Personal Statement -- Returning to Essay

That was one of the elements of my original education that I believe accounted for some of my relative non-interest in it at the time. In that respect, I expect to have less difficulty concentrating on my studies, precisely because most of the academic material that I will be studying this time around will relate directly (or at least indirectly) to my professional goals. In my traditional educational experiences, I remember that it was very frustrating to have to take courses that were of absolutely no interest to me and that I had to take only because they were required as a condition of graduation.

I am also looking forward to the opportunity to learn as an adult because I will be able to communicate with my instructors on an equal basis. That is something that will be a new experience because in my previous educational experience, there was a natural degree of intimidation and even a certain amount of fear, especially in my earliest years of school when adult teachers were always authority figures rather than peers. In general, I expect that returning to school as an adult might be a foreign sensation the first time I sit in a classroom but that it will quickly become much more comfortable as I get used to it.

Pre-Writing Technique -- Bullet Points and Thought Organization

My pre-writing technique consists of writing down every individual thought that occurs to me without worrying about where it fits in, how I am going to say it, or how it will relate to the other points I intend t make. Then, I look at my bullet points and I number them in the margin to establish the order that they belong in the essay.For example, my initial bullet point outline contained some of the following elements in the following order after I numbered them:

Hard decision to return to school

Reasons for the decision

Sources of concern or fear

Reasons for confidence

Time management skills

Advantages of computer technology

Fewer mandatory course requirements

Vocational purpose of academic courses

Frustration of mandatory courses

Relating to adult teachers as an equal

After listing my bullet points in the order that I will probably be discussing them, I begin to develop each individual point by listing some of the elements that I might discuss in each category. Then, I start drafting complete sentences corresponding to each one of my points until I have a rough draft of an essay that begins with my first point and ends with my last. During that process, I may rearrange some of the points and I try to anticipate the way that I might make the transition from each thought to every point that follows......