A.I. CounselorA.I. Counselor educates on how to stand out in high school, the college admissions process, and beyond.

Writing Your Story: How to Stay the Focus #shorts

5 Sept 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:31

In this concise YouTube short, A.I. Counselor offers practical advice for personal essay writing. The core message is to keep the essay centered on the writer: other people should serve only as a minor, supporting role—a lens through which the writer’s own observations, actions, and transformations are highlighted. Every paragraph must loop back to the writer’s perspective and growth. A quick self‑test is suggested: if the essay still reads the same after removing the writer’s name, the piece lacks sufficient focus and needs further revision.

Here is the inverse. Use other people as a minor role, not the subject. It's completely fine, often powerful, to write about someone who shaped you. But every single paragraph has to circle back to you, what you noticed, what you did, how you changed. The other person is the lens. You are what's in focus. If you can delete your own name from the essay and it would read the same, the essay is not finished yet.