Module content

The ending of your essay should answer the question, "so what?" What have your experiences taught you? Your goal here is to convey more than just the skills you've learned, but how you've grown and changed as a person.

For many students, this can be the hardest part to write. Why? Because, let's be real, we don't all instantly know how the most difficult circumstances in our lives have shaped us into who we are today, especially if these are things we're writing about for the first time.

So don't worry if you don't get this part perfect right away. These insights will reveal themselves to you gradually, over the course of this process. Right now, your job is just to start thinking about some of the ways you've grown.

One great way to demonstrate your growth is to focus on values.

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Action Item: Take a look at the Values List in your workbook and identify 3-4 that became especially important to you through the process of confronting your challenges. Go to the "What I Learned" page in your workbook and bullet point them very simply, like this:

• Independence

• Autonomy

• Etc.

Once you've done that, write a sentence or two for each one describing why or how this value became important to you, like this:

• Independence: Going through the experiences with my father helped me see that I wanted to not only experience more freedom for myself and for my mom, but for other women as well.

• Autonomy: Going through the experience of supporting my family and learning I was undocumented helped me realize that I wanted to be able to have more freedom to make choices for myself—what I was interested in—instead of what others were interested in.

Notice how both use this format: "Going through X experience helped me learn Y."

Or you can use little arrows, like this:

• Experiences with my father → freedom (for me, mom, other women)

• Supporting family + learning I was undocumented → autonomy

Again, keep it simple. These don't need to be the exact words you'll write in your essay; right now you're just pre-writing.

In case you're curious, though, here's how this can turn into an essay conclusion:

... I plan to double major in Women's Studies and International Relations with a focus on Middle Eastern studies. After the political turmoil of the Arab Spring, many Middle Eastern countries refuse to grant women equal positions in society because that would contradict Islamic texts. By oppressing women, they are silencing half of their population. I believe these Islamic texts have been misinterpreted throughout time, and my journey towards my own independence has inspired me to help other women find liberation as well ...

My Easter will drastically differ from past years. Rather than being locked at home, my mother and I will celebrate outdoors our rebirth and renewal.

To read this whole essay, click here and read the "Easter" essay.

Notice that this author describes how her struggles inspired her career choice. This worked well for her essay because her dream school (Georgetown) was particularly strong in International Relations. If you have an idea of what you want to study, and if the school you're applying to is strong in that area, you might try that.

But you don't have to. Check out how Adrian ended his essay:

But I'm excited to say that there's so much I have yet to do. I haven't danced the tango, solved a Rubix Cube, explored how perpetual motion might fuel space exploration, or seen the World Trade Center. And I have yet to see the person that Fernando will become.

I'll do as much as I can from now on. Not because I have to. Because I choose to.

Notice how he doesn't mention a career. Why? Because he had no idea what he wanted to do yet! And that's totally fine. But he still got into a great university (Stanford). Notice how in both of these students' essays, though, once you read them, you can name a few values that are important to the authors.

Where are the values?

• In the first example, the values I see are social justice, women's rights, independence, family, rebirth, renewal.

• For Adrian's essay, the values are adventure, exploration, intellectual vitality, travel, family, autonomy (i.e., freedom from external control).

How to stand out at the end of your essay: Can you make your insight more specific or interesting than simply "I learned from these experiences and became a better person"? Try! I'll share some more ideas for standing out in the next module.