Mind-Blowing Personal Essay Topics For Your Personal Essays

While personal essay topics suggested below are generated on the basis of real experience, they still can be tricky to choose because they should be basic or general enough to be related to other individuals.

Since the writing process of a good essay is tough due to the ability of students to create an image by using words, students need to select narrative essay topics to gain the interest of others in a story being told. The story should describe a memorable moment, family history, personal story about the author, etc.

As a rule, personal essays are generated from a personal perspective and reflect writers’ own feelings, opinions, thoughts, insights, and ideas on a certain topic. Moreover, such types of essays result in realization and an overall point.

Typically, these essays are written by students, who are given the tasks of personal essay writing. Nevertheless, students can also write personal essays as job interview, graduate school admissions, writing contests, and scholarship applications.

Students studying in school or college can easily choose a good topic from the list of 110+ narrative essay topics suggested below. If you are given the task of writing a meaningful personal essay for the first time but have no idea of how the right topic sounds, we are here to help you choose the most interesting and captivating topic with a focus on your own story.

Personal Essay Prompts: The Nuances of the Writing Process

When you need your personal essay to be written, you should consider the traditional essay format, guidelines, and structure. Nevertheless, you should also ensure that the essay you present is personal and that it can tell the story about you, instead of presenting facts and being academic. Your task is to discuss something personal, so that readers are truly interested.

• Introduction. The introduction to your personal essay serves as the starting point to engage the readers. It implies that you need to give a hint to the readers to get interested and motivate them to read your personal essay further. Do not forget to end the introductory paragraph with a thesis statement that covers the main point of your essay.
• Body paragraphs. Aim at the development of at least 3 body paragraphs in your personal essay. You may describe your experiences and ideas as bullet points. Each body paragraph should describe a part of the story, including emotions, feelings, and lessons learned. Explore the relationships and share meaningful insights effectively for the reader to be excited to read more.
• Conclusion. In a personal essay, a concluding paragraph is optional because it mainly depends on the idea you attempted to accomplish. You may end on a good, positive note by giving a summary of the main points written in the paper.

Comprehensive Personal Essay Topics List

We introduce a compelling and interesting list of narrative essay topics you may use for your college applications. If you need to describe an embarrassing moment in your life or talk about a time of hope or anything else, go through the personal essay topics below, and we are sure you will find a meaningful one for you.

1. Personal Experiences & Memories

Personal experiences are the most trustworthy and significant source of knowledge for your personal essay. As a writer, you may come to the conclusion that a personal experience expressed in a personal essay represents the knowledge of your life on the basis of events experienced by a particular person. The reader is always interested in identifying more about the writer and his personal experiences because they are the basis for life wisdom. A person learns lessons from particular life situations and shares them with the reader.

• The bravest moment of your life
• How you met your best friend
• A special encounter with an animal
• An event that changed your life
• The moment when you knew you were grown up
• Your fondest memory
• A time you felt out of place
• A surprising turn of events
• A wrong choice you made
• A right choice you made
• If you had a do-over
• Your earliest memory of holiday celebrations
• A close call you had
• An awkward social moment
• The time when you made a friend
• A failure you've experienced
• A book that changed your life
• An experience that you've never shared with anyone

2. Family & Relationships

When it comes to personal essay topics related to family and relationships, you can write about family values, family issues, tough times experienced by a family, single mothers, mother-child connection, etc. The importance of a family and relationships with a particular family member is essential because the role of a family in the life of a person is enormous.

• What makes your mom or dad special
• A time you saw your parent cry
• A time when you disappointed someone
• How you learned patience and kindness from your family
• The lesson you learned from a sibling
• What you learned from your first relationship
• How your best friend made you a better person
• A moment when you realized the true meaning of friendship
• The most vivid childhood memory
• Your favorite time with family
• A time when you had to get along with a sibling despite differences

3. Overcoming Challenges & Hardships

If you write an essay on overcoming challenges and hardships, you can focus either on general strategies or on personal narratives regarding the instances of experiencing and coping with obstacles in real life. All people face challenges and hardships, and all of them handle those challenges differently. While someone may first encounter an obstacle, another person may already know the strategy of copying with it effectively. Select a topic you find interesting and start writing your perfect personal essay.

• How you overcame a fear
• When a friend let you down
• A time you felt you did the wrong thing
• How you recovered from a severe illness or accident
• The worst thing that ever happened to you
• A time when you dodged a dangerous situation
• A tough challenge in high school
• The biggest lesson learned from a failure
• How you handled the stress of moving
• How you bounced back from depression or anxiety
• A time when it felt like the world was against you
• A hard lesson you learned in life
• How you learned perseverance

4. Success & Achievements

In the modern world, personal essay topics on success play a significant role in a college student's life because they discuss how academic performance can be achieved. They also touch upon such issues as success attainment in personal life, business, career, and other spheres of life. The opinion of a contemporary society understands success as the acquisition of financial growth and particular social status. Nevertheless, this opinion is mistaken because different people define success based on their own experiences. Review the following list of topics on success and select the one that fits you most.

• The proudest moment of your life
• Your greatest success story
• How you learned to overcome failure
• A time when your hard work paid off
• A defining moment in your career
• The time you knew your dreams could come true
• Your greatest triumph over adversity
• What motivated you to become who you are today
• The moment when you were acknowledged for your achievements
• A night when your success felt most powerful

5. Personal Growth & Self-Reflection

The essay topics on personal growth and self-reflection discuss more than a simple event - they investigate the effect it provided on the person's personal development. The focus of such essays is on the personal beliefs and individual experiences of an author. It is basically created on the activities and experiences got by an individual in a lifetime.

• The first time you took responsibility for your actions
• A valuable life lesson someone taught you
• How you found courage to be yourself
• When you knew it was time for a change
• How meditation helped you
• The biggest lesson learned from quitting your job
• A moment that sparked self-transformation
• The impact of travel on your personal growth
• A moment when vulnerability led to personal strength
• A time you embraced authenticity in a relationship

6. Hobbies & Passions

You can develop creative nonfiction on your hobbies and passions. Write an essay about something you love to do or would like to do in the future as your passion. It is interesting to read a piece of writing that covers the information on the author's passions or about a time as a child and hobbies s/he had.

• How learning a new skill changed your life
• Why exercise makes you a better person
• Your passion for writing and its impact on your life
• The best advice you ever received
• The time travel changed your perspective
• Your biggest bucket list dream and why it matters to you
• How journaling has improved your life
• Your vision for the future and its meaning
• The importance of living outside your comfort zone
• The journey towards becoming vegan and the challenges faced

7. Imagination & Creativity

Imagination is a true gift given to all people, but not all of them can use it. Creativity represents the ability to develop new solutions, concepts, and ideas. You can reveal your secret talent by writing an essay on any subject with the use of your creativity. Just try it!

• If your dog could talk, what would it say?
• If you could switch lives with someone, who would it be?
• If you could invent something, what would it be?
• The superpower you would choose
• How you would use power if you had it
• What a good teacher you would be
• The greatest discovery in the world
• If you could live in another country, which one would it be?
• The type of statue you'd create
• How you would spend a million dollars

8. Unusual Experiences

How can you define an unusual experience? A perfect adventure during an urban exploration? The super power you would possess? Spending a weekend without money? The best birthday in your childhood? The most memorable travel? Your reaction to considerable world events? All of these experiences are truly worthy of writing and discussing.

• An unexplained event you experienced
• The longest minute of your life
• An odd experience that didn’t make sense at the time
• A time when you wanted to run away
• A moment when a stranger impacted your life
• A secret place only you know about
• A moment of deja vu that felt too real

9. Dreams & Aspirations

Writing a paper on dreams and aspirations is essential because it enables people to examine their subconscious desires and thoughts. Thoughts are the things that are not visible to others, and revealing them to the reader tells much about the author as the individual and discloses his inner fears, strengths, and eccentricity. Do not be afraid of writing an essay on your thoughts and dreams.

• Your childhood dream and what it taught you
• What you would do with a million dollars
• What superpower you would choose and why
• The type of teacher you'd like to be
• How you would use power to change the world
• The best moment of your life
• What you would change in your past if you could

10. Cultural Identity & Heritage

The concept of cultural identity is extensively discussed and recognized in the cultural identity of a contemporary individual. Heritage and cultural background are critical elements of cultural identity. This topic is broad and may be explored from different angles and give you information on why it is important.

• How being bilingual/multilingual has influenced your life
• Your first interaction with someone from a different culture
• A unique family tradition that shaped you
• A moment when you felt proud of your cultural heritage
• How your experience as an immigrant shaped your identity
• A cultural practice or tradition that fascinates you