You must approach this topic very seriously. You must brace yourself and remember all the best things about your school or college. Yes, the academic world is making really great strides towards overall democratization, but you’d better not mention anything negative about your alma mater in an essay. You don’t need those troubles, do you?
Even J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts, this ideal of an educational institution, has some dark sides and places. So, I’m sure you can’t be satisfied with absolutely everything at your school. Nevertheless, it’s believed that schools must be associated with good things. What you personally consider as good is another question.
Taking into account the fact that writing about your alma mater might be a little bit difficult for you due to some personal reasons, I’ve come up with a few universal ideas that can help you avoid even thinking about those reasons.
At the same time, I hope you’ll get interested in an opportunity to describe your school in a truly original way and turn your essay into an excellent example for your mates to follow.
Check these three creative approaches to the topic and choose the one (or the ones) that can help you compose the essay at its best!
Tell the History of Your School
Only facts and nothing personal. Looks like the best way for those who don’t want to deepen into the details of their school life.
Choose the day when you can retire to the library and look for the materials about the first days of your school’s existence. By the way, if you get along well with some teacher, you can ask them to help you with the search. But even if you don’t, the computer and the librarian, as they are usually really nice, will certainly be able to find exactly what you need.
To add more piquancy to your essay, you can also look for some superstitions the former students of your alma mater could have held. Maybe, you’ll come across the stories about your local academic ghosts or goblins.
Yeah, the idea is really good. But note that you shouldn’t copy and paste everything you find. Try to rewrite the info in your own style.
Remember the Very Best Moment
You just must have it. Whatever it is, try to remember this event in the tiniest detail. Then take a deep breath and start putting it on paper. It must something really warm and remarkable that would give you a sufficient surge of inspiration.
Even it’s something as trivial as a good grade and a few words of praise for your project in Geography, be sure it’s worth writing about. However, this good memory can be connected not with the studies but with something more personal, like skipping a Math class with your best friend at the local park.
That’s a joke, but I think you’ve got the idea. Let yourself go back to the day when that good thing happened, make yourself imagine it clearly and feel the same warmth or comfort once again. That can help you write in a more sincere manner and make your essay sound remarkably true. Your teacher will like it even if you’re telling about a skipped class. (A winking smiley here.)
Or Focus Only on Something You Like the Most
It may be not a certain memory but a regularity, a habit you have. So, you can write about something you do every day. Even if it’s simply about eating a lunch with your mates or feeding ducks at the park after classes.
The thing is that it’s going to be something personal and hence absolutely unique. You can describe the place that’s important to you, the person who accompanies you, and the feeling you have when you repeat one and the same “ritual” daily.
But again, I have to say it must something positive. I can understand the sarcastic smile you might have on your face at the moment. But it’s really essential to stuff all your school pranks into the darkest corner of your memory and write an essay about the good things you can associate your alma mater with.
Want more essay writing tips? Harvard’s pros have prepared them for you here.