By Mia Gail
Whilst you probably want to just bash out your personal statement asap and get on with enjoying your summer, the big thing about writing an engaging personal statement is the background work.
How can you show that you are passionate about your subject if you've not done anything to PROVE you're passionate about it?
Here are my tips on the process of your background work:
1. Pick your subject - hopefully one you're good at but also really interested in.
2. Think about key areas from school that you have found really engaging about this subject. Was there one essay you smashed? Was there a class that got you really excited? Was there a key development you found fascinating?
3. Take one or two of these areas and think how you could extend your knowledge on them.
Could you read more books by the same author? Could you read about the theories discussed? Could you watch a documentary? Could you listen to a podcast?
4. Then treat this as a journey. Let's say you really liked reading Virginia Woolf's Orlando in class, you could then go away and read her diaries. You may then learn that her characters were inspired by real people in her life. This may then lead you to look into her circle of friends 'The Bloomsbury Group'. You could then read other texts by authors in those circles.
5. Suddenly you are following your passions, extending your knowledge and making connections!
So get going!