You all should be familiar with brainstorming tactics and strategies to help get the creative juices flowing.  Apply that same knowledge here and compile a list of possible topics.  Avoid a love affair with the first few ideas that pop in your head.  In fact, many of the more successful essays blossom from the topics further down the list.  Remember that thousands of students are answering the same question and have the same basic life experiences, commonly based on sport victories, family affairs, and mission trips.  Your looking to dive deeper into the experiences of your life that are unique to you.  You may even want to carry around a sheet of paper with you for a couple of days and look for situations in your day to day life that spark interesting past experiences.  What you should take away from this paragraph is to not pounce on the first couple responses you can muster.

• If your topic is broad and common amongst students your age, do you have a unique perspective or angle you can bring to the table?
• Is it an interesting topic that will grip or amuse your audience
• Is it a topic that helps to bring out your overall personality and pursuits
• Does the topic allow you to bring out your character or personal strengths
• Can you point to a specific, isolated event, book, or outcome
• Can you fit your response in the required essay length

• Why you feel a college education is important
• Your excitement or disappointment during the "big game"
• The purpose of life, world peace, or other big philosophical ideology
• How fantastic you are, smart you are, or other self praise
• Your high school sweetheart
• Heated social issues like abortion, religion, or gay rights.
• Don't attempt to choose a topic you think admissions officers want to hear
• Don't write an research paper

Humor is a very strong way to communicate ideas and edge yourself in someones mind.  Using it effectively can be a great advantage in your essay to stand out, however it is a double edged sword.  Teen humor, inappropriate references, or plain silliness is not going to woo your admission officer.  On the contrary it's sure to be look poorly on.  Intelligent, witty humor is what you should aim for if you want to incorporate it in your essay.  Also keep in mind that body language and voice fluctuation have tremendous weight so be sure it can not be taken out of context.

By this time you should have a page or two of possible topics.  Now it's time to dig deeper and uncover that unique situation that separates you from the candid response of the thousand other applicants.  Go back through your list and spend some time on each question recalling the experience.  Close your eyes and bring yourself back to the moment.  Recreate the canvas and stir up the raw emotion linked to the event.  What could you smell?  What could you hear?  Recall the thoughts and feelings you were experiencing.  Write down the color of the moment in the most descriptive and creative ways you can.  Once you have recreated the experience, recall why you where there in the first place.  What made you pick up that book?  What past experience lead you to the emotion you were having?  Why were you drawn to help those people?  What injustice did you find to motivate you to act?

Now bring virtue and your personal strengths into the situation.   Recall what lesson you learned or personal growth you achieved.  Write down what passion stemmed from the experience and are now life long pursuits you have.  Consider the events from an other's eyes.  How would they speak of your character?  How would they record the events that unfolded or document your conduct?  Now we are starting to bring the topics into focus and heading toward a focused. 

Getting A Second Opinion

Hopefully you went through the exercise above for most of your topics.  You should have developed each topic into a paragraph or so and be in a position to start getting feedback from others.  Share them with your parents and respected adults whom you feel would provide honest feedback.  After you determine your final topic and complete your work, positively have someone review it for grammatical errors and awkward sentences.  If need be, revise and reedit.  Step away from it for a few days an come back to it with a fresh perspective.  Don't send it in until it says exactly what you want to convey to your admission officer about who you are.