In the world of paper writing, personal essays are often the least understood type. They are a common requirement as part of application packages for colleges and graduate schools and they are becoming more common in job applications. As the name indicates, a personal essay, sometimes called a personal statement, is an essay that comes from your personal perspective. The objective is to convince the person, or persons reading it, that you would be a good fit for their department or company.
That may sound easy enough, but for many people, writing about themselves can be difficult. Once you learn the basics of how to write a personal essay, then your next step is deciding the topic. Maybe you’re at this point and seem stuck, thinking to yourself, “What should I write my college essay about?” Don’t worry; keep reading to see the list of 200 personal essay topics, arranged by categories, that I’ve compiled to help get you out of your mental funk!
Personal Essay Topics about Childhood Memories
- Describe your earliest memory of your family
- What is your earliest memory of feeling love?
- Describe your first slumber party
- Describe how you met your first best friend
- Describe your favorite toy and why you liked it so much
- What was your first day of school like?
- Where was your favorite place to visit as a child?
- What is your earliest memory?
- What is your best memory of the house you grew up in?
- Describe your favorite childhood pet
Personal Essay Topics about Family and Relationships
- Describe what you went through when your parents divorced
- Who is your favorite family member?
- What is your family’s ancestral/ethnic background?
- Describe the best experience you’ve had with your family
- Describe some family heirlooms and what they mean to you
- Who was your first girlfriend/boyfriend, and why did you like them?
- Describe your favorite family vacation
- How has a tragedy affected you and your family?
- What is the most memorable holiday your family celebrated?
- What’s the greatest lesson you learned from your parents?
Personal Essay Topics about Overcoming Challenges
- Describe how you rose above getting fired from a job
- How did you move on after your first major breakup?
- How did you improve after a bad report card in school?
- Describe the most challenging job you’ve had
- What is it like to be the new person in a school or work?
- Describe how you overcame some legal problem(s)
- Your strategies to rise above adversity
- How do you deal with stress?
- Describe how you earned the respect of someone who didn’t immediately respect you
- Describe how you went from poverty to wealth
Personal Essay Topics about Life Lessons and Values
- Describe how your parents taught you about right and wrong
- How did you learn to save money?
- Describe your ideas about God
- What does “trust” mean to you?
- Have you ever lied for a good reason?
- Describe how you put a bully in his place
- Describe how you befriended a kid at school who had no friends
- What does friendship mean to you?
- Do your views on life differ from your parents’?
- The value of having a large friend network
Personal Essay Topics about Identity and Self-Discovery
- Describe when and how you became “self-aware” in your life
- When did you discover your “calling” in life?
- How is your hometown an important part of your identity?
- Describe your “hidden talents”
- Describe when you first learned about the “birds and the bees”
- Describe how you learned that you’re athletically talented
- When did you know that you cared for animals?
- What part of your ethnic identity do you most identify with?
- Your personal strategy to bring the most out of your personality
- Describe how you felt when you discovered you’d never be a professional athlete
Personal Essay Topics about Friendships and Social Life
- How having a few close friends made you a better person
- Describe how a social club at school made you a better person
- How someone shows you how to be a better friend
- The time you learned that a “friend in need” is a “friend indeed”
- What role do drugs and/or alcohol play in your social life, and why?
- Describe how you took what you learned about teamwork in a sport into the real world
- What is the greatest quality in a friend, and why?
- Why are you such a good friend?
- Describe a time when a friendship was destroyed through miscommunication
- Why should a spouse be your best friend?
Personal Essay Topics about School and Education
- Describe your favorite subject in school and how it has affected you
- How did a teacher impact your life?
- Describe how you went from hating to loving a certain subject
- What improvements would you make to the educational system if you could?
- How did you overcome your fear of speaking in front of the class?
- How do you think you’ll be remembered by your teachers?
- How do you think you’ll be remembered by your fellow students?
- What do you do during summer break to keep your mind active?
- Describe the best experience you’ve had in school
- What is your experience with technology and learning?
Personal Essay Topics about Travel and Adventure
- Your bucket list place to visit
- Explain why you would like to live in another country
- Describe a travel experience that changed your opinion on something
- Why do you have an adventurous personality?
- Describe a scary place you’ve visited
- Why do you prefer to drive to a travel destination?
- Describe the first time you spent away from home as a child
- What is the most impressive monument you’ve seen in person?
- Why do you like to take risks when you travel?
- Why do you meticulously plan your trips?
Personal Essay Topics about Hobbies and Passions
- What do your hobbies say about yourself?
- Describe your favorite hobby
- Why do you believe so strongly in a particular idea?
- How did a particular hobby make you a better student?
- Do you identify with a particular political party, and why?
- Describe how you learned how to play the piano
- Describe why you love to fish
- What has coin collecting taught you about money?
- Why are you passionate about reading?
- Describe how you made new friends through your favorite hobby
Personal Essay Topics about Dreams and Aspirations
- Describe your dream career/occupation
- Describe your number one goal in life
- What is a childhood dream you still have?
- How do you achieve your aspirations?
- When did you learn that not all dreams can become reality?
- Describe your dream college/university
- What have you learned about yourself from your dreams?
- How do you set daily goals for yourself?
- Describe your dream home
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
Personal Essay Topics about Personal Growth and Change
- Describe how a person helped you change for the better
- Describe the moment when you realized you had to make changes in your life
- What things have you done to improve your life?
- How has spirituality or religion made you a better person?
- Describe how a particular book changed your ideas about life
- Explain how your idea of personal growth is unique
- How have other people’s stories influenced you to make change?
- The benefits of positive thinking in your life
- Describe a change in your life that wasn’t necessarily good
- Describe how some of your beliefs have changed as you’ve gotten older
Personal Essay Topics about Moments of Joy and Gratitude
- Describe the happiest moment in your life
- What are you most thankful for in your life?
- What makes Thanksgiving a great holiday?
- Describe a time you “paid it forward”
- Explain what the word “gratitude” means to you
- How do you find joy in the little things in life?
- Describe the feeling when you received your diploma
- How did you feel when you got straight “A”s on your report card?
- How do you feel when your dog greets you in the morning?
- What movies make you the most happy?
Personal Essay Topics about Unexpected Moments and Surprises
- The time you were given a surprise birthday party
- Describe the time you unexpectedly learned something important from a friend
- How did you feel when you learned you were to become a father or a mother?
- Describe how you surprisingly learned something about yourself in a math class
- What was the best prank you pulled on a friend or family member?
- What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?
- Describe what you felt when your parents finally let you have a dog
- How did you feel when you learned you got into a college that you thought was a longshot?
- The time that you were unexpectedly given a raise or promotion at work
- Describe how you miraculously recovered from a serious injury or illness
Personal Essay Topics about Cultural and Social Experiences
- Describe your first friend who was of another race or culture
- How have you overcome social anxiety?
- Describe your experience as a foreign exchange student
- How did you learn a foreign language(s)?
- How do you put people at ease in a social setting?
- Describe how you learned manners
- What did you learn about life from living abroad?
- When did you learn about your family’s ethnic background?
- Describe the first time you wore a tuxedo or formal dress
- Describe something you value that’s from another culture
Personal Essay Topics about Health and Wellness
- The importance of exercise in your life
- Describe how you learned the importance of good mental health
- The role of friends and family in your health and wellness
- Describe how you trained for a marathon
- What did you learn from playing sports in high school?
- Describe how a workout routine transformed your physique for the better
- How did you quit eating junk food?
- How did you quit smoking cigarettes?
- Describe how you became a vegetarian
- Describe how a trip to the country helped your mental health
Personal Essay Topics about Technology and Social Media
- Write about the time when your phone saved a person’s life
- Explain why you stay away from social media
- How has social media made you a better student?
- Describe how you can “cut” the technology cord if you need to
- Describe how you’ve made friends on social media
- When did you start using the internet?
- What is your favorite social media app?
- How has the internet brought your family closer?
- If you could start your own social media app, what would it be like?
- What tech gadgets would you eliminate if you could?
Personal Essay Topics about Significant Achievements
- What accomplishment are you most proud of so far in your life?
- Describe how you became your class’s valedictorian
- How did you make the state tournament in a particular sport?
- How did you earn a specific scholarship?
- Describe how you became the class president
- How did you raise your grades in math?
- Describe how you react to the success of those close to you
- What was the most important thing you did in high school?
- Explain how your views on what’s considered a significant achievement have changed with age
- Describe your most important goal and how you’ll achieve it
Personal Essay Topics about Regrets and Mistakes
- What’s your biggest regret in life?
- Describe how you found redemption after doing something wrong
- How have you learned from your mistakes?
- How have you helped some recover from a big mistake in their life?
- How did a major mistake you made ruin a friendship?
- Describe how you regretted saying something in anger
- When did you learn to forgive people for making mistakes?
- Describe what “regret” means to you
- What do you do to fix mistakes?
- Why do you think it’s good to remember your mistakes?
Personal Essay Topics about Love and Romantic Relationships
- Explain why you believe in “love at first sight”
- Describe what it’s like to be in love
- When did you learn that “love hurts”?
- What have you learned from dating?
- Describe why you think monogamy is a good thing
- Why do you think romance is overrated?
- Why do you think romance is an important part of a relationship?
- Describe how religion plays a role in your romantic relationships
- Describe how you “fell out of love” with someone
- Explain how you “learned to love” someone
Personal Essay Topics about Career and Work Life
- Describe how your career took off during COVID-19
- What impact did your first job have on your life?
- Explain why you took a job for less pay
- Describe how your parents instilled a good work ethic in you
- Why did you quit a certain job?
- Describe how you balance your work and social lives
- What was your most meaningful job?
- How did you get to your current position?
- How do your coworkers see you?
- How is a “career” different than a “job” to you?
Think about Yourself!
These 200 personal essay topics should help you find a topic, and hopefully, they’ll get your creative juices flowing so you’ll think of some on your own. Just remember that a good personal essay is all about you and how you’ve done something that will be meaningful to the person reading the letter.
Have fun writing your personal essay, and remember that with this type of essay, there’s nothing wrong with talking about yourself!
