Does personal insecuirty have to be "explained" in a personal statement?

bobbutwith8characters

My essay is about how I overcame insecure instincts that tried to keep me from a volunteering experience. The experience ended up being worthwhile and made me a more confident person.

Here's an issue that an editor friend brought up. While I described the experience of insecurity in what I felt was enough detail (e.g., "I'm such an awkward person, I thought."), my friend said that it didn't constitute a compelling internal obstacle. She suggested that I add an explanation for why I was so insecure.

While I can certainly understand her reasoning, my issue is that my experience with insecurity was more like personality trait, like shyness. It's really difficult to explain. In any case, I think showing how I got over this internal personality issue is more important than why it existed in the first place.

So what do y'all think?

samantha.ashley92

Hello! The thing that came to mind when I read this was an essay I read about a student's shyness and social anxiety. The essay was meant to show how she overcame these problems, and how much she has grown from her solution (a job requiring a lot of social interaction). Basically, my thought is that if you decide to talk about insecurities and shyness, you should show admissions committees that this will not be a problem in your career. Otherwise, I could see this topic hurting you. I know that didn't really answer your questions, but I thought it might help.

aubrey.hepler

In my experience, I found that more people deal with insecurity then society lets on. Personally, I have dealt with varying levels throughout my 31 years of living. When I share my experience with others who may also be struggling, I have found that structuring the conversation around "what I used to be like", "what happened" and "where I am today" is most effective. As a result, the conversation is growth for me and hopefully the other person benefits too. Life is good-- the struggle is real.

Hope this helps!