths Do You Believe In? 207. Do You Believe in Astrology? 208. Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Gender, Race & Sexuality

209. Do You Feel Constricted by Gender Norms? 210. Do Parents Have Different Hopes and Standards for Their Sons Than for Their Daughters? 211. Have You Ever Been Told You Couldn’t Do Something Because of Your Gender? 212. Is There Too Much Pressure on Girls to Have ‘Perfect’ Bodies? 213. How Much Pressure Do Boys Face to Have the Perfect Body? 214. What Experiences Have You Had With Gender Bias in School? 215. What Does it Mean to Be ‘a Real Man’? 216. What Have You Learned From the Women in Your Life? 217. What Messages About Gender Have You Gotten From Music? 218. How Do You Feel About Being Told to Smile? 219. Have You Ever Tried to Hide Your Racial or Ethnic Identity? 220. Do You Ever Talk About Issues of Race and Class With Your Friends? 221. Have You Experienced Racism or Other Kinds of Discrimination in School? 222. What Has Your Sex Education Been Like?

Money & Social Class

223. What Are Your Attitudes Toward Money? 224. Are You a Saver or a Spender? 225. What Have Your Parents Taught You About Money? 226. Do You Expect Your Parents to Give You Money? 227. How Important a Role Has Money, Work or Social Class Played in Your Life? 228. Do You See Great Disparities of Wealth in Your Community? 229. Can Money Buy You Happiness? 230. What Are the Best Things in Life and Are They Free? 231. What Are Your Expectations About Earning, Saving and Spending Money? 232. How Much Financial Help Do You Expect From Your Parents in the Future? 233. What Choices Do You Make About Money Every Day?

234. Are You Distracted by Technology? 235. Are You Distracted by Your Phone? 236. Are You ‘Addicted’ to Texting? 237. Do Screens Get in the Way of the Rest of Your Life? 238. Do You Experience FOMO When You Unplug? 239. Could You Go a Year Without a Smartphone? 240. Is Your Phone Love Hurting Your Relationships? 241. How Much of Your Day is Voluntarily Spent Screen-Free? 242. To What Piece of Technology Would You Write a ‘Love Letter’?

The Internet

243. How Do You Know if What You Read Online Is True? 244. How Much Do You Trust Online Reviews? 245. What Has YouTube Taught You? 246. What Would You Teach the World in an Online Video? 247. Do You Worry About Your Digital Privacy? 248. Do You Listen to Podcasts? 249. Would You Share an Embarrassing Story Online? 250. Do You Leave Funny Comments Online? 251. What Are Your Experiences With Internet-Based Urban Legends? 252. How Do You Use Wikipedia? 253. Have You Ever Been Scammed? 254. Whom Would You Share Your Passwords With? 255. Do You Ever Seek Advice on the Internet? 256. What Are Your Favorite Viral Videos?

Social Media

257. What Role Does Instagram Play in Your Life? 258. Do You Have ‘Instagram Envy’? 259. Do the Adults in Your Life Follow You on Social Media? 260. Have You Ever Gone to a Place for the Primary Purpose of Taking Selfies? 261. Who Is Your Favorite Social Media Star? 262. How Much Do You Trust the Celebrities and Social Media Stars You Follow? 263. Are You the Same Person on Social Media as You Are in Real Life? 264. What Memorable Experiences Have You Had on Facebook? 265. Why Do You Share Photos? 266. How Do You Archive Your Life? 267. Have You Ever Posted, Emailed or Texted Something You Wish You Could Take Back? 268. Have You Ever Sent an Odd Message Because of Auto-Correct? 269. Would You Want Your Photo or Video to Go Viral? 270. Do You Worry Colleges or Employers Might Read Your Social Media Posts Someday? 271. What Advice Do You Have for Younger Kids About Navigating Social Media?

272. What Are Your Earliest Memories of Music? 273. Who in Your Life Introduces You to New Music? 274. How Much Is Your Taste in Music Based on What Your Friends Like? 275. What Role Does Hip-Hop Play in Your Life? 276. What’s Your Karaoke Song? 277. How Closely Do You Listen to Lyrics? 278. What Is Your Favorite Musical Instrument? 279. What Would You Name Your Band?

Movies, Television & Video Games

280. What Have You Learned About Life From Watching Movies? 281. What Is Your Favorite Sports Movie? 282. Do You Like Horror Movies? 283. What Are Your Favorite TV Shows? 284. What Role Does Television Play in Your Life and the Life of Your Family? 285. What Stereotypical Characters Make You Cringe? 286. Have You Fallen Into ‘Friends’ or Any Other Older Television Shows? 287. How Much Are You Influenced by Advertising? 288. Do You Play Violent Video Games? 289. Who Are Your Opponents in Online Gaming? 290. What Classic Video Games Do You Still Enjoy Playing? 291. Are You a Fortnite Addict? 292. Do You Gamify Your Life?

Books & Reading

293. Read Any Good Books Lately? 294. What Books Do You Think Every Teenager Should Read? 295. What Role Have Books Played in Your Life? 296. Has a Novel Ever Helped You Understand Yourself or Your World Better? 297. Has a Book, Movie, Television Show, Song or Video Game Ever Inspired You to Do Something New? 298. What Book Would You Add to the High School Curriculum? 299. What Have You Learned from Comics? 300. Do You Read or Write Poetry? 301. What Is the Scariest Story You Have Ever Heard?

302. What Purpose Does Writing Serve in Your Life? 303. Do You Keep a Diary or Journal? 304. Do You Want to Write a Book? 305. When Do You Write by Hand? 306. Do You Write in Cursive? 307. Do You Write in Your Books? 308. What ‘Mundane Moments’ From Your Life Might Make Great Essay Material? 309. What Is Your Most Memorable Writing Assignment? 310. Do You Ever Write About Challenges You Face in Life? 311. What’s Your Favorite Joke? 312. If You Had a Column in The New York Times, What Would You Write About? 313. What Would You Write in a Letter to the Editor?

314. What Has Arts Education Done For You? 315. What Work of Art Has Changed Your Life? 316. What Are the Most Memorable Works of Visual Art You Have Seen? 317. Who Is Your Favorite Visual Artist? What Is Your Favorite Work of Art? 318. Which Photograph Stays In Your Memory? 319. What Would You Like to Learn to Make by Hand? 320. Are You Intimidated by Classical Music and Art? 321. Do You Love to Dance? 322. Have You Ever Performed for an Audience or Shared Creative Work With Others? 323. Have You Ever Stumbled Upon a Cool Public Performance? 324. What Show Do You Wish Your School Would Stage?

Language & Speech

325. What’s Your Favorite Word? 326. What Words Do You Hate? 327. Do You Say ‘Kind of, Sort of’ More Than You Realize? 328. What Makes a Great Conversation? 329. How Often Do You Have ‘Deep Discussions’? 330. Do You Wish Your Conversations Were Less Small Talk and More ‘Big Talk’? 331. How Much Information Is ‘Too Much Information’? 332. How Good Are You at Coming Up With Witty Comebacks? 333. Do You Sometimes ‘Hide’ Behind Irony? 334. How Good Is Your Grammar? 335. Do You Speak a Second, or Third, Language? 336. What Does Your Body Language Communicate?

337. Do You Like School? 338. Are You Stressed About School? 339. Are High School Students Being Worked Too Hard? 340. Would You Want to Go to a School Like This One? 341. How Much Do You Speak Up in School? 342. What ‘Pop-Up’ Classes Do You Wish Your School Offered? 343. Is Your School a Safe Learning Space? 344. Would You Want to Be Home-Schooled? 345. What Can Other Schools Learn — and Copy — From Your School? 346. What Do You Hope to Get Out of High School? 347. What Are Your Thoughts on Riding the School Bus? 348. Do You Feel Your School and Teachers Welcome Both Conservative and Liberal Points of View? 349. Do You Want to Be ‘Promposed’ To? 350. How Big a Problem Is Bullying or Cyberbullying in Your School or Community? 351. Can Students at Your School Talk Openly About Their Mental Health Issues? 352. What Career or Technical Classes Do You Wish Your School Offered?

Learning & Studying

353. Do You Have Too Much Homework? 354. Do You Need a Homework Therapist? 355. What’s the Most Challenging Assignment You’ve Ever Had? 356. Are You Afraid of Math? 357. How Would You Do on a Civics Test? 358. What Was Your Favorite Field Trip? 359. What Are Your Best Tips for Studying? 360. What Kind of Time Management Skills Are You Learning from the Adults in Your Life? 361. What Would You Like to Have Memorized?

362. What Do You Wish Your Teachers Knew About You? 363. When Has a Teacher Inspired You? 364. What Teacher Would You Like to Thank? 365. Have You Ever Been Humiliated by a Teacher? How Did it Affect You? 366. Have Your Teachers or Textbooks Ever Gotten It Wrong? 367. Does Your Teacher’s Identity Affect Your Learning? 368. Has a Teacher Ever Changed Your Mind-Set? 369. Do You Have a Tutor?

370. What Personal Essay Topic Would You Assign to College Applicants? 371. How Prepared Are You For College? How Well Do You Think You’ll Do? 372. What Worries You Most About the College Admissions Process? 373. What Worries Do You Have About College? 374. What Role Has Community College Played in Your Life or the Life of Someone You Know? 375. What Qualities Would You Look For in a College Roommate? 376. Would You Want to Take a Gap Year After High School? 377. Do You Intend to Study Abroad While You Are in College? 378. Are You Worried About the Rising Cost of Attending College? 379. Do You Want Your Parents to Live Nearby When You Go to College? 380. What Specialty College Would You Create?

Work & Careers

381. What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? 382. Do You Have a Life Calling? 383. What’s Your Dream Job? 384. Would You Pursue a Career If You Knew You Likely Would Not Make Much Money? 385. What Jobs Are You Most Curious About? 386. Will You Follow in Your Parents’ Footsteps? 387. Would You Consider Moving Overseas for a Job? 388. Would You Want to Be a Teacher? 389. Would You Rather Work From Home or in an Office? 390. What ‘Back-to-the-Land’ Skills Do You Have, or Wish You Had? 391. What Skill Could You Teach in Two Minutes? 392. What Have You Made Yourself? 393. Do You Have an Idea for a Business or App? 394. How Did You Start Doing Something You Love? 395. Did You Ever Take a Break From Doing Something You Love? 396. Would You Quit if Your Values Did Not Match Your Employer’s? 397. Do Your Summer Plans Include Employment?

398. Do You Have Satisfying Friendships? 399. How Alike Are You and Your Friends? 400. Do You Have Any Unlikely Friendships? 401. Do You Like Your Friends? 402. Do You Have a Best Friend? 403. Have You Ever Been Left Out? 404. Do You Ever Feel Lonely? 405. How Often Do You Spend One-on-One Time With Your Closest Friends? 406. How Do You Feel About Introducing Friends from Different Parts of Your Life? 407. Do You Find It Easier to Make New Friends Online or In Person? 408. How Good a Friend Are You? 409. How Have You Helped a Friend in a Time of Need? 410. Is Competitiveness an Obstacle to Making or Keeping Friendships? 411. How Should You Handle the End of a Friendship?

412. Are You Allowed to Date? 413. Is Dating a Thing of the Past? 414. What Advice Would You Give to Somebody Who Just Started Dating? 415. How Do You Think Technology Affects Dating? 416. Have You Ever Been in Love? 417. How Much of a Romantic Are You? 418. Have You Ever Been Ghosted? 419. What’s the Best Way to Get Over a Breakup? 420. Would You Want to Be Proposed to on a Jumbotron? 421. If You Get Married Someday, Do You Think You Will Change Your Last Name?

Sports & Games

422. Why Do You Play Sports? 423. Have You Ever Learned Something From a Professional Athlete? 424. How Would You Change Your Favorite Sport? 425. Does Being a Fan Help Define Who You Are? 426. What Kinds of Games and Puzzles Do You Like? 427. What Are Your Favorite Board Games? 428. Are You a Good Driver?

429. Where Do You Want to Travel? 430. What Is Your Most Memorable Family Vacation? 431. How Would You Spend Your Ideal Family Vacation? 432. What Do You Think You Would Learn From Traveling to All 50 States? 433. What Would Your Fantasy Road Trip Be Like? 434. What Crazy Adventure Would You Want to Take? 435. What Local ‘Microadventures’ Would You Like to Go On? 436. How Has Travel Affected You? 437. What Kind of Tourist Are You? 438. What Are the Best Souvenirs You’ve Ever Collected While Traveling? 439. What Famous Landmarks Have You Visited? 440. What’s the Coolest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in Nature? 441. Would You Like to Live in Another Country? 442. If You Could Time-Travel, Where Would You Go?

Shopping, Looks & Fashion

443. What’s Your Favorite Store? 444. Could You Stop Shopping for an Entire Year? 445. Are You an Ethical Consumer? 446. Do Politics Ever Influence How or Where You Shop? 447. What Is Your All-Time Favorite Piece of Clothing? 448. Are You a Sneaker Head? 449. Do You Wear Clothes for the Logo? 450. Would You Like to Be a Fashion Model? 451. What’s Your Favorite T-Shirt? 452. What Does Your Hairstyle Say About You? 453. How Do You Feel About Your Body? 454. Have You Inherited Your Parents’ Attitudes Toward Their Looks? 455. What’s Your Favorite Room?

Exercise, Health & Sleep

456. What Rules Do You Have for Staying Healthy? 457. Do You Like to Exercise? 458. Do You Get Enough Exercise? 459. How Has Exercise Changed Your Health, Your Body or Your Life? 460. Do You Vape? 461. How Do You Get Your Nature Fix? 462. How Strong Is Your Sense of Smell? 463. What’s Your Favorite Mood Booster? 464. Do You Have Any Bad Health Habits? 465. Do You Learn Better After Moving Around? 466. How Often Do You Engage in ‘Fat Talk’? 467. Do You Pay Attention to Nutrition Labels on Food? 468. What Are Your ‘Food Rules’? 469. What Are Your Healthy Habits? 470. What Health Tips Have Worked for You? 471. What Are Your Sleep Habits? 472. Do You Get Enough Sleep?

Meals & Food

473. What Foods Bring Up Special Memories for You? 474. What Are the Most Memorable Meals You’ve Ever Had? 475. Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been, a Picky Eater? 476. What Foods Best Represent Your Hometown? 477. Have You Ever Experienced Food Insecurity? 478. What’s Your Favorite Holiday Food Memory? 479. What Convenience Foods Make You Happy? 480. How Do You Like Your Pizza? 481. What Are Your Favorite Junk Foods? 482. What’s Your Favorite Candy? 483. What’s Your Favorite Sandwich? 484. What Food Would You Like to Judge in a Taste-Off? 485. Do You Cook? 486. What Would You Most Like to Learn to Cook or Bake? 487. What Messages About Food and Eating Have You Learned From Your Family? 488. How Often Does Your Family Eat Together? 489. What Are Your Favorite Restaurants? 490. What Restaurant Would You Most Like to Review? 491. What Do You Eat During the School Day?

Holidays & Seasons

492. How Do You Celebrate Your Birthday? 493. How Much Scare Can You Handle in Your Halloween Entertainment? 494. Did You Take Part in Any Thanksgiving or Post-Holiday Traditions? 495. What Will You Talk About on Thanksgiving? 496. What Has Been Your Most Memorable Thanksgiving? 497. What Do You Look Forward to Most — and Least — During the Holiday Season? 498. What Are Your Tips for Enjoying the Holiday Season? 499. What Does Santa Claus Mean to You? 500. How Do You Fight the Winter Blues? 501. How Do You Feel About Valentine’s Day? 502. What Would Your Ideal Summer Camp Be Like? 503. What’s Your Favorite Summer Food? 504. Do You Choose Summer Activities to Look Good on Applications? 505. What’s the Most Memorable Thing That Happened to You This Summer?

Animals & Pets

506. What Are the Animals in Your Life? 507. What Have You Learned From Animals? 508. What’s Your Relationship Like With Your Pet? 509. What Are Your Thoughts on Cats? 510. Would You Want to Hang Out at a Cat Cafe? 511. How Do You Feel About the Spiders, Insects and Other Tiny Creatures in Your Home?

Environment

512. How Concerned Are You About Climate Change? 513. How Do You Try to Reduce Your Impact on the Environment? 514. Do You Ever Feel Guilty About What, or How Much, You Throw Away? 515. How Much Food Does Your Family Waste? 516. What Could You Live Without? 517. Would You Change Your Eating Habits to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint? 518. Could You Live ‘Plastic Free’?

History, Politics & Current Events

519. What Event in the Past Do You Wish You Could Have Witnessed? 520. What National or International Events That You Lived Through Do You Remember Best? 521. Is Your Online World Just a ‘Filter Bubble’ of People With the Same Opinions? 522. Do You Ever Get the ‘Bad News Blues’? 523. Have You Ever Changed Your Mind About a Hot-Button Issue? 524. What Do American Values Mean to You? 525. How Much Do You Know About the Rest of the World?

526. Would You Want to Live Forever? 527. Would You Want to Live a Life Without Ever Feeling Pain? 528. If You Had an Extra Billion Dollars, What Cause Would You Support With Your Philanthropy? 529. Are You Hopeful About the Future? 530. If the World Was Ending, What Would You Want to Say? 531. Would You Like to Be Famous? 532. Would You Like to Be Cryogenically Preserved (Frozen!) Upon Your Death? 533. Would You Like to Be a Farmer? 534. What Items Would You Place in a Time Capsule for Future Generations? 535. What Fantasy Invention Would You Want to Exist in Reality? 536. What Do You Want to Be Known for After Your Death? 537. Do You Like Your First Name? Would You Change It if You Could? 538. What Would You Do if You Won the Lottery? 539. What Era Do You Wish You Had Lived In? 540. Would You Want to Be a Child Prodigy? 541. What Kind of Robot Would You Want? 542. What Would You Outsource if You Could? 543. What Would You Like to Learn on Your Own? 544. What Would You Be Willing to Wait in a Really Long Line For? 545. Do You Want to Live to 100? 546. Given Unlimited Resources, What Scientific or Medical Problem Would You Investigate? 547. What Scientific Mysteries Do You Want Solved? 548. What Idea Do You Have That Is Ahead of Its Time? 549. How Would Your Life Be Different if You Had Better Listening Skills? 550. What Do You Want Your Obituary to Say?

670 Personal Essay Topics & Free Ideas

5 December 2023

last updated

Colleges and high schools require students to complete personal essays. Basically, personal memoirs aim to stimulate readers to act in a specific way. In this case, writers can use unique examples of personal essay topics for starting, organizing, and writing their papers. Personal papers include real stories, involvements, and individual opinions. Besides, authors should give an account of their responsibilities and express thoughts on assigned subjects. Further on, there are two types of personal essay topics, which include secret lives and defining moment narratives. In particular, the first type focuses on essential but mysterious experiences where learners give stories that concentrate on infrequent life tracking down. Moreover, the second type of individual essay theme focuses on a critical moment in a person’s life. In turn, one should follow specific schemes to write personal papers by considering two types of topics. As a result, such aspects make essays outstanding for readers.

General Guidelines on Personal Essay Topics

A personal essay topic refers to a typical assignment for high school and college students, while they can use many examples of personal essay topics for their writing assignments provided in this article. Basically, personal memoirs exist as two major types. The first type focuses on secret lives, where learners provide stories that focus on unusual life pursuits. For example, this composition takes writers behind specific scenes of their unique experiences in odd jobs. Then, the second type of personal essay focuses on defining moments in a person’s life. Hence, personal essay topics resemble not only some secrets of life but also focus on one crucial moment that explains how authors think about their occupation or a unique situation. However, people should not limit their ideas and themes to these two types since other topics also work with writing interesting papers.

Best Personal Essay Topics

The journey to mastering my favorite hobby.
Overcoming a fear that changed my life.
An unforgettable encounter with a stranger.
Travel experiences that changed my perspective.
Realizing the importance of mental health.
My most significant failure and what I learned.
Living through a natural disaster: My story.
Memories of my first best friend.
Growing up in a multicultural household.
How has volunteering shaped my character?
Conquering the fear of public speaking.
Adapting to life after moving to a new city.
The time I confronted my biggest critic.
Experiences that taught me the value of time.
A passion that’s not popular among my peers.
Lessons learned from an unexpected source.
The moment I stood up for what was right.
How I cope with stress: My personal methods.
Going against societal norms: A personal account.
Balancing dreams with reality: My experience.
The importance of self-care in my life.

Easy Personal Essay Topics

Experiences that shaped my political views.
The journey to accepting my sexuality.
Unraveling my unique talent.
Achieving my most ambitious goal.
My favorite childhood memory and its impact.
The role of spirituality in my life.
Navigating through a major life transition.
Learning to appreciate my heritage.
The influence of art on my personal growth.
Overcoming a personal health challenge.
An event that triggered personal growth.
How I managed a personal conflict?
A time when I had to forgive someone.
Finding happiness in the little things.
My journey toward body positivity.
Experiencing a unique cultural event.
Lessons I learned from my first job.
A hobby that helps me relax.
Reflections on my time in high school.
The impact of technology on my life.
A trip that ignited a newfound passion.
Handling a financial crisis: A personal tale.

Interesting Personal Essay Topics

Perspectives on global citizenship.
My journey with mental health.
Overcoming the fear of failure.
The impact of family traditions.
Being an introvert in an extroverted world.
How minimalism simplified my life.
Reading books versus eBooks: A personal preference.
The role of music in my life.
Unusual habits that keep me sane.
Body positivity and self-love.
Finding courage in vulnerability.
The influence of a favorite teacher.
Digital detox: My experience and insights.
Reflecting on a childhood ambition.
Coping with loss: A personal journey.
Living a sustainable lifestyle.
Pets and their effect on our well-being.
My experience with a unique hobby.
Choosing passion over a paycheck.
Embracing change: My personal experience.
The importance of setting boundaries.
How have my parents shaped my worldview?
Volunteering and the act of giving back.

Personal Essay Topics About You

Discovering my hidden talents: A journey of self-exploration.
How has adopting a pet changed my life?
Overcoming personal fears: My story of growth.
The role of music in my personal development.
A significant moment of failure that shaped me.
My experience with cultural diversity and what I learned.
Navigating through life with a rare medical condition.
Dealing with loss: How has grief transformed my perspective?
Lessons learned from my first job experience.
My lifelong passion for cooking and how it is influenced me.
Confronting my anxieties: The path toward mental well-being.
Balancing academics and sports: My high school experience.
Embracing solitude: The importance of being alone.
How has volunteering shaped my worldview?
Reflections on a family tradition that means a lot to me.
Making a difference: My journey into activism.
How has moving to a new city opened my mind?
My evolution as an artist: From doodles to masterpieces.
Personal growth through the lens of travel experiences.

Personal Essay Topics About Your Experiences

Unraveling the knots: The toughest challenge I faced in my past relationship.
How has my first vacation with my ex shaped my understanding of compatibility?
The subtle art of compromise: Learning to balance my needs with my ex’s.
Discovering personal growth: What breaking up taught me about myself?
The day we adopted a pet: Learning about responsibility and care in a relationship.
When culture clashed: Navigating differences in our backgrounds.
Chasing dreams: Supporting my ex in their professional journey.
Navigating long-distance: The trials and triumphs of our virtual relationship.
Managing conflict: How have we tackled our first major disagreement?
In pursuit of trust: Mending our relationship after a breach of faith.
Lessons learned from cooking together on Sundays.
Cherished holidays: Creating traditions in our shared life.
Rebuilding bridges: Reconciling after a painful breakup.
A shared love of music: How have concerts become our refuge?
Exploring fitness together: How has working out affected our relationship?
Meeting the parents: The fear, excitement, and aftermath.
Understanding sacrifice: The most significant compromise I made.
The joy of shared hobbies: Learning to sail together.
Fostering independence: Finding personal space in a committed relationship.
Adapting to change: When my ex’s career shift uprooted our life.

Personal Essay Topics About Relationships

Discovering love in the unlikeliest places.
When do friendships turn into romantic relationships?
Balancing individuality and unity in a relationship.
Healing after a devastating breakup.
The silent language of long-term relationships.
Navigating the challenges of long-distance love.
The beauty and hardship of platonic love.
Mending broken bridges: Reconciliation in familial relationships.
Lessons learned from failed relationships.
The role of vulnerability in strengthening bonds.
Being single: A journey of self-love and exploration.
Age differences and their impact on relationships.
Integrating cultural backgrounds in relationships.
Living with your partner: A test of compatibility.
The intricacies of dating in adulthood.
Childhood friendships that have stood the test of time.
The emotional roller coaster of unrequited love.
Understanding the role of trust in relationships.
Adapting to change: The evolution of relationships over time.

Personal Essay Topics About Dreams

Exploring the world through my dreams.
How do my dreams influence my creative process?
A specific dream that changed my perspective on life.
The connection between dreams and subconscious thoughts.
Lessons I have learned from my recurring dreams.
Overcoming fears: The role dreams play.
Nightmares and what they teach us about ourselves.
Can dreams predict the future? My experience.
Analyzing the symbolism in my dreams.
The role of dreams in different cultures: A personal perspective.
Discovering personal growth through dream journaling.
How has lucid dreaming expanded my self-awareness?
Dreams and their impact on my mental health.
My journey with dream interpretation: Successes and challenges.
Unforgettable dream experiences that have left lasting impressions.
The relationship between my dreams and my waking life.
Dealing with loss and grief through dreams.
Diving into the science of dreams: A personal inquiry.
My personal endeavors in dream incubation: Seeking solutions in sleep.
Revisiting childhood through dreams: A voyage of self-discovery.

Personal Narrative Essay Topics

My journey through learning a new language.
Overcoming the biggest challenge in my life.
The day I stood up for what was right.
An unforgettable experience with a stranger.
Exploring my heritage during a visit to my ancestral homeland.
A life-changing experience on my first solo trip.
Memories from my favorite childhood place.
My perspective on life after a near-death experience.
How has my favorite book shaped my personality?
Understanding the meaning of friendship from a surprising source.
My transformative experience while volunteering at a shelter.
The incident that made me a more compassionate person.
Becoming a pet parent: Joy and responsibilities.
Experiencing a culture shock on my exchange program.
Navigating through life with a unique hobby.
Lessons learned from a devastating failure.
Discovering my passion in an unlikely way.
How has a single book shaped my worldview?
The role of a mentor in my personal growth.
The unforgettable journey to my ancestral home.
Discovering strength in my weakest moment.

Personal Persuasive Essay Topics

Online education is superior to traditional schooling.
Mandatory voting will improve democratic participation.
Self-driving cars should replace human-operated vehicles.
Adoption of plant-based diets is necessary for global sustainability.
Privacy concerns outweigh the benefits of surveillance technologies.
Animal testing is unacceptable in modern scientific research.
Artificial intelligence poses more threats than benefits to society.
Corporations should have stricter regulations to prevent climate change.
Countries should open their borders to all immigrants.
All schools should implement mental health education in their curriculum.
Society benefits more from arts education than from sports programs.
Public spaces should always offer free Wi-Fi.
Parental consent is necessary for minors to access social media.
Health insurance should be a fundamental right, not a privilege.
Single-use plastic items must be banned globally.
Personal finance courses should be a mandatory part of high school education.
Social media platforms need stricter measures against cyberbullying.
Humanity should prioritize colonizing other planets.
Excessive screen time is detrimental to children’s development.

Personal Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Volunteering at a local shelter and its impact on my worldview.
The effect of social media detox on my mental health.
Experiencing failure and its role in shaping my resilience.
The consequences of procrastination on my academic performance.
Moving to a new city and the unexpected outcomes.
Practicing mindfulness and its effect on my stress levels.
The implications of becoming a vegetarian on my health and lifestyle.
Embracing minimalism and its transformative impact on my life.
How has learning a new language influenced my cultural understanding?
A significant childhood event and its long-lasting effects.
The repercussions of taking a gap year after high school.
Committing to regular exercise and its impact on my self-esteem.
Cultivating a hobby and how it altered my leisure time.
Learning to play a musical instrument and its influence on my cognitive abilities.
A health scare and its effect on my life priorities.
Pursuing a passion and the subsequent changes in my career path.
Joining a book club and its impact on my intellectual growth.
Undertaking a solo travel adventure and the resulting self-discovery.
Coping with a significant loss and its effect on my emotional growth.
Incorporating meditation into my daily routine and its influence on my concentration.
Deciding to live abroad and the resulting changes in my worldview.

Personal Argumentative Essay Topics

Impacts of social media on personal relationships.
Remote work is more efficient than traditional office work.
The necessity of financial literacy in the modern world.
Veganism: A healthier choice or a passing trend?
Online dating: Are the risks worth the rewards?
Is maintaining personal privacy possible in the digital age?
Standardized tests do not accurately reflect a student’s abilities.
Living abroad can broaden your perspective on life.
Fast fashion and its effect on individual purchasing behavior.
Personal growth: Is it essential to experience failure?
Meditation as a powerful tool for stress relief.
Self-driving cars: Safer or riskier than human drivers?
Online influencers: Are they shaping or harming our society?
The role of pets in enhancing mental health.
Renewable energy at home: Is it a practical choice?
How important is physical exercise for mental health?
Continuous learning: A key to success or a source of stress?
The effectiveness of mindfulness practices in daily life.
Decluttering: A path to mental clarity or a trendy illusion?
Gap years: Are they beneficial for personal growth?

Examples of Personal Essay Topics

One can write about different personal essay topics for two types of personal memoirs identified above. Hence, some unique types of personal essay topics are:

Personal Essay Topics on Secrets of Life

The confession of a failed help mission.
The disclosure of searching for a soul mate.
The secret life of a rescue volunteer.
A detailed account of obesity caused me to develop joint problems.
Secrets of a successful learner.
Unveiling the beauty of everyday moments.
The healing power of laughter in life’s journey.
Nature’s wisdom: How do the outdoors teach us to live?
Lessons learned from unexpected friendships.
Adapting to change: Life’s only constant.
The transformative power of love and kindness.
Harnessing the strength within: Self-discovery in times of turmoil.
Serenity in solitude: A journey toward self-love.
Perseverance and hope: A tale of personal growth.
Mysteries of the subconscious mind: Dream interpretations and their impact on life.
Simplicity, minimalism, and the quest for a meaningful existence.
Understanding the role of failure in the pursuit of success.
Life’s hidden messages in seemingly mundane routines.
Endurance and resilience: Learning to dance in the rain.
Reflections on wisdom: What have elders taught me about life?
Connections and coincidences: A contemplation on fate and destiny.
Cherishing the transient: An essay on life’s fleeting moments.

Personal essay topics above may vary from one discipline to another, depending on the writer’s focus and life experiences. In turn, possible topics for different subjects that one may consider when writing a personal essay about a secret life are:

Examples of Personal Topics on Art and Culture

An account of a failed social media relationship.
The confession of my experience with native communities.
The impact of street art on urban development.
My first experience with classical music.
The evolution of pop art and its impact on my artistic vision.
How do different cultures influence contemporary fashion?
My personal connection with abstract expressionism.
The cultural significance of traditional folk music in my life.
Understanding the power of photography: Capturing moments that matter.
The intersection of technology and art: My experience with digital art.
The role of theatre in shaping cultural perspectives.
How has anime influenced my appreciation of Japanese culture?
My journey with literature: The books that have changed my perspective on life.
The confession of how I used to copy a colleague’s work.
An account of how my choice of college promoted learning skills.
My confession with a haunting artwork.
Why graffiti is more than just vandalism: My personal perspective.
My account of how I faced the law due to throw-away culture.
Cultural celebrations: A deeper look at their artistic components.
My secret account with a haunting experience with my cultural identity.

Samples of Personal Topics on Economics

Effects of global financial influence on my life.
Impacts of consumerism on my economic status.
Balancing a personal budget: A journey to financial independence.
The influence of global economic events on local economies.
Lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis.
Microfinance: Transforming lives and communities.
Effects of Hurricane Katrina on my school life.
Influence of tariffs on my consumption behaviors.
How does politics influence my relationship with natives?
Exploring the concept of “money” in the digital age.
How does my understanding of supply and demand influence daily decisions?
Sustainability and economics: Can they coexist harmoniously?
Unraveling the impact of inflation on my purchasing power.
Capitalism vs. socialism: My personal perspective.
How do economic policies influence my poverty levels?
The role of government in my economic life.
Demystifying the complex world of stock markets.
Evaluating the pros and cons of consumerism.
How did my father’s choices influence my behavior?
My experience with cryptocurrency: A gamble or a wise investment?
Effects of monetary policies undermined my business.

Examples of Personal Essay Topics on Education

An account of how standardized testing influenced my high school performance.
The role of technology in modern education.
My journey toward understanding the value of inclusive education.
An account of how my indigo identity ruined my life.
Navigating the educational system as a first-generation student.
Benefits of extracurricular activities for holistic development.
ADHD and dyslexia damaged my education.
An account of how internal and external factors make my learning experience boring.
How has homeschooling changed my perspective on learning?
The importance of language learning in global citizenship.
Parent involvement: A critical aspect of educational success.
Lessons learned from my first teaching experience.
An account of how technologies weakened my learning abilities
My horrific account with e-books and collaborative boards in class
An account of how homeschooling caused social distress
My experience with student-led learning initiatives.
Emotional intelligence: An overlooked aspect in classrooms.
Benefits and challenges of studying abroad.
Experiencing cultural diversity in the school environment.
My horrific experience in charter schools

Sample Topics for Personal Papers on Ethics

My negative perception of genetic engineering.
Exploring the role of personal integrity in decision-making.
My journey toward understanding the essence of truthfulness.
Altruism and its impact on my life choices.
My negative perception towards the legalization of marijuana.
How marijuana legalization increased my juvenile delinquency.
A personal account of cultural imperialism.
The ethical dilemma I faced in the digital age.
Personal reflections on the ethics of non-violence.
The influence of empathy on my ethical framework.
Standing up against groupthink: A story of moral courage.
An account of how cultural imperialism ruined my life.
An account of globalization influenced my lifestyle.
Living green: The ethical considerations of environmental responsibility.
My experience with ethical consumerism and its impact.
The morality of forgiveness: Lessons from my personal life.
How has practicing fairness reshaped my outlook on life?
Understanding the significance of justice in everyday situations.
Balancing personal gain and ethical responsibility.
Uniquely personal experience as a global citizen.
An account of how traditions affected my ethics.

Examples of Personal Topics on Government and Politics

The United States’ invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan affected my family life.
An account of how the Community Reinvestment Act (RCA) influenced my lifestyle.
How has the increasing homeownership in the United States affected my life as a low-income earner?
The balance between freedom and security in modern society.
Why trust in government is essential for social progress?
The role of media in shaping political views.
Influences of political ideologies on personal lives.
Ethical dilemmas in government surveillance.
How has the growing debt in the United States impacted my life?
Our evolving understanding of democracy in the digital age.
Deciphering the complexity of immigration policies.
How is my life affected by international politics?
How the tariffs made by President Trump impacted my life?
Impacts of decreased military activity in my family life.
An account of how historical injustices undermines my family life.
Decoding political propaganda in the 21st century.
Understanding the link between politics and education reform.
My journey into grassroots activism.
A personal account of how the constitution undermines my employability.

Sample Personal Topics on Health

An account of how emotional problems lowers my body’s immunity.
Exploring my journey through recovery from addiction.
How has adopting a vegan diet transformed my health?
Navigating the complex world of mental health stigmatization.
Life lessons learned from my experience with chronic pain.
My personal insights into battling and overcoming obesity.
Unraveling the mystery of my rare genetic disorder.
An account of the excessive consumption of junk food increases my body’s energy levels.
Self-care: My key to managing stress effectively.
An account of how emotional eating causes indigestion.
The struggle and victory: My tale of beating cancer.
Walking the tightrope: Balancing health and career ambitions.
An account of how a lack of moral support causes anorexia and bulimia.
Reflections on my experience with gender dysphoria and mental health.
An account of how positive life changes stressed me.
Embracing the unexpected: How has yoga changed my perspective on health?
An account of how I discovered that ozone in the air leads to respiratory diseases.
My adventure into the realm of holistic healing.
An account of how high blood pressure caused me to develop cardiovascular disease.
Decoding the enigma of sleep disorders: A personal perspective.
An account of how social media increases my psychological challenges.

Examples of Personal Essay Topics on History

How has World War I separated my family?
How did the continued effects of slavery affect my family life?
An account of how my interest in women’s movement affects my thoughts on racism.
How has my family weathered the Great Depression?
Personal reflections on the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Discovering my roots: Tracing my lineage to the American Revolution.
Living in a post-9/11 world: My perspective.
Interpreting the French Revolution through my ancestor’s letters.
An account of how World War II influenced my family.
Visiting historic sites: My journey through the Civil Rights Movement landmarks.
The legacy of the Vietnam War in my family.
How has studying the Holocaust shaped my worldview?
An account of how the Holocaust affected my education and career path.
How religion influences my delinquency levels?
Personal experiences in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse.
My pilgrimage to the landmarks of the Women’s Suffrage Movement.
Historical epidemics and their relevance to modern-day pandemics.
A reflection on the Rwandan Genocide through the lens of a humanitarian worker.
The Arab Spring and its significance in my life.
British imperialism and its negative impacts on my life.

Sample Topics for Personal Essays on Science

Effects of global warming on my health and social well-being.
Results of excessive temperature on metabolism.
Discovering the beauty of fractals in nature.
Life under a microscope: The unseen world.
How does the study of genetics shape our self-perception?
Results of sunlight on my skin.
From science fiction to reality: The progress of artificial intelligence.
The lure of space exploration: A personal perspective.
Journey toward sustainable living through science.
Evolutionary biology and its impact on my worldview.
Effects of ambient temperature on my pet’s feeding habits.
How does temperature influence my daily routine?
Human interaction with technology: A blessing or a curse?
Grappling with the ethical dilemmas of genetic engineering.
Neuroscience and the mystery of human consciousness.
How do scientific findings affect my food consumption?
How do research methods influence my health outcomes?
Impacts of my scientific knowledge on my social behavior.

Examples of Personal Essay Topics on Sports

Workouts enhance my immunity.
Regular workouts strengthened my bones.
An account of how physical exercise relieves my stress.
Participating in sports lowered my juvenile delinquency.
How has paying college athletes promoted my talent development?
A narrative of how workouts boost my memory, yield, and intelligence.
Overcoming obstacles in sports: A journey of perseverance.
The role of sports in shaping my character.
Lessons learned from teamwork in sports.
The psychology of sports: Understanding the mindset of athletes.
The importance of sportsmanship in competitive athletics.
A narrative of how children who take part in sports developed my peer relationships.
How have sports taught me the value of discipline?
The joys of playing sports: Finding happiness on the field.
A sports injury and its impact on my life.
The relationship between sports and academic success.
Sports as a medium for cultural exchange.
Exploring the connection between sports and leadership.
The evolution of sports: From ancient times to modern day.
The intersection of sports and technology.
An account of how regular exercise enhanced my communication skills.

Personal Essay Topic Samples on Technology

An account of how increased internet accessibility increased my cyber-bullying.
My cyber-bullying increased my rate of juvenile delinquency.
A narrative of how the state control of the internet pushed me into cyber-bullying.
Ethical dilemmas of genetic engineering.
Roles of technology in enhancing communication.
How has technology revolutionized the music industry?
Future of robotics and its implications.
Influence of social media on personal relationships.
An account of how social networking influences my ways of life.
Social networks influence my collective behaviors.
An account of how social media affects my overall well-being.
My personal beliefs that facial recognition technologies undermine human rights.
Benefits and drawbacks of cryptocurrency.
Power of big data analytics in business.
Roles of technology in improving healthcare.
Exploring the ethics of biometric technology.
Evolution of e-commerce and its effect on traditional retail.
Impacts of augmented reality in education.
Roles of technology in addressing climate change.
Advantages and disadvantages of 3D printing.
My views on how artificial intelligence enhances active learning.

Personal Essay Ideas on Defining Moments

I was a police officer for thirty years, which is an experience that continues to haunt me.
Every individual has a moment that changes his or her life.
How has a trip to New York changed my family life forever?
Obesity has led to joint problems.
Influence of adults on my life choice.
Discovering my true passion in a hidden hobby.
The unexpected encounter that altered my perspective on life.
A turning point: Embracing vulnerability in a moment of strength.
Embracing failure experiences as a stepping stone to success.
A single moment of kindness that changed everything.
Finding beauty in the midst of chaos.
The bittersweet taste of saying goodbye for the last time.
Lessons from a near-death experience.
How have I found hope in the darkest hour?
Transformation through a moment of silence.
The day I chose to break free from societal norms.
Healing through unexpected friendships.
Lessons learned from my first heartbreak.
Navigating through life after a life-changing diagnosis.
Understanding the importance of mental health after a personal crisis.

Personal essay topics above may vary from one discipline to another, depending on the writer’s focus and life experiences. Hence, examples of possible topics for different subjects that one may consider when writing a personal essay about a secret life are:

Examples of Personal Essay Ideas on Art and Culture

How have social media relationships influenced my social behavior?
My experience with native communities influenced social behaviors.
From viewer to creator: My personal journey into filmmaking.
The power of poetry: How did it allow me to express myself?
Art as a tool for activism and peace: How do artists reflect social issues in their works?
The influence of hip-hop culture on contemporary society.
The artistic beauty of architectural landmarks: How do they reflect a city’s culture?
How has reading graphic novels expanded my perspective on storytelling and culture?
My experience of learning a foreign language was momentous.
Copy a colleague’s work changed my attitude towards education.
My choice of college transformed my career goals.
Exploring body art: A personal narrative on tattoos and piercings.
The art of cooking: How has cultural cuisine shaped my culinary skill?
The emotional power of music and sound: How does it shape our mood and behavior?
The influence of indigenous art on modern design trends.
An interaction with a haunting artwork changed my attitude toward employment.
The increased levels of throw-away culture motivated me to become an environmental activist.
A haunting experience with my cultural identity encouraged me to become an activist.

Sample Ideas for Writing Personal Papers on Economics

The global financial crisis influenced me to embrace a saving culture.
Consumerism encouraged me to embrace financial savings.
Effects of Hurricane Katrina influenced my thoughts about humanity.
The current tariffs in the United States forced me to change my business strategies.
Transition from a traditional economy: A personal story.
From scarcity to abundance: Understanding the economic principle in personal life.
Implementing cost-benefit analysis in everyday life decisions.
How does a deeper understanding of economics affect voting choices?
Reflections on wealth distribution and income inequality.
The domino effect of oil price fluctuations on my living expenses.
Facing the student loan crisis: My personal story.
The current politics influence me to develop a positive relationship with natives.
Economic policies imposed in 2023 contributed to my poverty.
My father’s choices motivated my delinquent levels.
Navigating through the gig economy: Opportunities and challenges.
A personal account of living through a recession.
Encountering and overcoming wage stagnation in the 21st century.
The power of compound interest: A pathway to financial freedom.
Various monetary policies forced me to make the wrong choices.

Examples of Personal Essay Ideas on Education

Standardized testing changed my high school performance.
My indigo identity changed my attitude toward other aboriginals.
ADHD and dyslexia changed my education perception.
Experiencing internal and external factors encouraged me to adopt a negative attitude toward education.
Interacting with technologies weakened my learning abilities.
The use of e-books and collaborative boards affected my attitude toward education.
The transformation of education through online learning.
Vocational education: A path less traveled.
Attaining equality in education: My personal experience.
Lifelong learning: The key to personal and professional growth.
My unforgettable experience with collaborative learning.
Bullying in schools: A personal encounter.
My encounter with the arts in education.
Grappling with the reality of educational disparities.
Integrating environmental education into the curriculum: A personal perspective.
The influence of positive reinforcement on academic performance.
How do study habits shape academic success?
The adoption of homeschooling caused me social distress.
Joining charter schools caused a negative attitude toward education.

Sample Ideas for Personal Essays on Ethics

Experience with genetic engineering changed my attitude toward ethics.
Legalization of marijuana forced me into drugs.
Marijuana legalization was the cause of my juvenile delinquency.
Corporate social responsibility: A personal perspective.
The intersection of culture and ethics in my life.
Reflecting on the ethical aspects of animal rights.
Dealing with biases: My journey towards ethical awareness.
Grappling with the ethical implications of artificial intelligence.
Transparency and honesty in the era of fake news.
Learning to respect diversity: An ethical obligation.
Cultural imperialism led to negative attitudes toward other people.
Globalization motivated me to live abroad.
Being a global citizen influenced my charity levels.
Cultural traditions affected my attitude toward ethics.
My ethical stance on wealth inequality and poverty.
How has ethics shaped my perspective on privacy in the digital age?
The struggle with ethical choices in a globally interconnected world.
Balancing the scales: A personal tale of justice and mercy.

Examples of Personal Ideas on Government and Politics

The impact of political polarization on friendships and family.
Navigating through the maze of bureaucracy.
Climate change policy: A personal perspective.
Reflections on the current state of political discourse.
Gun control and the politics of fear.
From apathy to advocacy: My political awakening.
Money, power, and politics: A critical look.
The psychology of voting behavior.
The United States’ invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan encouraged me to join the armed forces.
The Community Reinvestment Act (RCA) changed my attitude toward communal unity.
Increasing homeownership in the United States forced me to move from my motherland.
The increasing debt in the United States ruined my economic progress.
The tariffs made by President Trump ruined my business.
Health care reform: A personal journey through the political maze.
Observations on political activism in the social media era.
Living under the shadow of nuclear diplomacy.
The impact of gender politics on my worldview.
Human rights in foreign policy: A personal narrative.
Navigating partisan politics in a divided nation.
The decreased military activity led to a stabilized life in my family.
Historical injustices separated me from my family.
The constitutional amendments undermined my employability as an illegal immigrant.

Samples of Personal Essay Ideas on Health

The beginning of emotional problems lowered my body’s immunity.
The excessive consumption of junk food affected my sugar level balance.
Emotional eating led to indigestion.
My lack of moral support led to Anorexia and bulimia.
Trapped in my own body: The trials and triumphs of living with paralysis.
Experiencing life through the lens of color blindness.
The silent fight: My personal struggle with an invisible illness.
Aging gracefully: Accepting and embracing the golden years.
The long road to acceptance: My personal struggle with body image.
A new lease on life: Surviving a near-death experience.
Learning to fly: How has disability shaped my worldview?
Making positive life changes was the source of my distress.
My discovery of the importance of the ozone layer increased my interest in respiratory problems.
The promise of tomorrow: Living with a terminal illness.
When food became my enemy: My battle with an eating disorder.
Living in the shadows: My journey with depression.
From victim to victor: Overcoming the trauma of domestic abuse.
Dance as therapy: How has movement healed my soul?
My high blood pressure led to cardiovascular disease.
Using social media increased my psychological challenges.

Examples of Personal Ideas on History

The emergence of World War I led to my family’s separation.
A journey back in time: My visit to the historic Underground Railroad sites.
My experience researching the Arab Spring for a school project.
Indian partition: Stories passed down through generations.
Unearthing my family’s connection to the Spanish Civil War.
A reflection on my ancestral ties to the transatlantic slave trade.
The development of slavery affects my family life.
My interest in the women’s movement led to my activism against racism.
The emergence of World War II led to my family’s breakup.
Tracing my heritage back to the Irish Potato Famine.
Learning about my family’s involvement in the Korean War.
Interpreting the impact of the Industrial Revolution on my hometown.
South African apartheid: Understanding its impact through my parents’ eyes.
Artifacts of history: My personal collection of World War I memorabilia.
The lasting effect of the Cuban Missile Crisis on my community.
The emergence of the Holocaust ruined my education and career path.
Joining religion reduced my delinquency levels.
The Arab Spring improved my quality of life.
British imperialism reduced my employment opportunities.

Samples of Personal Essay Ideas on Science

Global warming undermined my social well-being.
Excessive temperature reduced my digestion strategies.
The art and science of brewing coffee: A personal journey.
Why am I fascinated by the science of sleep?
My journey toward understanding the interconnectedness in ecology.
The personal impacts of living in the Anthropocene era.
Experiencing awe: The cosmos through an amateur astronomer’s lens.
The inspiration behind my interest in forensic science.
Exposure to excessive sunlight was the cause of my skin cancer.
Ambient temperature threatened my pet’s feeding habits.
High temperature threatens my daily routine.
Scientific findings undermined my food consumption.
Reflections on my first science experiment failure.
The deep sea: A realm of science still largely unknown.
Balancing faith and science: A personal exploration.
The fascinating world of microbiomes and their impact on health.
Appreciating the subtle science in everyday life.
Various research methods undermined my health outcomes.
My scientific knowledge promoted my social behavior.

Examples of Personal Essay Ideas on Sports

Embracing workouts enhanced my immunity.
Exploring the mental and emotional challenges of sports.
Sports and identity: How do they shape who we are?
The cultural significance of sports in different societies.
Ethics of sports: Fair play and integrity.
Embracing regular workouts strengthened my bones.
The role of sports in reducing stress and promoting well-being.
Sports and the pursuit of excellence: Striving for greatness.
The legacy of sports heroes: Their impact on society.
The intersection of art and sports: Capturing the beauty of movement.
Embracing physical exercise relieved my stress.
Sports and empowerment: How do athletics inspire confidence?
Sports and social change: Breaking barriers and challenging norms.
The impact of sports on mental health and well-being.
Sports and time management: Balancing athletics and responsibilities.
Embracing sports lowered my juvenile delinquency.
Participating in college athletes led to talent development.
Engaging in workouts boost my memory.
Taking an active part in sports improved my peer relationships.
Embracing regular exercise enhanced my communication skills.

Samples of Personal Ideas on Technology

Internet accessibility increased my cyberbullying.
Increased cyberbullying increases juvenile delinquency.
Effects of technology on mental health.
Impacts of technology on sustainable energy solutions.
Evolution of wearable technology.
Benefits and drawbacks of internet censorship.
Roles of technology in enhancing personal productivity.
Influence of technology on travel and tourism.
Challenges and opportunities of 5G technology.
Pros and cons of biometric identification systems.
Future of work: Automation and job displacement.
Influence of technology on the entertainment industry.
Roles of virtual assistants in modern living.
Implications of quantum computing on society.
The emergence of state control of the internet pushed me into cyberbullying.
Embracing social networking influences my ways of life.
Embracing social media influenced my overall well-being.
The emergence of facial recognition technologies undermined my human rights.
Adoption of artificial intelligence that enhanced my active learning.
Roles of technology in promoting accessibility and inclusion.

Creating a Topic for a Personal Essay

Writers identify essential and exciting life experiences. In this case, they create exciting topics about their thought-provoking essay topics. Also, one must create a topic that interests readers. However, authors must ensure that they use real-life experiences. Hence, a scheme template to develop a unique item for a personal essay is:

For essays on secrets of life, one should use a scheme: “secret events and its consequences.”
For papers on defining moments, one should use a format: “momentous events and their influence on one’s life.”

Summing Up on Personal Essay Topics

Personal essay topics refer to a typical assignment that high school and college students must develop. Basically, the primary goal of writing personal papers is to stimulate readers to act in a specific way. In this case, authors can use different writing styles to complete this type of arrangement. Then, personal writing includes real stories, involvements, and individual opinions. Besides, authors should give an account of their involvement and express thoughts on subjects. In turn, there are two types of personal essay topics. The first type focuses on some secrets of life, whereas learners represent stories that focus on unusual life pursuits. The second type of personal paper focuses on defining moments in a person’s life. Hence, one should follow examples of template schemes for two types of personal essay topics:

Secret events and their consequences.
Momentous events and their influence on one’s life.

To Learn More, Read Relevant Articles

How to write a thematic essay with explanations and examples, 576 good compare and contrast essay topics.

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Personal Essay Topics

Essay paper writing

Academic writing

Personal essay is considered to be one of the most interesting academic assignments. Writing such an essay, you are not just creating a regular text about some person but also have a great opportunity to demonstrate your views, feelings, or opinion on a given topic. In a good paper, you can influence the readers and present some new ideas to them.

Students often think that a personal essay is difficult to write. Moreover, they often get scared when they realize that they may need to prepare for this assignment longer than usual. Well, in fact, there is nothing complicated in this task. All you need to do is express the main idea clearly, discuss it, and be honest with your readers.

However, sometimes the situation gets worse when a teacher gives quite specific college personal essay topics, and you have no opportunity to touch upon some important issues that you might want to discuss. Relax and do not think of the topic as a limitation! Instead, try to provide a deeper comprehension of the issues and concepts related to the theme of your paper.

The next challenge of creating such a text is that you will need to combine a lot of writing styles. But do not panic! Look at this struggle from a different perspective, and it will become an advantage which allows you to express your thoughts more vividly. After all, it’s a fact that your writing style reflects your personality.

Of course, the success of your essay mostly depends on the topic, so you are welcome to choose one of the interesting personal essay topics presented by our essay writing service in this article. Then, working on the task, make sure that it is not a monotonous piece that will be difficult to read. Well-structured papers on relevant common personal essay topics provide an excellent opportunity to show your point of view and express your feelings regarding the subject.

How to write personal essays?

This question is pertinent among the new writers who struggle to create a whole text about a person. But there is nothing to worry about! First of all, try to collect as much information as possible. For example, look for some interviews with the individual you want to write about. If you have one of the top personal essay topics, it will be quite easy to find this kind of info.

The next aspect of a good essay is the formatting of the text. This is not the easiest part of writing, but it is definitely not the thing you should be concerned about. Make sure that you have a writing guide to refer to or just ask your professor about formatting rules at your college. By the way, mind that we are talking mostly about personal essay topics for college, so if you have to write such text for school or university, you will need to adapt it to the requirements of that educational institution.

Finally, let’s consider the structure of a good personal essay. In the first paragraph, you have to provide a brief biography of the person you are writing about. It should contain some information about their life, achievements, and some interesting facts. After that, try to find some info about the childhood years of this individual. Using this technique, you can create an interesting intro which will prompt your audience to read the text to the very end. If you have troubles with that, you can just pick one of the personal essay topics for high school students, as they should be easier to find info on. After you are done with the first section, it is time to move on to the most challenging part of writing. Here, you have to describe the outstanding years of a person’s life and analyze the most important experiences or events during that time . Do not get scared if you are assigned to write a text about yourself or someone you do not know. You may have excellent writing skills, but it is always difficult to tell personal stories or share memories. So don’t lose heart if you won’t succeed with your first personal essay.

Why choose to write on the personal persuasive essay topics

While reading the information above, you may get the following question, “Why would a novice writer pick such a complex topic to write on?” First of all, people need to do something new and challenging all the time in order to become well-versed in particular spheres. Secondly, students learn how to work on several types of texts, which not only helps them to become better writers but also reach a totally new level of proficiency. Another great thing is that if you pick one of the personal essay topics for college applications, you will be able to stand out from the crowd of those who are going to choose the easier topics.

So, now it’s time to start writing the actual essay. Do not worry if you still have no ideas what to write about. In this article, we will provide the list of personal essay topic options which will definitely help you to write a perfect paper and get an excellent mark.

College level personal essay topics

College-level personal experience essay topics are more challenging to cope with than school ones because you have to search and analyze a lot. Moreover, writing college-level essays presupposes the development of analytical and critical thinking skills. Just like writing a personal essay for college application, it requires a more in-depth evaluation of the issue under consideration. If you struggle to find a proper topic for your essay, here is a list of interesting themes for college students:

The biggest fear in your life
A difficult decision you have made
When did you have the biggest argument with your sibling?
The most interesting dream you have ever had
Music that inspires you and makes you feel good
Perfect family vacation
The day you met your best college friend
The most awkward moment in college
Your phobias
Things your parents have taught you
The time you spoke out about something important to you
How would you spend your gap year?
What is the bravest moment of your life?
What did you do when a close person betrayed you?
The most important lesson in your life
Describe the biggest failure in your life and what you have learned from it

Personal essay topics for education

These topics are slightly different from the previous ones. Educational themes are usually a bit more school-based, which means that you need to have some basic knowledge to complete them. A lot of things can be described in this essay, but it is important to include only relevant information and clearly state your opinion. By the way, these themes are considered the best personal essay topics among all. The reason is that writing this kind of essay, you have an opportunity to demonstrate your views, goals, and aspirations so that your teacher can determine your ambitions and potential in the study area. Therefore, let us move on to the actual examples:

How can a professor motivate you to become a better person?
What are the best methods to deliver a speech?
Do you like doing homework, or is it a waste of time for you?
The best lesson you have learned studying in college or high school
Is it hard for you to prepare for school exams? How do you handle stress during that period?
What second language did you learn and how?
What motivates you to study hard and pursue your dreams?
The right and wrong choices you made regarding study and education

Easy topics for personal essay

Students choose easy topics quite often because they are not willing to spend a lot of time on writing. Selecting such a theme is not a bad idea at all because these topics are usually quite broad. Make sure you know how to write the best pieces using these great personal essay topics:

How to relax after a hard day?
The greatest fear you have
The best place in your house
The best period of the history of your country
Your favorite movie
What would you buy right now if you had a lot of money?
The work of art that you adore the most
The best period of your life
Who is your favorite singer?
Secret talent you have
The unexplained event that happened to you
Your favorite season
Your best birthday party
Your favorite type of food
The best childhood memory
What would you do if you won the lottery
Your favorite holiday

Some other good personal essay topics

If you are still out of ideas for personal essay topics, you can consider the themes listed below:

The last act of kindness that you have made
The job of your dream
The most beautiful place in the world you have ever seen
The best music band that helps you to fall asleep
The most annoying things in your life
A thing that reminds you of your childhood
The role of money in your life
The best words you have heard in your life
Have you ever witnessed something that you will remember for the rest of your life?
The best morning in your life
Something that makes you feel guilty
Your shopping habits
A place you would go if you could travel back in time

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How to Write a Personal Essay: Topics, Structure, & Examples

Even though a personal essay seems like something you might need to write only for your college application, people who graduated a while ago are asked to write it. Therefore, if you are a student, you might even want to save this article for later!

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

A personal essay is a first-person narrative that describes a writer’s life experience and its influence . You may think that writing such an essay is easy-peasy. There is so much freedom regarding the topic, isn’t it? However, soon enough, you realize that it’s more of a curse than a blessing. Custom-writing.org experts understand it’s super confusing as you don’t know where to start. But this simple yet comprehensive guide on how to write a personal essay is here to help you out!

❔ What Is a Personal Essay?

🚦 how do you start a personal essay.

🙋 Essay Topics
📑 Personal Essay Types

🔗 References

A personal essay is just what you think it is: a piece of writing that presents some experience from your perspective . It doesn’t need to be extraordinary, but it has to show how you changed thanks to the experience you got. Such an essay also creates a feeling of intimacy.

A typical personal essay consists of a 1-paragraph introduction, a 3-paragraph body, and a 1-paragraph conclusion.

Long story short, it is a first-person narrative that describes a writer’s life experience and its influence. This type of essay allows you to use any writing style you want and usually has an informal tone. It helps the reader to gain a connection with you.

There is a wide variety of topic options: you may want your writing to be inspiring or, on the contrary, warning so that others could avoid your mistakes. However, the most important thing is sticking to the general guidelines.

The most popular personal essay outline would consist of three parts:

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Start with an introduction . It should include only one paragraph
Continue with the main body . It should be at least three paragraphs long
Write a conclusion . Don’t make it too long, one paragraph is enough

Let’s also note that typically you would write a personal essay as a part of the college application process. However, it’s not rare that this type of writing can help employers understand if the candidate meets the job requirements.

👀 Personal Essay Examples

To give you some inspiration, we included a list of excellent examples ranked as the most successful personal essays by The New York Times , The New Yorker , and America’s top universities.

The first and the most important thing you need to do when you are about to write a personal essay is to determine its purpose . When you know your audience, it becomes easier to find an appropriate topic for your writing. After that, you can draft an outline, which is the foundation of your future essay!

🙋 Personal Essay Topics

By now, you might have understood the idea of the personal statement. Your goal is to show off your personality from the good side. However, there is an endless amount of options on how to do it. The most popular way is to tell the story from the past. It can be either something you achieved or an obstacle you managed to overcome. Either way, it needs to highlight the lesson you learned.

Next, you can make your writing even more inspirational by revealing your future goals, showing that you have potential and determination. But remember to focus on things that the whole community can benefit from because just getting rich is a lame objective!

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Last but not least, be yourself and use creativity! Show your potential employers and college administration how much you can contribute to their development. You should convince them that it can be a mutually beneficial experience.

Here, we prepared some of the best personal essay topics for you:

How did the most significant loss of your life make you stronger?
Who would you like to switch live with, and why?
The time when you think you made the wrong choice.
How would you spend a million dollars?
Is there anything you have never shared with anyone?
A special friend that influenced your life.
One morning that has changed your life forever.
The time when you had to deliver devastating news.
A near-death experience and how it felt.
Describe the longest minute of your life.
Something you can’t resist and keep doing.
A meaningful event that is hard to explain.
Would you start a charity foundation if you could?
The most precious gift you ever received.
The wrong choice you never regret making.
A secret place that gives you peace of mind.
Something you’ve seen and wish you could forget.
A hidden talent no one knows you have.
A day when you felt like the unluckiest person in the world.
The most beautiful thing you’ve seen.
A skill you have that robots will never learn to do.
What is the one thing you want to change about yourself?
Where would you like to live?
The most important discovery you made.
What if you were a teacher?
The most fantastic movie scene that changed the world.
What would you like to change in schools?
Describe something you love about yourself and why.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Time with your family that you cherish the most.
The achievement you’re proud of.
Describe the time when you learned something from a child.
The words that made you hopeful again.
Write about the time when you were at the bottom.
A stranger that had an influence on you.
What would you do if you could go back in time?
Would you like to redo something in your life, would you?
The superpower you wish you had.
The person you would be grateful to at the end of your life.
The time when you avoided danger.
Family celebrations, and what do they mean to you?
Write about the time when you saw your mother crying.
Did you disappoint anyone?
Is there anyone you are not fond of?
A place that you try to keep away from.
How did you overcome your fear?
The most challenging choice you had to make.
The time you felt like an outsider.
When did you realize you’re not a child anymore?
Why does your hobby interest you?

📑 Personal Essay about Yourself: Main Types

Personal essays on hobbies.

Writing an essay on a hobby is not as easy as it seems. Take a look at any hobbies essay sample, and you will be likely to see a widespread thing: these essays can be boring, which is an easy way to get a low grade.

Below are some common problems with hobby essays (and their solutions).

No matter what, make sure the focus is on you. When you are writing about a personal hobby, you should aim to make yourself the star by essentially telling your reader about yourself through an interest of yours.

Get an originally-written paper according to your instructions!

Life-changing Experience Essays

The purpose of a life-changing experience essay is obvious: simply put, you need to tell the reader about a specific event that changed your life . Note that it also works for a closely related type of essay, the personal narrative essay .

Three essential elements should be clear to readers of any life-changing experience writing:

The reader should understand the event — both what happened and how it made you feel at the time.
The reader should understand what the event changed about you. It is best to tell the reader about your condition before the event and after it. However, this depends on the essay’s length.
The reader should understand how you feel about the event now.

If you need personal experience essay ideas, focus on events that you can write about to meet the three above criteria. If your assignment is very free form, take a look at a list of prompts for personal writing.

Education Essays

As a student, you will be asked to write an education essay eventually. It is important to remember that personal writing is about setting yourself apart. Tell the reader what made your educational experience unique.

How can you make your educational essay stand out? First, go beyond generic stories of overcoming an academic weakness by avoiding essays that take the following form: “I was terrible at subject X, but through hard work, I became quite excellent at subject X!”

Instead, focus on an assignment or subject that captured your attention — the more unusual the situation, the better. Use storytelling to enhance your essay. The best education essays can be essays about life-changing education experiences; for example, many great educational stories focus on the teacher or class that changed the author’s life.

Biographies

Writing a short biography is easy. All you need to do is to use a very basic biography template. But first: remember that you need to keep the attention of your reader. Tell a good story about yourself ! Learning how to write a biography is about learning how to tell a good story .

A Biography Template

A solid biography is a solid story. For this reason, the biography template is essentially the template of a well-crafted story, which is typically divided into three specific parts:

Establish the characters. In this case, these are people that play important roles in your life. For example, if your autobiographical essay includes family members, you need to describe them briefly before anything exciting happens.
Build tension. If you write about your family, you can describe a problem that exists there.
Describe a resolution. Not that it is not the same thing as a problem being solved. For example, when a loved one dies, there is no solution to that problem. Instead, you grieve and learn to live without that person in your life.

If your biography manages to achieve all three of these elements, you will indeed have one of the class’s strongest essays.

Personal Statements

The last type of personal writing is probably the most important. When faced with their first college application, most students go to the web to find a personal statement format.

If you learn from examples, the best thing to do is check out several strong personal statement examples. As mentioned in the second section, many universities post essays from accepted students. Or perhaps you should read a breakdown of portions of a personal statement. The point is, read what others have done for inspiration.

Sometimes colleges offer personal statement templates. However, they often use freeform personal statements to identify focused, articulate students. Thus, the top tip for these is to write a clear thesis statement . A thesis statement for an essay without a prompt should be so clear that it sounds like it addresses a writing prompt. When there is no prompt, this is the time you should specifically use the standard 5-paragraph essay . Your discipline will impress your readers, which is exactly what you want.

However, an open-ended essay prompt is sometimes just too much to handle in time, but that is alright. It happens to everyone, and our writing experts can help, luckily. You can work with one of their expert writers or editors to create the perfect personal essay.

Personal Essays – Georgia Tech Admissions
The Personal Statement // Purdue Writing Lab
Application Essays – UNC Writing Center
How To: Write Your Personal Essay
Essays | Penn Admissions
Writing the Personal Statement | Berkeley Graduate Division
Personal Insight Questions – UCLA Undergraduate Admission
Essay Topics | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions
Complete Your Application: Indiana University Bloomington
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At 82, I am assuredly a ‘mature student.’ However, I wanted to thank you for being the most helpful resource I have discovered on ‘google’ to look at how I can consider writing an autobiography to perhaps leave my children.

Penny, I’m happy you found the article useful!

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Myself — Personal Life

Essays on Personal Life

Choosing personal life essay topics.

When it comes to writing an essay on personal life topics, there are countless options to explore. From reflections on personal experiences to discussing important life lessons, the possibilities are endless. However, choosing the right topic is crucial for a successful essay. In this article, we will discuss the importance of selecting the right personal life essay topic, provide advice on how to choose a topic, and offer a detailed list of recommended essay topics in various categories.

The Importance of the Topic

The topic of your essay plays a critical role in capturing the reader's interest and conveying your message effectively. A well-chosen topic can make your essay stand out and resonate with your audience. It should be something that you are passionate about and can speak to from personal experience. Additionally, a thought-provoking topic can inspire deep reflection and meaningful discussions, making your essay memorable and impactful.

Choosing a Topic

When it comes to choosing a personal life essay topic, consider what experiences, events, or lessons have had a significant impact on you. Reflect on moments that have shaped your beliefs, values, and perspective on life. Additionally, think about topics that are relevant and meaningful to your intended audience. Whether it's a personal struggle, a life-changing event, or a valuable lesson learned, your chosen topic should be authentic and compelling.

Self-Discovery and Personal Growth

Overcoming personal obstacles and setbacks
Finding purpose and passion in life
The importance of self-care and mental well-being
Embracing change and personal transformation

Life Lessons and Wisdom

The value of resilience and perseverance
Learning from failure and turning setbacks into success
The impact of gratitude and positivity on one's outlook on life
Embracing diversity and embracing different perspectives

Challenges and Triumphs

Confronting fears and stepping out of your comfort zone
Overcoming adversity and finding strength in difficult times
Celebrating personal achievements and milestones
The power of resilience and bouncing back from setbacks

Personal Values and Beliefs

Exploring cultural identity and heritage
The significance of empathy and compassion in personal relationships
Navigating ethical dilemmas and making difficult decisions
The influence of personal values on decision-making and behavior

Choosing the right personal life essay topic is essential for creating a compelling and impactful essay. By selecting a topic that is authentic, relevant, and meaningful, you can engage your audience and convey your message effectively. Whether it's a reflection on personal experiences, life lessons, or challenges and triumphs, there are countless options to explore when it comes to personal life essay topics. Use the recommended essay topics as inspiration to craft an essay that resonates with your audience and leaves a lasting impression.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 perfect persuasive essay topics for any assignment.

General Education

Do you need to write a persuasive essay but aren’t sure what topic to focus on? Were you thrilled when your teacher said you could write about whatever you wanted but are now overwhelmed by the possibilities? We’re here to help!

Read on for a list of 113 top-notch persuasive essay topics, organized into ten categories. To help get you started, we also discuss what a persuasive essay is, how to choose a great topic, and what tips to keep in mind as you write your persuasive essay.

What Is a Persuasive Essay?

In a persuasive essay, you attempt to convince readers to agree with your point of view on an argument. For example, an essay analyzing changes in Italian art during the Renaissance wouldn’t be a persuasive essay, because there’s no argument, but an essay where you argue that Italian art reached its peak during the Renaissance would be a persuasive essay because you’re trying to get your audience to agree with your viewpoint.

Persuasive and argumentative essays both try to convince readers to agree with the author, but the two essay types have key differences. Argumentative essays show a more balanced view of the issue and discuss both sides. Persuasive essays focus more heavily on the side the author agrees with. They also often include more of the author’s opinion than argumentative essays, which tend to use only facts and data to support their argument.

All persuasive essays have the following:

Introduction: Introduces the topic, explains why it’s important, and ends with the thesis.
Thesis: A sentence that sums up what the essay be discussing and what your stance on the issue is.
Reasons you believe your side of the argument: Why do you support the side you do? Typically each main point will have its own body paragraph.
Evidence supporting your argument: Facts or examples to back up your main points. Even though your opinion is allowed in persuasive essays more than most other essays, having concrete examples will make a stronger argument than relying on your opinion alone.
Conclusion: Restatement of thesis, summary of main points, and a recap of why the issue is important.

What Makes a Good Persuasive Essay Topic?

Theoretically, you could write a persuasive essay about any subject under the sun, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Certain topics are easier to write a strong persuasive essay on, and below are tips to follow when deciding what you should write about.

It’s a Topic You Care About

Obviously, it’s possible to write an essay about a topic you find completely boring. You’ve probably done it! However, if possible, it’s always better to choose a topic that you care about and are interested in. When this is the case, you’ll find doing the research more enjoyable, writing the essay easier, and your writing will likely be better because you’ll be more passionate about and informed on the topic.

You Have Enough Evidence to Support Your Argument

Just being passionate about a subject isn’t enough to make it a good persuasive essay topic, though. You need to make sure your argument is complex enough to have at least two potential sides to root for, and you need to be able to back up your side with evidence and examples. Even though persuasive essays allow your opinion to feature more than many other essays, you still need concrete evidence to back up your claims, or you’ll end up with a weak essay.

For example, you may passionately believe that mint chocolate chip ice cream is the best ice cream flavor (I agree!), but could you really write an entire essay on this? What would be your reasons for believing mint chocolate chip is the best (besides the fact that it’s delicious)? How would you support your belief? Have enough studies been done on preferred ice cream flavors to support an entire essay? When choosing a persuasive essay idea, you want to find the right balance between something you care about (so you can write well on it) and something the rest of the world cares about (so you can reference evidence to strengthen your position).

It’s a Manageable Topic

Bigger isn’t always better, especially with essay topics. While it may seem like a great idea to choose a huge, complex topic to write about, you’ll likely struggle to sift through all the information and different sides of the issue and winnow them down to one streamlined essay. For example, choosing to write an essay about how WWII impacted American life more than WWI wouldn’t be a great idea because you’d need to analyze all the impacts of both the wars in numerous areas of American life. It’d be a huge undertaking. A better idea would be to choose one impact on American life the wars had (such as changes in female employment) and focus on that. Doing so will make researching and writing your persuasive essay much more feasible.

List of 113 Good Persuasive Essay Topics

Below are over 100 persuasive essay ideas, organized into ten categories. When you find an idea that piques your interest, you’ll choose one side of it to argue for in your essay. For example, if you choose the topic, “should fracking be legal?” you’d decide whether you believe fracking should be legal or illegal, then you’d write an essay arguing all the reasons why your audience should agree with you.

Arts/Culture

Should students be required to learn an instrument in school?
Did the end of Game of Thrones fit with the rest of the series?
Can music be an effective way to treat mental illness?
With e-readers so popular, have libraries become obsolete?
Are the Harry Potter books more popular than they deserve to be?
Should music with offensive language come with a warning label?
What’s the best way for museums to get more people to visit?
Should students be able to substitute an art or music class for a PE class in school?
Are the Kardashians good or bad role models for young people?
Should people in higher income brackets pay more taxes?
Should all high school students be required to take a class on financial literacy?
Is it possible to achieve the American dream, or is it only a myth?
Is it better to spend a summer as an unpaid intern at a prestigious company or as a paid worker at a local store/restaurant?
Should the United States impose more or fewer tariffs?
Should college graduates have their student loans forgiven?
Should restaurants eliminate tipping and raise staff wages instead?
Should students learn cursive writing in school?
Which is more important: PE class or music class?
Is it better to have year-round school with shorter breaks throughout the year?
Should class rank be abolished in schools?
Should students be taught sex education in school?
Should students be able to attend public universities for free?
What’s the most effective way to change the behavior of school bullies?
Are the SAT and ACT accurate ways to measure intelligence?
Should students be able to learn sign language instead of a foreign language?
Do the benefits of Greek life at colleges outweigh the negatives?
Does doing homework actually help students learn more?
Why do students in many other countries score higher than American students on math exams?
Should parents/teachers be able to ban certain books from schools?
What’s the best way to reduce cheating in school?
Should colleges take a student’s race into account when making admissions decisions?
Should there be limits to free speech?
Should students be required to perform community service to graduate high school?
Should convicted felons who have completed their sentence be allowed to vote?
Should gun ownership be more tightly regulated?
Should recycling be made mandatory?
Should employers be required to offer paid leave to new parents?
Are there any circumstances where torture should be allowed?
Should children under the age of 18 be able to get plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons?
Should white supremacy groups be allowed to hold rallies in public places?
Does making abortion illegal make women more or less safe?
Does foreign aid actually help developing countries?
Are there times a person’s freedom of speech should be curtailed?
Should people over a certain age not be allowed to adopt children?

Government/Politics

Should the minimum voting age be raised/lowered/kept the same?
Should Puerto Rico be granted statehood?
Should the United States build a border wall with Mexico?
Who should be the next person printed on American banknotes?
Should the United States’ military budget be reduced?
Did China’s one child policy have overall positive or negative impacts on the country?
Should DREAMers be granted US citizenship?
Is national security more important than individual privacy?
What responsibility does the government have to help homeless people?
Should the electoral college be abolished?
Should the US increase or decrease the number of refugees it allows in each year?
Should privately-run prisons be abolished?
Who was the most/least effective US president?
Will Brexit end up helping or harming the UK?

What’s the best way to reduce the spread of Ebola?
Is the Keto diet a safe and effective way to lose weight?
Should the FDA regulate vitamins and supplements more strictly?
Should public schools require all students who attend to be vaccinated?
Is eating genetically modified food safe?
What’s the best way to make health insurance more affordable?
What’s the best way to lower the teen pregnancy rate?
Should recreational marijuana be legalized nationwide?
Should birth control pills be available without a prescription?
Should pregnant women be forbidden from buying cigarettes and alcohol?
Why has anxiety increased in adolescents?
Are low-carb or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
What caused the destruction of the USS Maine?
Was King Arthur a mythical legend or actual Dark Ages king?
Was the US justified in dropping atomic bombs during WWII?
What was the primary cause of the Rwandan genocide?
What happened to the settlers of the Roanoke colony?
Was disagreement over slavery the primary cause of the US Civil War?
What has caused the numerous disappearances in the Bermuda triangle?
Should nuclear power be banned?
Is scientific testing on animals necessary?
Do zoos help or harm animals?
Should scientists be allowed to clone humans?
Should animals in circuses be banned?
Should fracking be legal?
Should people be allowed to keep exotic animals as pets?
What’s the best way to reduce illegal poaching in Africa?
What is the best way to reduce the impact of global warming?
Should euthanasia be legalized?
Is there legitimate evidence of extraterrestrial life?
Should people be banned from owning aggressive dog breeds?
Should the United States devote more money towards space exploration?
Should the government subsidize renewable forms of energy?
Is solar energy worth the cost?
Should stem cells be used in medicine?
Is it right for the US to leave the Paris Climate Agreement?
Should athletes who fail a drug test receive a lifetime ban from the sport?
Should college athletes receive a salary?
Should the NFL do more to prevent concussions in players?
Do PE classes help students stay in shape?
Should horse racing be banned?
Should cheerleading be considered a sport?
Should children younger than 18 be allowed to play tackle football?
Are the costs of hosting an Olympic Games worth it?
Can online schools be as effective as traditional schools?
Do violent video games encourage players to be violent in real life?
Should facial recognition technology be banned?
Does excessive social media use lead to depression/anxiety?
Has the rise of translation technology made knowing multiple languages obsolete?
Was Steve Jobs a visionary or just a great marketer?
Should social media be banned for children younger than a certain age?
Which 21st-century invention has had the largest impact on society?
Are ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft good or bad for society?
Should Facebook have done more to protect the privacy of its users?
Will technology end up increasing or decreasing inequality worldwide?

Tips for Writing a Strong Persuasive Essay

After you’ve chosen the perfect topic for your persuasive essay, your work isn’t over. Follow the three tips below to create a top-notch essay.

Do Your Research

Your argument will fall apart if you don’t fully understand the issue you’re discussing or you overlook an important piece of it. Readers won’t be convinced by someone who doesn’t know the subject, and you likely won’t persuade any of them to begin supporting your viewpoint. Before you begin writing a single word of your essay, research your topic thoroughly. Study different sources, learn about the different sides of the argument, ask anyone who’s an expert on the topic what their opinion is, etc. You might be tempted to start writing right away, but by doing your research, you’ll make the writing process much easier when the time comes.

Make Your Thesis Perfect

Your thesis is the most important sentence in your persuasive essay. Just by reading that single sentence, your audience should know exactly what topic you’ll be discussing and where you stand on the issue. You want your thesis to be crystal clear and to accurately set up the rest of your essay. Asking classmates or your teacher to look it over before you begin writing the rest of your essay can be a big help if you’re not entirely confident in your thesis.

Consider the Other Side

You’ll spend most of your essay focusing on your side of the argument since that’s what you want readers to come away believing. However, don’t think that means you can ignore other sides of the issue. In your essay, be sure to discuss the other side’s argument, as well as why you believe this view is weak or untrue. Researching all the different viewpoints and including them in your essay will increase the quality of your writing by making your essay more complete and nuanced.

Summary: Persuasive Essay Ideas

Good persuasive essay topics can be difficult to come up with, but in this guide we’ve created a list of 113 excellent essay topics for you to browse. The best persuasive essay ideas will be those that you are interested in, have enough evidence to support your argument, and aren’t too complicated to be summarized in an essay.

After you’ve chosen your essay topic, keep these three tips in mind when you begin writing:

Do your research
Make your thesis perfect
Consider the other side

What's Next?

Need ideas for a research paper topic as well? Our guide to research paper topics has over 100 topics in ten categories so you can be sure to find the perfect topic for you.

Thinking about taking an AP English class? Read our guide on AP English classes to learn whether you should take AP English Language or AP English Literature (or both!)

Deciding between the SAT or ACT? Find out for sure which you will do the best on . Also read a detailed comparison between the two tests .

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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10 Personal Narrative Examples to Inspire Your Writing

Personal narratives are short pieces of creative nonfiction that recount a story from someone’s own experiences. They can be a memoir, a thinkpiece, or even a polemic — so long as the piece is grounded in the writer's beliefs and experiences, it can be considered a personal narrative.

Despite the nonfiction element, there’s no single way to approach this topic, and you can be as creative as you would be writing fiction. To inspire your writing and reveal the sheer diversity of this type of essay, here are ten great examples personal narratives from recent years:

1. “Only Disconnect” by Gary Shteyngart

Personal narratives don’t have to be long to be effective, as this thousand-word gem from the NYT book review proves. Published in 2010, just as smartphones were becoming a ubiquitous part of modern life, this piece echoes many of our fears surrounding technology and how it often distances us from reality.

In this narrative, Shteyngart navigates Manhattan using his new iPhone—or more accurately, is led by his iPhone, completely oblivious to the world around him. He’s completely lost to the magical happenstance of the city as he “follow[s] the arrow taco-ward”. But once he leaves for the country, and abandons the convenience of a cell phone connection, the real world comes rushing back in and he remembers what he’s been missing out on.

The downfalls of technology is hardly a new topic, but Shteyngart’s story remains evergreen because of how our culture has only spiraled further down the rabbit hole of technology addiction in the intervening years.

What can you learn from this piece?

Just because a piece of writing is technically nonfiction, that doesn’t mean that the narrative needs to be literal. Shteyngart imagines a Manhattan that physically changes around him when he’s using his iPhone, becoming an almost unrecognizable world. From this, we can see how a certain amount of dramatization can increase the impact of your message—even if that wasn’t exactly the way something happened.

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2. “Why I Hate Mother's Day” by Anne Lamott

The author of the classic writing text Bird by Bird digs into her views on motherhood in this piece from Salon. At once a personal narrative and a cultural commentary, Lamott explores the harmful effects that Mother’s Day may have on society —how its blind reverence to the concept of motherhood erases women’s agency and freedom to be flawed human beings.

Lamott points out that not all mothers are good, not everyone has a living mother to celebrate, and some mothers have lost their children, so have no one to celebrate with them. More importantly, she notes how this Hallmark holiday erases all the people who helped raise a woman, a long chain of mothers and fathers, friends and found family, who enable her to become a mother. While it isn’t anchored to a single story or event (like many classic personal narratives), Lamott’s exploration of her opinions creates a story about a culture that puts mothers on an impossible pedestal.

In a personal narrative essay, lived experience can be almost as valid as peer-reviewed research—so long as you avoid making unfounded assumptions. While some might point out that this is merely an opinion piece, Lamott cannily starts the essay by grounding it in the personal, revealing how she did not raise her son to celebrate Mother’s Day. This detail, however small, invites the reader into her private life and frames this essay as a story about her —and not just an exercise in being contrary.

3. “The Crane Wife” by CJ Hauser

Days after breaking off her engagement with her fiance, CJ Hauser joins a scientific expedition on the Texas coast r esearching whooping cranes . In this new environment, she reflects on the toxic relationship she left and how she found herself in this situation. She pulls together many seemingly disparate threads, using the expedition and the Japanese myth of the crane wife as a metaphor for her struggles.

Hauser’s interactions with the other volunteer researchers expand the scope of the narrative from her own mind, reminding her of the compassion she lacked in her relationship. In her attempts to make herself smaller, less needy, to please her fiance, she lost sight of herself and almost signed up to live someone else’s life, but among the whooping cranes of Texas, she takes the first step in reconnecting with herself.

With short personal narratives, there isn’t as much room to develop characters as you might have in a memoir so the details you do provide need to be clear and specific. Each of the volunteer researchers on Hauser’s expedition are distinct and recognizable though Hauser is economical in her descriptions.

For example, Hauser describes one researcher as “an eighty-four-year-old bachelor from Minnesota. He could not do most of the physical activities required by the trip, but had been on ninety-five Earthwatch expeditions, including this one once before. Warren liked birds okay. What Warren really loved was cocktail hour.”

In a few sentences, we get a clear picture of Warren's fun-loving, gregarious personality and how he fits in with the rest of the group.

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4. “The Trash Heap Has Spoken” by Carmen Maria Machado

The films and TV shows of the 80s and 90s—cultural touchstones that practically raised a generation—hardly ever featured larger women on screen. And if they did, it was either as a villain or a literal trash heap. Carmen Maria Machado grew up watching these cartoons, and the absence of fat women didn’t faze her. Not until puberty hit and she went from a skinny kid to a fuller-figured teen. Suddenly uncomfortable in her skin, she struggled to find any positive representation in her favorite media.

As she gets older and more comfortable in her own body, Machado finds inspiration in Marjory the Trash Heap from Fraggle Rock and Ursula, everyone’s favorite sea witch from The Little Mermaid —characters with endless power in the unapologetic ways they inhabit their bodies. As Machado considers her own body through the years, it’s these characters she returns to as she faces society’s unkind, dismissive attitudes towards fat women.

Stories shape the world, even if they’re fictional. Some writers strive for realism, reflecting the world back on itself in all its ugliness, but Carmen Maria Machado makes a different point. There is power in being imaginative and writing the world as it could be, imagining something bigger, better, and more beautiful. So, write the story you want to see, change the narrative, look at it sideways, and show your readers how the world could look.

5. “Am I Disabled?” by Joanne Limburg

The titular question frames the narrative of Joanne Limburg’s essay as she considers the implications of disclosing her autism. What to some might seem a mundane occurrence—ticking ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘prefer not to say’ on a bureaucratic form—elicits both philosophical and practical questions for Limburg about what it means to be disabled and how disability is viewed by the majority of society.

Is the labor of disclosing her autism worth the insensitive questions she has to answer? What definition are people seeking, exactly? Will anyone believe her if she says yes? As she dissects the question of what disability is, she explores the very real personal effects this has on her life and those of other disabled people.

Limburg’s essay is written in a style known as the hermit crab essay , when an author uses an existing document form to contain their story. You can format your writing as a recipe, a job application, a resume, an email, or a to-do list – the possibilities are as endless as your creativity. The format you choose is important, though. It should connect in some way to the story you’re telling and add something to the reader’s experience as well as your overall theme.

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6. “Living Like Weasels” by Annie Dillard

While out on a walk in the woods behind her house, Annie Dillard encounters a wild weasel. In the short moment when they make eye contact, Dillard takes an imaginary journey through the weasel’s mind and wonders if the weasel’s approach to life is better than her own.

The weasel, as Dillard sees it, is a wild creature with jaws so powerful that when it clamps on to something, it won’t let go, even into death. Necessity drives it to be like this, and humanity, obsessed with choice, might think this kind of life is limiting, but the writer believes otherwise. The weasel’s necessity is the ultimate freedom, as long as you can find the right sort, the kind that will have you holding on for dear life and refusing to let go.

Make yourself the National Geographic explorer of your backyard or neighborhood and see what you can learn about yourself from what you discover. Annie Dillard, queen of the natural personal essay, discovers a lot about herself and her beliefs when meeting a weasel.

What insight can you glean from a blade of grass, for example? Does it remind you that despite how similar people might be, we are all unique? Do the flights of migrating birds give you perspective on the changes in your own life? Nature is a potent and never-ending spring of inspiration if you only think to look.

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7. “Love In Our Seventies” by Ellery Akers

“ And sometimes, when I lift the gray hair at the back of your neck and kiss your shoulder, I think, This is it.”

In under 400 words, poet Ellery Akers captures the joy she has found in discovering romance as a 75-year-old . The language is romantic, but her imagery is far from saccharine as she describes their daily life and the various states in which they’ve seen each other: in their pajamas, after cataract surgeries, while meditating. In each singular moment, Akers sees something she loves, underscoring an oft-forgotten truth. Love is most potent in its smallest gestures.

Personal narrative isn’t a defined genre with rigid rules, so your essay doesn’t have to be an essay. It can be a poem, as Akers’ is. The limitations of this form can lead to greater creativity as you’re trying to find a short yet evocative way to tell a story. It allows you to focus deeply on the emotions behind an idea and create an intimate connection with your reader.

8. “What a Black Woman Wishes Her Adoptive White Parents Knew” by Mariama Lockington

Mariama Lockington was adopted by her white parents in the early 80s, long before it was “trendy” for white people to adopt black children. Starting with a family photograph, the writer explores her complex feelings about her upbringing , the many ways her parents ignored her race for their own comfort, and how she came to feel like an outsider in her own home. In describing her childhood snapshots, she takes the reader from infancy to adulthood as she navigates trying to live as a black woman in a white family.

Lockington takes us on a journey through her life through a series of vignettes. These small, important moments serve as a framing device, intertwining to create a larger narrative about race, family, and belonging.

With this framing device, it’s easy to imagine Lockington poring over a photo album, each picture conjuring a different memory and infusing her story with equal parts sadness, regret, and nostalgia. You can create a similar effect by separating your narrative into different songs to create an album or episodes in a TV show. A unique structure can add an extra layer to your narrative and enhance the overall story.

9. “Drinking Chai to Savannah” by Anjali Enjeti

On a trip to Savannah with her friends, Anjali Enjeti is reminded of a racist incident she experienced as a teenager . The memory is prompted by her discomfort of traveling in Georgia as a South Asian woman and her friends’ seeming obliviousness to how others view them. As she recalls the tense and traumatic encounter she had in line at a Wendy’s and the worry she experiences in Savannah, Enjeti reflects on her understanding of otherness and race in America.

Enjeti paints the scene in Wendy’s with a deft hand. Using descriptive language, she invokes the five senses to capture the stress and fear she felt when the men in line behind her were hurling racist sentiments.

She writes, “He moves closer. His shadow eclipses mine. His hot, tobacco-tinged breath seeps over the collar of my dress.” The strong, evocative language she uses brings the reader into the scene and has them experience the same anxiety she does, understanding why this incident deeply impacted her.

10. “Siri Tells A Joke” by Debra Gwartney

One day, Debra Gwartney asks Siri—her iPhone’s digital assistant—to tell her a joke. In reply, Siri recites a joke with a familiar setup about three men stuck on a desert island. When the punchline comes, Gwartney reacts not with laughter, but with a memory of her husband , who had died less than six months prior.

In a short period, Gwartney goes through a series of losses—first, her house and her husband’s writing archives to a wildfire, and only a month after, her husband. As she reflects on death and the grief of those left behind in the wake of it, she recounts the months leading up to her husband’s passing and the interminable stretch after as she tries to find a way to live without him even as she longs for him.

A joke about three men on a deserted island seems like an odd setup for an essay about grief. However, Gwartney uses it to great effect, coming back to it later in the story and giving it greater meaning. By the end of her piece, she recontextualizes the joke, the original punchline suddenly becoming deeply sad. In taking something seemingly unrelated and calling back to it later, the essay’s message about grief and love becomes even more powerful.

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Why Easter brings me back to church

Even though i don’t practice in earnest anymore, memories and community give me a reason to return every spring, by gabriella ferrigine.

“Please — come join us in the cafeteria after Mass has concluded!”

Father Ariel’s jaunty voice echoed from where he was standing at the slabbed marble pulpit, as he smiled out at the congregation. His family, who had arrived from the Philippines in droves to celebrate his 50th birthday, beamed from the first several rows of glossy, varnished pews.

I’m not an atheist per se, but trying to find an equilibrium with faith has undoubtedly become a game of mental Tetris.

Mid-morning light filtered through stained glass depicting saints and the Stations of the Cross, casting soft pinks and blues and greens across the church: our local parish, St. James. Sun illuminated the top of Father Ariel’s head, and behind him, a domed mural of the stages of Jesus’ life — his birth in a manger, his crucifixion atop Calvary, and his resurrection after emerging from a stone sepulchre — seemed to swell higher with every slow, measured note of music from the raftered choir.

It was a Sunday morning in April, not exactly Easter but right around the time. The smell of incense — a combination of frankincense and myrrh — leached from every corner of the space, creating a somewhat soporific effect. I pictured my family, friends and neighbors gently falling asleep to its bitter, powdery aroma, like Dorothy did in the poppy field. Everything felt buoyant and peaceful.

My family and many other parishioners — mainly gentle, geriatric hordes — joined Father Ariel with his multitude of relatives in my middle-school cafeteria for an authentic Filipino feast. Side dishes of pearly quail eggs, roasted fish and meats, bright salads and an array of desserts adorned every inch of table space, the very same where I ate many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my youth. At the center of it all was a huge roast pig, or lechón, with delicate, crisped skin. I looked at the pig’s face, then at the people ambling around the dingy, linoleum floors, and immediately felt love.

This was nearly 10 years ago, back during a time when I went to Church every Sunday and consistently prayed to God. I don’t consider myself a particularly religious person anymore. I’m not an atheist per se, but trying to find an equilibrium with faith has undoubtedly become a game of mental Tetris. Sure, Jesus seemed like a pretty cool guy — to me, his message has always unequivocally been "love,” in a broader sense. I’m on board with that.

But I still remain immensely put off by how Catholicism’s sordid underbelly has blended into sociopolitical life, underpinning the dismantling of women’s reproductive rights and enabling sexual abusers. I find myself still clinging to it largely because it’s woven tightly into many people I love. It’s a perturbing relationship; I feel as though my continued shunning of organized religion has in a sense estranged me from the memory of some very important people.

And yet, Easter and springtime always bring me back to church. I find myself craving, not exactly the scriptures and the teachings embedded in them, but how the space evokes the memories of people I love — chiefly my maternal grandmother and my mom — and an inclusive sense of community.

A deeply spiritual person, my grandma — born in a small Bolivian jungle village called Riberalta — spent her teenage years living in a convent with a U.S.-based congregation of nuns performing foreign missionary work. She was readying to enter the sisterhood when she met my grandfather, a Sicilian and civil engineer volunteering with a Catholic mission group to help build new infrastructure in Riberalta. They returned to America together and settled in Bayonne, New Jersey, joined in a union forged out of a shared devotion to God and each other.

Though my mom didn’t pray a daily rosary or make pilgrimages to Lourdes like my grandma, she was deeply affected by her religious upbringing, a heritage she inculcated her five children with through weekly mass, and offering up nightly intentions along with prayers before dinner: family and friends who were sick or had died, poverty and homelessness, wartime conflict, our cat Sweet Pea’s hypothyroidism.

In my grandmother’s house and my own, the iconography of Jesus and other religious figures was everywhere, peppering walls and mantelpieces alongside family photos and wedding albums. Each time one of my more than 25 cousins or I received a sacrament — Baptism, First Holy Eucharist, Confirmation — a sprawling, family-wide party followed, usually at an Italian restaurant with a generically benevolent, pot-bellied owner who would toddle around and ask, “How yous all likin’ the food?” And of course, there was always a large white sheet cake, piped in bubbled fonts: “God Bless ____!”

Seeing as my mom’s eight siblings were spread out across central New Jersey, I essentially ran the gauntlet of various Catholic parishes in our area for different holidays and events. I had my favorite churches. St. James retained the top position. Then came St. Michael’s, a red-bricked church that was famous for its live-animal manger display during the Christmas season. Holy Cross — located in one of the more affluent towns in my county — had a stunning interior, but its reputation had always been somewhat sullied in my mind from a 2006 embezzlement incident .

While I was able to evade formal liturgical participation, my three younger sisters were all urged to be altar servers, helping St. James’ priests — mostly middle-aged men from the Phillippines and India — prepare and proceed with weekly Sunday mass. One sister recalled a time when she and another altar server accidentally spilled open a bag of already-consecrated Eucharist wafers as they were preparing for mass in the wood-paneled sacristy.

“Oh! Uh, don’t worry girls — I’ll consume these later,” the priest said when he walked in and saw them scooping the body of Christ off the floor and into Ziploc bags.

Another time several years ago, my family was running late for Easter Sunday mass, half of us with our hair still wet. “Overflow,” an usher posted outside the church doors said as we approached, jerking his thumb toward the rear parking lot where the grammar school was located. Given that creasters (Catholics who only attend church on Christmas and Easter) come out of the woodwork every winter and spring, tardy worshippers are forced to attend the secondary service, held in the gymnasium or auditorium.

From my seat in a metal folding chair, nostalgia washed over me as the priest carried a gold crucifix across the same floor where I’d once played dodgeball, toward the makeshift altar where I’d watched classmates act out a rendition of “The Little Mermaid.”

I feel as though my continued shunning of organized religion has in a sense estranged me from the memory of some very important people.

I spent last Easter in Newport, Rhode Island with my family for a short holiday vacation. The weekend was oceanic cliffs and Gilded Age mansions and a kaleidoscopic assortment of saltwater taffy. On Easter Sunday, we walked from our quaint bed and breakfast to St. Mary’s, Our Lady of the Isle, where JFK and Jackie O wed in September of 1953. We took turns waiting outside with our two Great Pyrenees, who had reaped the benefits of Newport’s reputation for being dog-friendly.

Ahead of the homily, the part of the service when the priest explains the Gospel reading in further detail, I elected to relieve my mom of dog duty, knowing she wouldn’t want to miss the crux of the mass.

As I turned toward the door to trade off with her, the sharp New England morning air — and an emotional pang — made me bristle. I didn’t want to leave. Mashed tightly in hard-backed pews alongside other Catholics, loyalists and creasters alike, I felt a distinct sense of calm. The very same that came to me years ago as I gazed at a pig’s snout.

This Easter, we’ll be going back to St. James. Father Ariel is no longer at the parish — I don’t know many of the priests there anymore, my connection to the parish steadily eroded by distance, time and sheer obstinance on my part. It’s an elegiac relationship, compounded by the recent passing of my grandmother, who embodied holiness and unadulterated love in every sense.

And while I may not take the time to philosophize about my salvation on Sunday, I’m certain I’ll think of her and what my being there would mean to her. For me, that’s enough to return every spring.

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Gabriella Ferrigine is a staff writer at Salon. Originally from the Jersey Shore, she moved to New York City in 2016 to attend Columbia University, where she received her B.A. in English and M.A. in American Studies. Formerly a staff writer at NowThis News, she has an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from NYU and was previously a news fellow at Salon.

A woman’s life is all work and little rest. An age gap relationship can help.

In the summer, in the south of France, my husband and I like to play, rather badly, the lottery. We take long, scorching walks to the village — gratuitous beauty, gratuitous heat — kicking up dust and languid debates over how we’d spend such an influx. I purchase scratch-offs, jackpot tickets, scraping the former with euro coins in restaurants too fine for that. I never cash them in, nor do I check the winning numbers. For I already won something like the lotto, with its gifts and its curses, when he married me.

He is ten years older than I am. I chose him on purpose, not by chance. As far as life decisions go, on balance, I recommend it.

When I was 20 and a junior at Harvard College, a series of great ironies began to mock me. I could study all I wanted, prove myself as exceptional as I liked, and still my fiercest advantage remained so universal it deflated my other plans. My youth. The newness of my face and body. Compellingly effortless; cruelly fleeting. I shared it with the average, idle young woman shrugging down the street. The thought, when it descended on me, jolted my perspective, the way a falling leaf can make you look up: I could diligently craft an ideal existence, over years and years of sleepless nights and industry. Or I could just marry it early.

So naturally I began to lug a heavy suitcase of books each Saturday to the Harvard Business School to work on my Nabokov paper. In one cavernous, well-appointed room sat approximately 50 of the planet’s most suitable bachelors. I had high breasts, most of my eggs, plausible deniability when it came to purity, a flush ponytail, a pep in my step that had yet to run out. Apologies to Progress, but older men still desired those things.

I could not understand why my female classmates did not join me, given their intelligence. Each time I reconsidered the project, it struck me as more reasonable. Why ignore our youth when it amounted to a superpower? Why assume the burdens of womanhood, its too-quick-to-vanish upper hand, but not its brief benefits at least? Perhaps it came easier to avoid the topic wholesale than to accept that women really do have a tragically short window of power, and reason enough to take advantage of that fact while they can. As for me, I liked history, Victorian novels, knew of imminent female pitfalls from all the books I’d read: vampiric boyfriends; labor, at the office and in the hospital, expected simultaneously; a decline in status as we aged, like a looming eclipse. I’d have disliked being called calculating, but I had, like all women, a calculator in my head. I thought it silly to ignore its answers when they pointed to an unfairness for which we really ought to have been preparing.

I was competitive by nature, an English-literature student with all the corresponding major ambitions and minor prospects (Great American novel; email job). A little Bovarist , frantic for new places and ideas; to travel here, to travel there, to be in the room where things happened. I resented the callow boys in my class, who lusted after a particular, socially sanctioned type on campus: thin and sexless, emotionally detached and socially connected, the opposite of me. Restless one Saturday night, I slipped on a red dress and snuck into a graduate-school event, coiling an HDMI cord around my wrist as proof of some technical duty. I danced. I drank for free, until one of the organizers asked me to leave. I called and climbed into an Uber. Then I promptly climbed out of it. For there he was, emerging from the revolving doors. Brown eyes, curved lips, immaculate jacket. I went to him, asked him for a cigarette. A date, days later. A second one, where I discovered he was a person, potentially my favorite kind: funny, clear-eyed, brilliant, on intimate terms with the universe.

I used to love men like men love women — that is, not very well, and with a hunger driven only by my own inadequacies. Not him. In those early days, I spoke fondly of my family, stocked the fridge with his favorite pasta, folded his clothes more neatly than I ever have since. I wrote his mother a thank-you note for hosting me in his native France, something befitting a daughter-in-law. It worked; I meant it. After graduation and my fellowship at Oxford, I stayed in Europe for his career and married him at 23.

Of course I just fell in love. Romances have a setting; I had only intervened to place myself well. Mainly, I spotted the precise trouble of being a woman ahead of time, tried to surf it instead of letting it drown me on principle. I had grown bored of discussions of fair and unfair, equal or unequal , and preferred instead to consider a thing called ease.

The reception of a particular age-gap relationship depends on its obviousness. The greater and more visible the difference in years and status between a man and a woman, the more it strikes others as transactional. Transactional thinking in relationships is both as American as it gets and the least kosher subject in the American romantic lexicon. When a 50-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman walk down the street, the questions form themselves inside of you; they make you feel cynical and obscene: How good of a deal is that? Which party is getting the better one? Would I take it? He is older. Income rises with age, so we assume he has money, at least relative to her; at minimum, more connections and experience. She has supple skin. Energy. Sex. Maybe she gets a Birkin. Maybe he gets a baby long after his prime. The sight of their entwined hands throws a lucid light on the calculations each of us makes, in love, to varying degrees of denial. You could get married in the most romantic place in the world, like I did, and you would still have to sign a contract.

Twenty and 30 is not like 30 and 40; some freshness to my features back then, some clumsiness in my bearing, warped our decade, in the eyes of others, to an uncrossable gulf. Perhaps this explains the anger we felt directed at us at the start of our relationship. People seemed to take us very, very personally. I recall a hellish car ride with a friend of his who began to castigate me in the backseat, in tones so low that only I could hear him. He told me, You wanted a rich boyfriend. You chased and snuck into parties . He spared me the insult of gold digger, but he drew, with other words, the outline for it. Most offended were the single older women, my husband’s classmates. They discussed me in the bathroom at parties when I was in the stall. What does he see in her? What do they talk about? They were concerned about me. They wielded their concern like a bludgeon. They paraphrased without meaning to my favorite line from Nabokov’s Lolita : “You took advantage of my disadvantage,” suspecting me of some weakness he in turn mined. It did not disturb them, so much, to consider that all relationships were trades. The trouble was the trade I’d made struck them as a bad one.

The truth is you can fall in love with someone for all sorts of reasons, tiny transactions, pluses and minuses, whose sum is your affection for each other, your loyalty, your commitment. The way someone picks up your favorite croissant. Their habit of listening hard. What they do for you on your anniversary and your reciprocal gesture, wrapped thoughtfully. The serenity they inspire; your happiness, enlivening it. When someone says they feel unappreciated, what they really mean is you’re in debt to them.

When I think of same-age, same-stage relationships, what I tend to picture is a woman who is doing too much for too little.

I’m 27 now, and most women my age have “partners.” These days, girls become partners quite young. A partner is supposed to be a modern answer to the oppression of marriage, the terrible feeling of someone looming over you, head of a household to which you can only ever be the neck. Necks are vulnerable. The problem with a partner, however, is if you’re equal in all things, you compromise in all things. And men are too skilled at taking .

There is a boy out there who knows how to floss because my friend taught him. Now he kisses college girls with fresh breath. A boy married to my friend who doesn’t know how to pack his own suitcase. She “likes to do it for him.” A million boys who know how to touch a woman, who go to therapy because they were pushed, who learned fidelity, boundaries, decency, manners, to use a top sheet and act humanely beneath it, to call their mothers, match colors, bring flowers to a funeral and inhale, exhale in the face of rage, because some girl, some girl we know, some girl they probably don’t speak to and will never, ever credit, took the time to teach him. All while she was working, raising herself, clawing up the cliff-face of adulthood. Hauling him at her own expense.

I find a post on Reddit where five thousand men try to define “ a woman’s touch .” They describe raised flower beds, blankets, photographs of their loved ones, not hers, sprouting on the mantel overnight. Candles, coasters, side tables. Someone remembering to take lint out of the dryer. To give compliments. I wonder what these women are getting back. I imagine them like Cinderella’s mice, scurrying around, their sole proof of life their contributions to a more central character. On occasion I meet a nice couple, who grew up together. They know each other with a fraternalism tender and alien to me. But I think of all my friends who failed at this, were failed at this, and I think, No, absolutely not, too risky . Riskier, sometimes, than an age gap.

My younger brother is in his early 20s, handsome, successful, but in many ways: an endearing disaster. By his age, I had long since wisened up. He leaves his clothes in the dryer, takes out a single shirt, steams it for three minutes. His towel on the floor, for someone else to retrieve. His lovely, same-age girlfriend is aching to fix these tendencies, among others. She is capable beyond words. Statistically, they will not end up together. He moved into his first place recently, and she, the girlfriend, supplied him with a long, detailed list of things he needed for his apartment: sheets, towels, hangers, a colander, which made me laugh. She picked out his couch. I will bet you anything she will fix his laundry habits, and if so, they will impress the next girl. If they break up, she will never see that couch again, and he will forget its story. I tell her when I visit because I like her, though I get in trouble for it: You shouldn’t do so much for him, not for someone who is not stuck with you, not for any boy, not even for my wonderful brother.

Too much work had left my husband, by 30, jaded and uninspired. He’d burned out — but I could reenchant things. I danced at restaurants when they played a song I liked. I turned grocery shopping into an adventure, pleased by what I provided. Ambitious, hungry, he needed someone smart enough to sustain his interest, but flexible enough in her habits to build them around his hours. I could. I do: read myself occupied, make myself free, materialize beside him when he calls for me. In exchange, I left a lucrative but deadening spreadsheet job to write full-time, without having to live like a writer. I learned to cook, a little, and decorate, somewhat poorly. Mostly I get to read, to walk central London and Miami and think in delicious circles, to work hard, when necessary, for free, and write stories for far less than minimum wage when I tally all the hours I take to write them.

At 20, I had felt daunted by the project of becoming my ideal self, couldn’t imagine doing it in tandem with someone, two raw lumps of clay trying to mold one another and only sullying things worse. I’d go on dates with boys my age and leave with the impression they were telling me not about themselves but some person who didn’t exist yet and on whom I was meant to bet regardless. My husband struck me instead as so finished, formed. Analyzable for compatibility. He bore the traces of other women who’d improved him, small but crucial basics like use a coaster ; listen, don’t give advice. Young egos mellow into patience and generosity.

My husband isn’t my partner. He’s my mentor, my lover, and, only in certain contexts, my friend. I’ll never forget it, how he showed me around our first place like he was introducing me to myself: This is the wine you’ll drink, where you’ll keep your clothes, we vacation here, this is the other language we’ll speak, you’ll learn it, and I did. Adulthood seemed a series of exhausting obligations. But his logistics ran so smoothly that he simply tacked mine on. I moved into his flat, onto his level, drag and drop, cleaner thrice a week, bills automatic. By opting out of partnership in my 20s, I granted myself a kind of compartmentalized, liberating selfishness none of my friends have managed. I am the work in progress, the party we worry about, a surprising dominance. When I searched for my first job, at 21, we combined our efforts, for my sake. He had wisdom to impart, contacts with whom he arranged coffees; we spent an afternoon, laughing, drawing up earnest lists of my pros and cons (highly sociable; sloppy math). Meanwhile, I took calls from a dear friend who had a boyfriend her age. Both savagely ambitious, hyperclose and entwined in each other’s projects. If each was a start-up , the other was the first hire, an intense dedication I found riveting. Yet every time she called me, I hung up with the distinct feeling that too much was happening at the same time: both learning to please a boss; to forge more adult relationships with their families; to pay bills and taxes and hang prints on the wall. Neither had any advice to give and certainly no stability. I pictured a three-legged race, two people tied together and hobbling toward every milestone.

I don’t fool myself. My marriage has its cons. There are only so many times one can say “thank you” — for splendid scenes, fine dinners — before the phrase starts to grate. I live in an apartment whose rent he pays and that shapes the freedom with which I can ever be angry with him. He doesn’t have to hold it over my head. It just floats there, complicating usual shorthands to explain dissatisfaction like, You aren’t being supportive lately . It’s a Frenchism to say, “Take a decision,” and from time to time I joke: from whom? Occasionally I find myself in some fabulous country at some fabulous party and I think what a long way I have traveled, like a lucky cloud, and it is frightening to think of oneself as vapor.

Mostly I worry that if he ever betrayed me and I had to move on, I would survive, but would find in my humor, preferences, the way I make coffee or the bed nothing that he did not teach, change, mold, recompose, stamp with his initials, the way Renaissance painters hid in their paintings their faces among a crowd. I wonder if when they looked at their paintings, they saw their own faces first. But this is the wrong question, if our aim is happiness. Like the other question on which I’m expected to dwell: Who is in charge, the man who drives or the woman who put him there so she could enjoy herself? I sit in the car, in the painting it would have taken me a corporate job and 20 years to paint alone, and my concern over who has the upper hand becomes as distant as the horizon, the one he and I made so wide for me.

To be a woman is to race against the clock, in several ways, until there is nothing left to be but run ragged.

We try to put it off, but it will hit us at some point: that we live in a world in which our power has a different shape from that of men, a different distribution of advantage, ours a funnel and theirs an expanding cone. A woman at 20 rarely has to earn her welcome; a boy at 20 will be turned away at the door. A woman at 30 may find a younger woman has taken her seat; a man at 30 will have invited her. I think back to the women in the bathroom, my husband’s classmates. What was my relationship if not an inconvertible sign of this unfairness? What was I doing, in marrying older, if not endorsing it? I had taken advantage of their disadvantage. I had preempted my own. After all, principled women are meant to defy unfairness, to show some integrity or denial, not plan around it, like I had. These were driven women, successful, beautiful, capable. I merely possessed the one thing they had already lost. In getting ahead of the problem, had I pushed them down? If I hadn’t, would it really have made any difference?

When we decided we wanted to be equal to men, we got on men’s time. We worked when they worked, retired when they retired, had to squeeze pregnancy, children, menopause somewhere impossibly in the margins. I have a friend, in her late 20s, who wears a mood ring; these days it is often red, flickering in the air like a siren when she explains her predicament to me. She has raised her fair share of same-age boyfriends. She has put her head down, worked laboriously alongside them, too. At last she is beginning to reap the dividends, earning the income to finally enjoy herself. But it is now, exactly at this precipice of freedom and pleasure, that a time problem comes closing in. If she would like to have children before 35, she must begin her next profession, motherhood, rather soon, compromising inevitably her original one. The same-age partner, equally unsettled in his career, will take only the minimum time off, she guesses, or else pay some cost which will come back to bite her. Everything unfailingly does. If she freezes her eggs to buy time, the decision and its logistics will burden her singly — and perhaps it will not work. Overlay the years a woman is supposed to establish herself in her career and her fertility window and it’s a perfect, miserable circle. By midlife women report feeling invisible, undervalued; it is a telling cliché, that after all this, some husbands leave for a younger girl. So when is her time, exactly? For leisure, ease, liberty? There is no brand of feminism which achieved female rest. If women’s problem in the ’50s was a paralyzing malaise, now it is that they are too active, too capable, never permitted a vacation they didn’t plan. It’s not that our efforts to have it all were fated for failure. They simply weren’t imaginative enough.

For me, my relationship, with its age gap, has alleviated this rush , permitted me to massage the clock, shift its hands to my benefit. Very soon, we will decide to have children, and I don’t panic over last gasps of fun, because I took so many big breaths of it early: on the holidays of someone who had worked a decade longer than I had, in beautiful places when I was young and beautiful, a symmetry I recommend. If such a thing as maternal energy exists, mine was never depleted. I spent the last nearly seven years supported more than I support and I am still not as old as my husband was when he met me. When I have a child, I will expect more help from him than I would if he were younger, for what does professional tenure earn you if not the right to set more limits on work demands — or, if not, to secure some child care, at the very least? When I return to work after maternal upheaval, he will aid me, as he’s always had, with his ability to put himself aside, as younger men are rarely able.

Above all, the great gift of my marriage is flexibility. A chance to live my life before I become responsible for someone else’s — a lover’s, or a child’s. A chance to write. A chance at a destiny that doesn’t adhere rigidly to the routines and timelines of men, but lends itself instead to roomy accommodation, to the very fluidity Betty Friedan dreamed of in 1963 in The Feminine Mystique , but we’ve largely forgotten: some career or style of life that “permits year-to-year variation — a full-time paid job in one community, part-time in another, exercise of the professional skill in serious volunteer work or a period of study during pregnancy or early motherhood when a full-time job is not feasible.” Some things are just not feasible in our current structures. Somewhere along the way we stopped admitting that, and all we did was make women feel like personal failures. I dream of new structures, a world in which women have entry-level jobs in their 30s; alternate avenues for promotion; corporate ladders with balconies on which they can stand still, have a smoke, take a break, make a baby, enjoy themselves, before they keep climbing. Perhaps men long for this in their own way. Actually I am sure of that.

Once, when we first fell in love, I put my head in his lap on a long car ride; I remember his hands on my face, the sun, the twisting turns of a mountain road, surprising and not surprising us like our romance, and his voice, telling me that it was his biggest regret that I was so young, he feared he would lose me. Last week, we looked back at old photos and agreed we’d given each other our respective best years. Sometimes real equality is not so obvious, sometimes it takes turns, sometimes it takes almost a decade to reveal itself.

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LSU's Kim Mulkey's controversial coaching style detailed in Washington Post story

In a lengthy feature story published by the Washington Post , details of LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey's coaching style were revealed.

The Washington Post story details how Mulkey's controversial ways caused some issues for players; "shame was a frequent tool in Mulkey’s coaching arsenal, whether during practice drills or in addresses to the team," the report says.

Players were called out over their weight, with the team's strength and conditioning coach ordered to conduct player weigh-ins in front of the rest of the team.

The report also details the suspension of Kelli Griffin, a member of the Baylor Lady Bears basketball team between 2007 and 2010. Griffin was issued an indefinite suspension from Mulkey following an altercation with ex-girlfriend and teammate Morghan Medlock; Mulkey did not give Griffin a reason for her suspension, while Medlock was not suspended.

Medlock says that Griffin was suspended for marijuana use, which Griffin denied. Griffin would later quit the team.

FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, teams and more.

The report also extensively details Mulkey's rise to prominence in the college basketball world, from her playing days to her relationship with the late Pat Summitt. Details of Mulkey's personal life, including the estrangement with her family and divorce with her husband are also included.

The release of the story caught Mulkey by surprise prior to LSU's matchup with UCLA on Saturday, March 30.

“You’re telling me something I didn’t know,” Mulkey told ESPN when informed that the story had published. “So you’re the bearer of good news or bad news, or however you want to look at it. But are you really surprised? Are you really surprised by the timing of it? But I can tell ya I haven’t read it, don’t know that I will read it – I’ll leave that up to my attorneys.

On March 23 Mulkey took to the podium before LSU's matchup vs. Middle Tennessee State to discredit the impending report and issue a warning to the Washington Post, saying that she had hired the "best defamation law firm in the country." Mulkey also threatened to sue if the newspaper published a "false story" about her.

Mulkey continued to throw barbs at Post reporter Kent Babb and the newspaper Sunday, including labeling him a "sleazy reporter."

Read more about Mulkey: LSU coach Kim Mulkey subjected to harsh lens that no male coach is

"No. Listen, we’re not going to let one sleazy reporter distract us from what we’re trying to do. Absolutely not," Mulkey said following LSU's 83-56 win over Middle Tennessee State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

On March 22, rumors swirled that Mulkey was the focus of a Washington Post investigative report, leading to the head coach's remarks at her press availability the following day. Mulkey said she was given a "deadline" of Thursday, March 21, to respond to the report.

LSU is in the midst of another March Madness run, a year after the Lady Tigers won the national championship over Iowa and Caitlin Clark. LSU is set for an Elite Eight matchup vs. Iowa on Monday, April 1, in a rematch of the 2023 national championship game.

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Personal Essay Topics and Prompts
A personal essay is an essay about your life, thoughts, or experiences. This type of essay will give readers a glimpse into your most intimate life experiences and life lessons. There are many reasons you may need to write a personal essay, from a simple class assignment to a college application requirement.You can use the list below for inspiration. Consider each statement a starting point ...
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The time when travel changed my life; Personal Essay Topics About Challenges & Failures. The low point of my life and how I got through it ... Any of these 110 personal essay topics are perfect for students struggling to find a topic that will impress a college admission officer or any other person with whom you're trying to connect with on a ...
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Impact of Covid-19 on Personal Life. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on personal lives around the world. From changes in daily routines to the disruption of social interactions, the effects of the virus have been far-reaching. This essay will explore the various ways in which COVID-19 has impacted...
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Personal essay topics usually include real stories, experiences, and opinions of people. Writers need to give an account of their own experience and express their thoughts on the subject of a paper. The key to success is to make an attempt to combine narration and opinion together. In this article, you will find a short writing guide and 100 ...
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242 Personal Persuasive Essay Topics and Ideas. Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class. Personal essays are some of the most diverse assignments you can receive.
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169 Personal Essay Topics & Ideas. Published by Ellie Cross at June 21st, 2022 , Revised On November 3, 2023. As the name suggests, a personal essay relates to the author's personal life experiences. A personal essay is perhaps the most unique and common essay assignment at colleges and universities. It is a non-fiction style of essay ...
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Help your reader get to know you better with these personal essay prompts. Write about your experiences, your relationships, your dreams, and yourself.
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This fall, in honor of our new narrative-writing unit and our first-ever Personal Narrative Essay Contest for teenagers, we've rounded up 550 evergreen questions on everything from family ...
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Easy Personal Essay Topics. Experiences that shaped my political views. The journey to accepting my sexuality. Unraveling my unique talent. Achieving my most ambitious goal. My favorite childhood memory and its impact. The role of spirituality in my life. Navigating through a major life transition.
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Top 50 Personal Essay Topics You might be set a personal essay as a criterion for your admission to college or it might be set at any time during your academic career. A personal essay is essentially a form of self-expression. ... Life skills I learned in college; Why I love the Golden Age of Hollywood; Chocolate is my comfort food;
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Choosing Your College Essay Topic | Ideas & Examples. Published on October 25, 2021 by Kirsten Courault. Revised on July 3, 2023. A strong essay topic sets you up to write a unique, memorable college application essay. Your topic should be personal, original, and specific. Take time to brainstorm the right topic for you.
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If you are still out of ideas for personal essay topics, you can consider the themes listed below: The last act of kindness that you have made. The job of your dream. The most beautiful place in the world you have ever seen. The best music band that helps you to fall asleep. The most annoying things in your life.
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By incorporating personal anecdotes and experiences, as well as presenting your topic from a unique angle or perspective, you can create a compelling narrative that captivates your readers. Remember, the key is to make your essay relatable, engaging, and thought-provoking, leaving a lasting impression on your audience.
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Details of Mulkey's personal life, including the estrangement with her family and divorce with her husband are also included. The release of the story caught Mulkey by surprise prior to LSU's ...

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