Guiding Question 1: Does your essay start with a story that hooks us in from the first paragraph?
Please make sure you pull in readers from the first sentence. Admissions officers have short attention spans so you need to engage them immediately.
If you are writing about your community or family to establish context, please consider starting in the present with a story about who you are now and then go back into the past in paragraph two.
Admissions officers want to know who you are now and what you offer, so hook us in with a story that shows a moment in time about who you are.
Remember, these are not formal essays with formal introductions and thesis statements. Engage us. Motivate us to read on.
Use your first paragraph to set the stage for a great essay.