Personal Essay Topics

The personal essay is an essay like no other. Writers don’t have to argue a point or demonstrate why someone is wrong. It’s based on personal experience. The writer must choose personal essay topics that affect them emotionally or physically and narrate it. They need to indulge in all the little details.

Some people prefer to see it as another version of a story. This doesn’t mean its right to add lots of flowery language and long descriptions. It’s an account of an event. It must remain factual at all times. It’s not an attempt to sway anyone or change their opinions. Imagine it as if explaining it to someone in person.

The Idea Behind It

The goal of the personal essay is to show how an event impacted the writer. The so-called conclusion should be used at the end to describe how the event changed someone and what it means for the future.

What a professor looks for in any personal essay is an example of change. They want to see how that single event altered everything else in the writer’s life.

Choosing a Topic

This doesn’t imply that the writer has to come up with some elaborate event, like the death of a parent or saving someone’s life. In fact, the event itself can be remarkable mundane and dull. As long as it had a deep effect, it’s a valid topic.

If a writer can’t think of anything suitable, or they don’t want to share some of the events in their life, they can come up with a standard topic. Below, writers will find 50 common examples of personal essay topics that are used regularly around the world for the personal essay. It doesn’t matter if they’re used again and again. Every event will differ slightly, so there’s no chance of plagiarism.

• How you met the person who most changed your life.
• An event where you overcame your fears.
• Your greatest achievement.
• Your greatest failure.
• Why you believe your parents made who you are today.
• The event that disappointed you the most.
• The person who let you down.
• What made you decide on your chosen career path?
• An event that changed your ambitions.
• The most important thing in your life.
• What’s the most important super power to have?
• What’s the most important thing to you?
• The incident that most surprised you.
• The hardest loss you ever had to overcome.
• Whose life would you change?
• Your favourite place in the world.
• If you could go back to your old school what would you change about yourself?
• The words that hurt the most.
• Why money matters in your life.
• What book changed you the most?
• Where would you run away to?
• Your greatest invention.
• What piece of advice change your life?
• What would you do differently if you grew up twenty years later?
• What is your favourite silver screen moment?
• Your most memorable time with friends.
• Your most memorable time with a family member.
• A time where you openly defied your parents for the greater good.
• Your most embarrassing moment in school.
• Your worst career mistake.
• A time where you hurt someone.
• The country that most inspires you.
• The teacher that most changed your life.
• The moment that stunned you into silence.
• The greatest lie you ever told.
• What your favourite colour means to you.
• Your luckiest day.
• The talent that makes you unique.
• The world problem that needs to be solved most.
• An accident that turned out for the better.
• What you would do if money was no object.
• If you could be an animal for a day.
• An event that you can’t explain.
• Your biggest temptation.
• Where you changed someone’s life.
• Your best day.
• Your near death experience.
• The person you wish you could bring back to life.
• If you could live forever.
• A piece of art that changed your life.