One of the most valuable traits a student can show a college admissions officer is a legitimate love of learning. So why does the phrase, “I learned valuable lessons…” in a college essay cause so many of those same readers’ eyes to glaze over?
When you actually learn something, a change occurs. It’s a before-and-after story. You didn’t know or completely grasp something before, but new understanding exists after the learning took place. But too many college essays mention learning without mentioning the change. If you want the essay to work, tell both parts—the before and the after.
Let’s say you’re an athlete who writes that being on the volleyball team taught you the importance of committing to your goals. If you actually understood that importance before you joined the volleyball team, don’t make the claim that you learned something (not every essay needs to have a moral to the story).
But if this really was a learning experience for you, explain the part before the learning took place. Share that you were a serial quitter who always gave up when things got difficult, or that you tended to only try things if you knew you would succeed. Then talk about the after. How are you behaving differently as a result of this learning? What change has actually taken place, and what evidence can you show to support it?
Too many students make the “valuable lessons learned” claim to inject deep meaning that wasn’t necessarily there at the time. The pressure of college admissions does that to lots of kids. Resist that pressure as much as possible. You’ll write better essays if you do.
If you’ve embraced and benefitted from an experience that helped you learn something important to you, share it proudly. But don’t limit the description to one line with the phrase about learning valuable lessons. Share the before, explain what you learned, and don’t leave out the after.