5 Important Questions To Ask Yourself While Writing Your Personal Statement

You know me, I’m all about you writing a personal statement that is out of this world! And I want to help you achieve that! I firmly believe you can create a compelling, moving, powerful personal statement that is also clear, articulate, and professional.

I’ve written various posts about personal statement writing. Another great post to check out is How To Write Your Personal Statement– check it out after!

So, where do you begin? Before you even start writing, I think reflecting on these five questions is extremely helpful and will set you up for success.

1. Why are you where you are today?

This is one of my favorite questions to ask someone. There is a lot behind this question so let me break it down for you. Start from the beginning (I’m talking childhood): what decisions and behaviors and activities did you do that prompted you to pursue activities or behaviors in high school, college, and so on. What were your experiences like when you were young, that shaped what you did or thought as a young adult that shaped what you did or thought as an adult? How are you here right now? I mean RIGHT HERE. What has led up to this being your life?

Start writing down a timeline of activities, events, moments, or people that have truly and honestly shaped the trajectory of your life.

For instance, right now I’m sitting in Dallas, TX as a primary care PA. I got to Texas in a very roundabout way that highlights personality traits of flexibility, eagerness, and adventure. I got to the PA path through various specific experiences in college. I could go on and on about why I am where I am today. I want you to do the same thing. 

2. Why do you want to go into the healthcare field?

This question is a bit more specific. I want you to truly consider why you want to go into the healthcare field. You want to help people? Great! But you can help people as a teacher, real estate agent, marketing manager, or accountant. Why. Healthcare.

This question does not always lead to a crazy big life altering answer. It might be that you love a team centered career, are interested in the human body, or enjoy the hard sciences. Whatever your answer is, try to hone in your true “why”.

For me, I went into healthcare because it is a people oriented career that requires an in depth knowledge base and requires constant learning. I also love the “relative” instant gratification it gives of truly helping people.

3. Why do you want to be a Physician Assistant?

Shocker, I want you to ask yourself the actual prompt for the CASPA personal statement to get into PA school! So, actually ask yourself why you want to be a PA. List out 5-10 reasons for your decision. Sometimes, additional question that align with this is, “Why don’t you want to be a doctor or a nurse? Why don’t you want to go into health policy or public health?” Sometimes by identifying things you DONT want to do, it help you better understand what you DO want to do.

To note, I’m not saying by being a PA you don’t want to go into public health, you can certainly do both. But you get the point. Ask yourself why you want to be a PA, and why you decided you don’t want to do other healthcare related careers. 

4. What is important to you?

When you ask yourself what is important to you, I mean generally in your life, your profession, and your personal life. What do you need in order to not only be the best version of yourself, but also feel fulfilled and content with life? Career wise, what are the absolute things you need and things you don’t need? How does that contribute to a career as a PA?

For me, a huge thing throughout my entire life was my identity in a team- for as long as I can remember, I was part of a team. When I got to college and no longer was a part of a team, I actively searched for a new group to be a member of. I identify a lot as an individual but knew that I needed a career that was team oriented in order to truly feel fulfilled. Why did I like being on a team? I loved having a specific role to play that only I could fulfill. I loved relying on other people, and having them rely on me. I loved feeling a part of something bigger than myself. I loved the comfort and security a group brings. I loved the nuances, personalities, and diversity shared. I loved it all. This was a huge part of my personal statement. Now, was my entire personal statement consumed with talking about teamwork? Absolutely not. But, it was a main “paragraph” in my statement because I identified how important it was to me during my brainstorming process.

5. What is a common thread?

Looking at what you have just written down, do you see a common thread? An underlying motivation, concept, or desire that pulls pieces together? Maybe it’s your love of competition, desire to work with populations on the margins, or fascination with how systems operate.

Now, I don’t want you to force a thread. Many applicants don’t have one!

I think they are beautiful to have, and certainly wonderful to use in your writing, but not everyone has some overarching “thing” that shows up in all areas of their life. That is OK. However, sometimes you have a thread and you don’t even realize it! So, your job is to start looking at all of your experiences, projects, destinations, people, interests, dreams, and desires and see if you can pull out a common theme amongst them.

Personally, my thread was encountering people with stories different from myself, which in turn helped me navigate my own story better, and appreciate unique spaces, populations, and individuals.

I hope these questions give you some clarity and a good jumping point to start your personal statement!

Per usual, if you would like help writing and editing your personal statement, visit our Services section!

Cheers!