An important part of writing university essays or even when starting to think about which university to apply to, is being aware of what YOU have to offer. Think of it as a contract: the university wants you to fulfil the role of a student, to advance the university’s reputation in some way. No university wants to have only “rich brats”: if not for the reputation, the rich brats go elsewhere. So keep in mind that however little money you have, your skill matters. This article is about how to be more aware of your skills and how to talk about them.
First of all, skills can occur in different spheres of your life. Do not make the mistake of dismissing those which are non-academic! The true skills that you acquire are cross-disciplinary. An easy example is making a budget: if you actually understand the principles behind, then the financial aspect of your education and career become easier for you. A student that shows awareness of financial dilemma both in terms of studies and in terms of career choice in her university essays has shown that she has put much more thought in what she wants, than a student who just talks about how she won her swimming competition and wants to be a future swimmer.
List-taking helps. Methods that I have tried includes filling in a weekly planner to see what activities I do without thinking twice about them (spending time with family and friends for instance). You can also just come up with a blank excel sheet and start jotting down your activities that you think gave you skills which are important to you. What is more important is for you to notice the less-apparent activities. I personally notice that I devote a lot of time talking to my brothers and explaining concepts to them: it is a strength of mine that I am able to simplify very complex concepts to students that are 5,10 years younger than me. Specifically, I introduced electric circuits to my brother when he was 9 and he was able to build whole circuits by himself with resistors, switches, motors, lamps, and so on. My other brother, I guided him towards programming to develop his analytical skills at age 13 or 14 and towards philosophy at age 15. If I had known how valuable that skill is, I would have prioritised it in my university essays. Do not make the mistake of undermining the small things.
Ask the people around you what they think you like doing and what they think you are good at. You will notice that people think of you differently than you do; what you may take for granted, they tend to be more aware of. Do NOT try to justify what they say: accept it completely and ask yourself how you developed that skill. At the very least, think about whether other people would say the same thing. Now, list down these skills. Is there more to them than what other people perceive? How did you develop them? What impact does it have on your life with others? What impact do YOU want it to have on others? If it impacted your surroundings enough that they noticed, chances are that you can repeat this impact in your university life. Capitalize on it.
These are just two methods that I find useful. The general principle is this: “look inwards and look outwards”. Find the methods that allow you to look at yourself and discover yourself deeper, and also the methods that become manifest to others. There is a correlation between the two, but the best you can do is to make use of both. Nobody is perfect, you always need someone or something to remind you of what you yourself cannot yourself see!
University Seeker 