I hate keeping a diary. I record what I actually go through, rather than empty talk.

Prompt: Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are. Thanks for editing!

I hate keeping a diary.

My teacher in elementary school underscored the benefits of keeping a diary over and over. She pointed out that through keeping a diary we could learn the lesson of life, so we must write down our insightful reflection in it. Thus one of our daily homework was to write a diary with a minimum of 300 words.

I believed all of my classmates have the same schedule as mine, but, even now, I cannot figure out why they would definitely find old lady waiting for help to cross the road, or pick up a coin and handed it in the police, on their way home every day. However, I didn't have experience so exciting, and I never write about thoughts, highly praised by my teacher, on helping an old lady or giving back the money I found. On the contrary, I always brought a notebook, on which I recorded an advertisement in the street or copied the shape of a leaf. Unfortunately my teacher didn't appreciate my honesty, and thus my final evaluation was always not that engaging.

How can I learn different life truth every day? I record what I actually go through, rather than empty talk. Inspiration does, now and then, come from keeping a diary, but the purpose of doing so is not to gain something. Putting too much attention on utility distorts the original meaning of logging. I record things merely because I want to write them. Similarly I study for knowledge not for good grades; I live for life not for money or fame.

Dominic, this is a very interesting quirk. You did well choosing to discuss it as part of your supplemental essay. It shows the kind of serious thinking and observant attitude that you have which will come in handy as you attend to your college responsibilities and tasks. That said, I feel that I can help you further improve this essay. Let me get started below :-).


- I knew that my classmates and I had the same schedule. So I was puzzled as to how they could always find an old lady to help across the street, or pick up money that they could hand over to the police, everyday for as long as we had to write in the diary. I was not like them. I never did write about my thoughts, neither did I have the same admirable experiences that they did with strangers. They got high praise from their teacher I got the worst grade possible. Somehow she could not accept that my diary was filled with street advertisement catch phrases or the drawing of a leaf. These meant nothing to my teacher, but those meant a lot to me.


- She could not understand that by taking notes about the things happening around me, I learned about a new life truth everyday. I recorded what I went through everyday, rather than making up stories or filling the pages with empty talk. Don't get me wrong, I still keep a diary sometimes, but not in the way other people do. I use it to log my understanding of life and human beings. I record things because I want to write them. Just like I study for knowledge instead of high grades. I guess that is why I consider myself to be a person who lives life instead of living for money or fame.

Feel free to use my suggestions as the basis of your revisions if you think it works for you :-)

Thanks a lot! Your advice is very helpful! :)