narrative essay on something that changed your life

Essays About Life-changing Experiences: 5 Examples

Discover our guide for writing essays about life-changing experiences that combine three different elements: narrative, description, and self-reflection. 

Each of us has gone through life-changing experiences that shaped us into the individuals we are today. Because of how powerful they are, these events make for fascinating topics in writing. This subject doesn’t only let us tell our life stories, and it also pushes us to evaluate our behavior and reflect on why an incident happened.

Attract your readers by creating an excellent introduction and choosing a unique or exciting encounter. Paint a picture of the events that describe your experience vividly and finish with a strong conclusion.

5 Essay Examples

1. long essay on experience that changed my life by prasanna, 2. life-changing events: personal experience by anonymous on studycorgi.com, 3. my example of a life-changing experience by anonymous on gradesfixer.com, 4. life-changing experience: death essay by writer annie, 5. a life-changing experience during the holiday season by anonymous on studymoose.com, 1. life-changing experience: defined, 2. the experience that changed my life, 3. life-changing events and how they impact lives, 4. everyday events that change a person’s life, 5. the person who change my life, 6. books or movies that changed my life, 7. a life-changing quote.

“Experiences can be good and sometimes terrible that results in a positive or negative impact on one’s life. Life is full of many unexpected challenges and unknown turning points that will come along any time. People must learn and grow from every experience that they go through in life rather than losing yourself.”

In this essay, Prasanna discusses her father’s death as her most challenging life-changing experience. She was cheerful, immature, and carefree when her father was still alive. However, when her father left, she became the decision-maker of their family because her mother was unable to.

Prasanna mentions that she lost not only a father but also a friend, motivator, and mentor. That sad and unexpected experience turned her into an introverted, mature, and responsible head of the family. Ultimately, she thanks her father for making her a better person, and because of the devastating incident, she realizes who she can trust and how she should handle the real world. You might also be interested in these essays about choice .

“In life, certain experiences present challenges that change the way people relate to themselves and their families. Certain life events mark life-changing moments that alter lives either positively or negatively. It matters how people handle their relationships at such critical moments.”

This essay contains two life events that helped the author become a better person. These events taught them to trust and appreciate people, be responsible, and value family. The first event is when their best friend passes away, leading to stress, loss of appetite, and depression. The second circumstance happened when the author postponed their studies because they were afraid to grow up and be accountable for their decisions and actions.

The writer’s family showed them love, support, and understanding through these events. These events changed their behavior, attitude, and perspective on life and guided them to strengthen family relationships.

For help picking your next essay topic, check out our 20 engaging essay topics about family .

“I thought it was awkward because he looked and acted very professional. In that moment I thought to myself, ‘this person is going to have a great impact in my life!’. I was very curious to meet him and get a chance to show him my personality.”

This essay proves that you should always believe in yourself and not be afraid to try something new. The author recalls when they had many problems and met an extraordinary person who changed their life. 

When they were in sixth grade, the writer had life issues that caused them to be anxious about any future endeavor. The author then says they don’t usually open up to teachers because they fear their reactions. Then they met Mr. Salazar, a mentor who respects and values them, and the writer considers him their best friend.

“When the funeral was over and he was laid to rest, I had a feeling I can’t even describe. It was almost an empty feeling. I knew I had lost someone that could never be replaced.”

Annie never thought that she’d go through a life-changing experience until the sudden death of her father. Her thoughts and feelings are all over the place, and she has many unanswered questions. She says that although she will never wish for anyone to experience the same. However, her father’s passing improved her life in some ways.

Her mother remarried and introduced a new father figure, who was very kind to her. Living with her stepdad allowed her to explore and do things she thought she couldn’t. Annie still mourns the loss of her birth father, but she is also grateful to have a stepdad she can lean on. She gradually accepts that she can’t bring her birth father back.

“This story as a whole has really changed me and made me an even better person in life, I’m so thankful that this happened to me because now I have a greater appreciation for the little things in life.”

The essay shows how a simple interaction on a cold day in December can completely change a person’s view on life. It starts with the writer being asked a small favor of an older man with Alzheimer’s disease to help him find his car. This experience teaches the writer to be more observant and appreciative of the things they have. The author was inspired to spend more time with loved ones, especially their grandfather, who also has Alzheimer’s disease, as they learned never to take anything for granted.

7 Prompts for Essays About Life-changing Experiences

Everyone has their definition of a life-changing experience. But in general, it is an event or series of events profoundly altering a person’s thinking, feelings, and behavior. Use this prompt to explain your understanding of the topic and discuss how a simple action, decision, or encounter can change someone’s life. You might also be interested in these essays about yourself .

For this prompt, choose a specific memory that made you re-evaluate your views, values, and morals. Then, discuss the impact of this event on your life. For example, you can discuss losing a loved one, moving to another country, or starting a new school. Your conclusion must contain the main lessons you learned from the experience and how it can help the readers.

Various positive and negative life-changing experiences happen anytime and anywhere. Sometimes, you don’t notice them until they substantially disturb your everyday life. 

To begin your essay, interview people and ask about a momentous event that happened to them and how it influenced their way of living. Then, pick the most potent life-changing experience shared. Talk about what you’d do if you were in the same situation.

Some life-changing events include common things such as marriage, parenthood, divorce, job loss, and death. Research and discuss the most common experiences that transform a person’s life. Include real-life situations and any personal encounters for an intriguing essay.

It’s normal to meet other people, but connecting with someone who will significantly impact your life is a blessing. Use this prompt to discuss that particular person, such as a parent, close friend, or romantic partner. Share who they are and how you met them, and discuss what they did or said that made a big difference in your life. 

Movies like “The Truman Show” help change your viewpoint in life. They open our minds and provide ideas for dealing with our struggles. Share how you reached an epiphany by reading a book or watching a movie. Include if it’s because of a particular dialogue, character action, or scenes you can relate to.

While others use inspirational quotes for comfort and to avoid negative thinking, some find a quote that gives them the courage to make drastic changes to better their lives. For this prompt, search for well-known personalities who discovered a quote that motivated them to turn their life around.  Essay Tip: When editing for grammar, we also recommend spending time and effort to improve the readability score of your essay before publishing or submitting it.

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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• How to write a narrative essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Narrative Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

A narrative essay tells a story. In most cases, this is a story about a personal experience you had. This type of essay , along with the descriptive essay , allows you to get personal and creative, unlike most academic writing .

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Table of contents

What is a narrative essay for, choosing a topic, interactive example of a narrative essay, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about narrative essays.

When assigned a narrative essay, you might find yourself wondering: Why does my teacher want to hear this story? Topics for narrative essays can range from the important to the trivial. Usually the point is not so much the story itself, but the way you tell it.

A narrative essay is a way of testing your ability to tell a story in a clear and interesting way. You’re expected to think about where your story begins and ends, and how to convey it with eye-catching language and a satisfying pace.

These skills are quite different from those needed for formal academic writing. For instance, in a narrative essay the use of the first person (“I”) is encouraged, as is the use of figurative language, dialogue, and suspense.

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Narrative essay assignments vary widely in the amount of direction you’re given about your topic. You may be assigned quite a specific topic or choice of topics to work with.

• Write a story about your first day of school.
• Write a story about your favorite holiday destination.

You may also be given prompts that leave you a much wider choice of topic.

• Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself.
• Write about an achievement you are proud of. What did you accomplish, and how?

In these cases, you might have to think harder to decide what story you want to tell. The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to talk about a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

For example, a trip where everything went according to plan makes for a less interesting story than one where something unexpected happened that you then had to respond to. Choose an experience that might surprise the reader or teach them something.

Narrative essays in college applications

When applying for college , you might be asked to write a narrative essay that expresses something about your personal qualities.

For example, this application prompt from Common App requires you to respond with a narrative essay.

In this context, choose a story that is not only interesting but also expresses the qualities the prompt is looking for—here, resilience and the ability to learn from failure—and frame the story in a way that emphasizes these qualities.

An example of a short narrative essay, responding to the prompt “Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how the structure works.

Since elementary school, I have always favored subjects like science and math over the humanities. My instinct was always to think of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right answer, I thought, why bother? But recently I had an experience that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was skeptical. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve—I really had no idea. I imagined something pretty abstract: long, stilted conversations pondering the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite different.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones—“but you can call me Rob”—was far from the white-haired, buttoned-up old man I had half-expected. And rather than pulling us into pedantic arguments about obscure philosophical points, Rob engaged us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own choices. To talk ethics, we looked at dilemmas we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most interesting ones.

The experience has taught me to look at things a little more “philosophically”—and not just because it was a philosophy class! I learned that if I let go of my preconceptions, I can actually get a lot out of subjects I was previously dismissive of. The class taught me—in more ways than one—to look at things with an open mind.

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If you’re not given much guidance on what your narrative essay should be about, consider the context and scope of the assignment. What kind of story is relevant, interesting, and possible to tell within the word count?

The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to reflect on a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

Don’t worry too much if your topic seems unoriginal. The point of a narrative essay is how you tell the story and the point you make with it, not the subject of the story itself.

Narrative essays are usually assigned as writing exercises at high school or in university composition classes. They may also form part of a university application.

When you are prompted to tell a story about your own life or experiences, a narrative essay is usually the right response.

The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

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Narrative Essay

Narrative Essay Examples

10+ Interesting Narrative Essay Examples Plus Writing Tips!

Published on: Jun 23, 2018

Last updated on: Nov 29, 2023

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Many students struggle with crafting engaging and impactful narrative essays. They often find it challenging to weave their personal experiences into coherent and compelling stories.

If you’re having a hard time, don't worry! 

We’ve compiled a range of narrative essay examples that will serve as helpful tools for you to get started. These examples will provide a clear path for crafting engaging and powerful narrative essays.

So, keep reading and find our expertly written examples!

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Narrative Essay Definition

Writing a narrative essay is a unique form of storytelling that revolves around personal experiences, aiming to immerse the reader in the author's world. It's a piece of writing that delves into the depths of thoughts and feelings. 

In a narrative essay, life experiences take center stage, serving as the main substance of the story. It's a powerful tool for writers to convey a personal journey, turning experiences into a captivating tale. This form of storytelling is an artful display of emotions intended to engage readers, leaving the reader feeling like they are a part of the story.

By focusing on a specific theme, event, emotions, and reflections, a narrative essay weaves a storyline that leads the reader through the author's experiences. 

The Essentials of Narrative Essays

Let's start with the basics. The four types of essays are argumentative essays , descriptive essays , expository essays , and narrative essays.

The goal of a narrative essay is to tell a compelling tale from one person's perspective. A narrative essay uses all components you’d find in a typical story, such as a beginning, middle, and conclusion, as well as plot, characters, setting, and climax.

The narrative essay's goal is the plot, which should be detailed enough to reach a climax. Here's how it works:

• It's usually presented in chronological order.
• It has a function. This is typically evident in the thesis statement's opening paragraph.
• It may include speech.
• It's told with sensory details and vivid language, drawing the reader in. All of these elements are connected to the writer's major argument in some way.

Before writing your essay, make sure you go through a sufficient number of narrative essay examples. These examples will help you in knowing the dos and don’ts of a good narrative essay.

It is always a better option to have some sense of direction before you start anything. Below, you can find important details and a bunch of narrative essay examples. These examples will also help you build your content according to the format. 

Here is a how to start a narrative essay example:

Sample Narrative Essay

The examples inform the readers about the writing style and structure of the narration. The essay below will help you understand how to create a story and build this type of essay in no time.

Here is another narrative essay examples 500 words:

Narrative Essay Examples for Students

Narrative essays offer students a platform to express their experiences and creativity. These examples show how to effectively structure and present personal stories for education.

Here are some helpful narrative essay examples:

Narrative Essay Examples Middle School

Narrative Essay Examples for Grade 7

Narrative Essay Examples for Grade 8

Grade 11 Narrative Essay Examples

Narrative Essay Example For High School

Narrative Essay Example For College

Personal Narrative Essay Example

Descriptive Narrative Essay Example

3rd Person Narrative Essay Example

Narrative Essay Topics

Here are some narrative essay topics to help you get started with your narrative essay writing.

• When I got my first bunny
• When I moved to Canada
• I haven’t experienced this freezing temperature ever before
• The moment I won the basketball finale
• A memorable day at the museum
• How I talk to my parrot
• The day I saw the death
• When I finally rebelled against my professor

Need more topics? Check out these extensive narrative essay topics to get creative ideas!

Narrative Essay Writing Tips

Narrative essays give you the freedom to be creative, but it can be tough to make yours special. Use these tips to make your story interesting:

• Share your story from a personal viewpoint, engaging the reader with your experiences.
• Use vivid descriptions to paint a clear picture of the setting, characters, and emotions involved.
• Organize events in chronological order for a smooth and understandable narrative.
• Bring characters to life through their actions, dialogue, and personalities.
• Employ dialogue sparingly to add realism and progression to the narrative.
• Engage readers by evoking emotions through your storytelling.
• End with reflection or a lesson learned from the experience, providing insight.

Now you have essay examples and tips to help you get started, you have a solid starting point for crafting compelling narrative essays.

However, if storytelling isn't your forte, you can always turn to our essay writing service for help.

Our writers are specialists that can tackle any type of essay with great skill. With their experience, you get a top-quality, 100% plagiarism free essay everytime.

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Life Changing Events: Personal Experience

If you are about to write a short narrative essay about something that changed your life forever, you’ve come to the right place! Check out our “childhood experience that changed my life” essay sample to get some ideas and inspiration for your paper.

Life Changing Event: Essay Introduction

Life changing experience: essay main body, life changing event: essay conclusion.

In life, certain experiences present challenges that change the way people relate to themselves and their families. Certain life events mark life-changing moments that alter lives either positively or negatively. It matters how people handle their relationships at such critical moments. 

Relationships, especially with family members, are the most important aspects of handling change. I have experienced life-changing events that turned me into a better person.

One such event occurred in my childhood, while the other occurred in adolescence. In both cases, my family was there to support and help me go through the tough times. Looking back at the influence of these events, I am always glad that my family was with me in overcoming the challenges. I am a better person because my family stood beside me and gave me strength and support in moments of weakness and helplessness.

The first event that had a remarkable impact on my life was the loss of a dear friend. This event changed my world and made me a better person. It taught me how to appreciate friends, family, and relationships. In childhood, I had a cousin who was my best friend.

Our friendship was so deep that we usually spent holidays and weekends visiting each other’s families. To my family, she was like one of the members. I was like one of her family members, too. We used to spend a lot of time together, playing, studying, traveling, and doing many other fun activities.

One day, while returning home from school, she got knocked down by a motorcyclist speeding off, trying to escape from a police officer. She was hit from behind and knocked her head on a large stone on the side of the road upon landing on the ground. When I received the news of the accident, I was devastated.

The morning after the accident, I visited her in the hospital and received the sad news that she was in a coma after suffering severe brain damage. I lost my appetite, could not sleep for weeks, and spent several nights crying and wishing she would be fine. She was in the hospital for six months. During that period, I became stressed and lost weight.

I missed school for many days, thus affecting my academics. Even though my family was also affected, the effect was greater on me because of our long-time friendship. Every day I woke up expecting to hear good news from my parents of her miraculous recovery, but that did not happen. As I became more depressed, I started to avoid social gatherings and experienced difficulty sleeping.

One morning, just after breakfast, we received news that she had passed away. At that moment, a hot flush of blood flowed into my head, and I fainted. The long period of endless waiting had come to an end. That morning was one of the lowest moments. I was rushed to the hospital, and the doctors said I had collapsed due to sudden shock. The grieving period was excruciating.

However, my family stood by me and offered consolation. My family members provided emotional and physical support and helped me overcome the incident. The event had severe emotional effects. My mum spent most of her time comforting me. I could cope with the situation because my family understood what I was going through, were patient, listened to me, and offered psychological help.

My parents were not angry at me for missing school. They allowed me to stay home until I was ready to go back. It took four months of grieving to get over the death of my cousin and best friend. This incident changed my life and brought me closer to my family. I now appreciate relationships and more. As a result, I am more loving, caring, compassionate, and appreciative of the people in my life.

The other defining moment that changed me involved a disagreement with my parents regarding joining high school. When the time came for me to enter high school, I was not prepared and wanted to stay home for a year before joining. My parents were concerned that I would lose a year of schooling since, at my age, I was not ready for a job. They feared I would have nothing to do for an entire year.

The reasons for delaying my entry to high school were fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. I was not ready to enter a stage of life where I was expected to be responsible for my life and actions. I refused to talk to my parents and other family members because I felt that they were imposing their principles on me. The truth is that I was afraid to enter a phase that would require me to be responsible for my decisions and actions.

I avoided my parents and always ensured they never got a chance to question me. My decision changed when my dad confronted me. Our discussion focused on the reasons that were informing my decision. At first, I was unwilling to tell my dad the truth, but as the debate progressed, I had no choice but to open up to him. I was afraid that he would be disappointed with me.

However, he assured me that it was normal to experience fear and anxiety, especially when making a life-changing decision. He narrated a story about how he had reacted the same way when his dad asked him to move out of their family house to find a place to live after joining college. Throughout the entire experience, my family was very understanding.

They helped me to overcome the fear and anxiety of embracing responsibilities. That incident changed my life, attitudes, and perspectives regarding life. My family has always supported me during tough times. That incident improved my relationship with my family and introduced me to adulthood. Whenever I face a challenge, I discuss it openly with my family because of the awareness that they are always ready and willing to listen and offer assistance. 

My elder brother introduced me to high school life and offered numerous tips on adjusting to the new environment. My family is my greatest source of joy and happiness. This incident taught me responsibility, trust, humility, and the importance of family. The aforementioned events changed my life tremendously because they played a crucial role in molding me into a responsible, caring, and compassionate person.

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Person Who Changed My Life

We all have people who have changed our lives. People can change your life in a positive or negative way. My grandmother Esther changed my life in a positive way. My grandmother basically raised me. She changed my life and I am glad she did. My grandmother was a very hardworking woman. She valued education even though she never received an education during her childhood. It really touched me the way she would try to help me and give me advice. This made me work extremely hard in school.

My grandmother taught me how important it is to tolerate people and certain situations. She told me showing people respect will get you a long way in life, as well as seeking help in hard times and facing problems instead of running away from them. Because of this, I try to see the good in people and over look the bad. When I have a problem I think of ways to solve it. When I cannot find a solution I ask for help before things get worse. She was very humble and kind.

She did not let people take her kindness for weakness. She did not mind helping people. When you are wrong you have to swallow your pride and say your sorry. That is one thing she always did and taught me. The word love is used to often these for small things that do not matter. Few people understand what love really is. It is not trait we are born with like the color of our eyes. We have to learn to love ourselves and others. If you love some one you show it through actions and help them change if they need to.

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How To Write Narrative Essay About Something That Changed Your Life

Table of Contents

How to start

• How to write body

How to conclude

It is common to come across life-changing experiences or encounters with a particular person that makes a significant impact on one’s life. People normally talk about these interesting things that play an integral part in their life and thus reserve a particular part of their memories for such occurrences. The revelations that a person makes may range from extraordinary events to the simple or rather common gestures that they hold very close to the heart owing to the impact on their lives. Life-threatening experiences that change a person’s perception of their life also form a part of the narrations one may come across in different conversations. An essay outlining the life-changing experiences is a narration from the first-person perspective and follows the general structure of narrative essays giving a detailed account of events.

Narrative essays provide a breakdown of events in a limited number of words with maximum attention given to the author’s ability to engage the reader in the story to avoid boredom. The student’s ability to gain the readers’ interest is a critical aspect to consider in essay writing. It is easy to tell or narrate a story, but writing a narrative essay that captures the reader’s attention is an entirely different story. Hence, putting down to paper the events as they unfolded and how they changed or affected a person’s life can prove to be quite a task. A narrative essay about something that changed your life is totally dependent on the author’s real experiences and their ability to successfully recollect how the transformative event or encounter occurred. It is usually not such an easy task because no research materials should be used as they are also irrelevant in this case. On a positive note, though, writing a narrative essay on something that changes one’s life is integral to the development of a student’s ability to express opinion and imagination.

A narrative essay on life-changing moments has become a common assignment to students in various learning institutions across a range of academic fields. It is, therefore, common to come across discussions on how to write a narrative essay about something that changed your life, a question or an aspect that students should acquaint themselves with before setting out to write down their unique encounters in life.

Like in any other essay, a narrative essay on something that changed your life should start with an introduction of between one and two paragraphs.

• The first paragraph should contain the essay’s topic which functions to introduce the reader to the main body of the article.
• The introductory paragraph should not be too long as it may lose its purpose of capturing the interest of the reader. A precise introduction serves to lead the reader to the life events that are expounded within the body of the essay and upon which the author also makes the final remarks.

How to write body paragraphs

The main body of the essay also demands the author’s attention to certain details that ensure efficient delivery when writing an essay about your life. When you want to write about an event that changed your life, the essay’s main body should follow the following structure .

• First and foremost, the student must give the reader a glimpse of the situation at hand. The creative ability of the author plays a significant role in bringing out or stating the idea and giving thoughts to it or simply explaining it.
• An essay on a life-changing moment requires some reasoning for the event, arguing out of why the situation is important to your life, among other different ways through which the author states the situation in the essay.
• The main body of an essay on a life-changing moment may also take the form of a thesis statement. The author may choose a particular idea in the thesis statement, the main idea, and validate it with facts and or other multiple proofs. Some authors prefer stating the thesis at the beginning of their arguments in the essay, though there is no harm in either start before or after the said argument.  However, caution should be taken in the statement of arguments for the thesis lest you confuse the readers or fail to convince them.
• It is important always to remember that capturing the attention of the audience and maintaining interest is vital in writing a narrative essay about something that changed your life. Life events to write about in such essays may include a breakup in a relationship, meeting someone special, divorce, or surviving a fatal accident among many others.

The conclusion of such essays, and like in many others, is usually a summation of all the main ideas outlined in the article on what or something that changed your life. The conclusions should be limited to the text that the author writes and not an observation from any other event-related or otherwise. The attention and interest of the readers should not be abused at this juncture, but rather pampered with a good summary that is easy to understand from reading the text. The reader’s interest maintenance is the distinguishing factor between a good storyteller in narrative essays and a boring one.

An Experience That Changed My Life Essay

My Experience That Changed My Life

Have you ever had an event or experience that has changed your life? Well, mine was nine years ago, when my little sister Daphne was born. This special event changed my life changed drastically. When my parents sat me down and explained to me that I was having a baby sister, I began to feel a little disappointed that I was not going to be the only child anymore. Being able to get all the attention 24/7 from all my family members was the only thing I ever wanted. As I had came to realization that I was having a little sister, my life was about to change in ways I would have never imagined. As my sister was about to arrive, 5 months before my family and I had to move out of our small little town house. We then moved to an earth-contact home in which it had a shop and a lot of land. We had to move out because the house we…

An Experience That Changed My Life Analysis

I have not had many job experiences outside of the military. For me, the U.S. Navy is my first job. I joined the Navy straight out of high school, and I can truly say the last year and a half since I’ve been in I have learned so many life lessons. Through these life lessons I have learned a lot about myself and how strong I can be in difficult situations and circumstances. I never thought in a million years I would be in the military but it has showed me that everything happens for a reason.…

Responsiblity: An Experience That Changed My Life

Much of my younger life was formed by having fun and doing child-like things, but when these activities weren 't occuring my parents were secretly teaching me how to be an independent person. They started with small things, like giving me chores and responsibilities, and slowly graduated to larger things such as expecting me to get to school on time. A lack of rules granted me much freedom, but also heightened moral standards imposed on me by my parents. Overall, however, the independence…

Personal Narrative: An Experience That Changed My Life

An experience that changed my life was on May 19th, 2014, my brother’s death. It changed my life in a positive and negative way. You would think that death would devastate someone for the rest of their life, but my brother’s death actually changed my life. I’m not saying that his death didn’t have a negative effect on me, but it had more of a positive effect on me than anything. His death made me an introvert, think for myself, and see things differently. I’m not saying that I’m glad my brother…

Religious Or Intellectual Experience That Changed My Life

Have you ever had religious or intellectual experience that has Changed your life? The experience that changed my life is related to my religion of being Catholic, as well as growing up in a Hispanic household with the stereotypical and sexist views women are placed in. Growing up I knew I wasn’t the “Normal” girl who liked talking about make-up, or wearing dresses and skirts. I wouldn’t be the girl that got excited when I got new dolls, or a nail kit. I was what we call the “Abnormal” kid. At…

A Life Changing Experience That Changed My Life Analysis

I witnessed my father fight his last battle against prostate cancer. The war defeated him as the war defeated me. This war against cancer was a life changing experience regardless of my wishes. It helped structure me into who I am today, it impelled me to learn a few things about life itself and its values which makes me a little uncommon from the average kid. “You don 't choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them” was never considered significant to me until everything…

My Experience That Changed My Life-Personal Narrative

pushing my feet under and I suddenly have this overwhelming feeling of adrenalin and I am suddenly afraid for my life then I realize I have suddenly been face with my ultimate fear. A few years ago I had suddenly become epileptic and had hit the ground having a seizer in the process of falling I had hit my head and got a concussion and was in and out of the hospital trying to figure out what was wrong with me. During this time, I felt alone and like an outsider. I wasn’t allowed to drive and…

Personal Narrative: My Experience That Changed My Life

Although I may not consider myself a shy person, I was never the type to step out of my comfort zone. My freshman year of High School I had my mind set thinking that I was going to be the type of student who woke up for school, left, and then came back home once it was time to. I never thought I was ever going to join a sport/clubs, go to school games etc. In that moment it never seemed like my thing. Coming my Sophomore year the opportunity of joining a sport came along. At first I wanted to be…

Personal Experience: A Place That Changed My Life

mom and dad at my corner loving me. My mother Maureen Rose was a maid who cleaned for wealthy people for minimum wage. My father on the other hand was a welder who worked at a factory and came home every day smelling like oil. I then was a young six years old to be exact and my brother and I had high imaginations. I loved my home I would swim, eat fresh fruits, climb trees and fences and play all day with my tall 10-year-old brother Chad. Little did I know my parents had problems of their own,…

Bourne Bridge: An Experience That Changed My Life

The words “Bourne Bridge: 1933 – 1935,” with an orchestra of car horns in the background, are forever engrained in my head, for they mark the start of an always memorable experience. For as long as I can remember, I have had the privelege of spending my summers in New Silver Beach (North Falmouth, MA). New Silver Beach is a sentimental place to me, whose legacy began with my grandparents purchasing a small cottage when my father was just a boy. My father reveres the community so highly that he…

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Essay on An Incident That Changed My Life

Students are often asked to write an essay on An Incident That Changed My Life in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on An Incident That Changed My Life

Introduction.

Life is a series of events. Some leave a deep impact on us. For me, it was my first camping trip that changed my life.

The Incident

I was ten when I joined the Scouts. Our first camping trip was a challenging experience. We were lost in the woods at night.

That incident made me brave. I learned to face challenges head-on. It also ignited a love for nature in me.

That camping trip was a turning point in my life. It taught me resilience and made me a better person.

250 Words Essay on An Incident That Changed My Life

Life is a continuous journey, marked by profound moments that shape our character and destiny. For me, one such incident stands out distinctly – the day I volunteered at a local homeless shelter. This event not only changed my perspective but also became a pivotal point in my life’s trajectory.

A Day at the Shelter

One cold winter’s day, I found myself in a bustling homeless shelter, surrounded by faces marked with hardship and resilience. The shelter, a beacon of hope for many, was a place where the less fortunate could find warmth, food, and a sense of community. My task was simple: serve meals and engage in conversation.

The Encounter

Among the many people I met, one man’s story struck a chord. A former engineer, he had fallen victim to circumstances beyond his control and lost everything. Despite his dire situation, he radiated positivity and hope. Our conversation was a stark reminder of life’s unpredictability, and it shattered my preconceived notions about homelessness.

Life-altering Realizations

The encounter made me reflect on my privileges and the transient nature of success. I realized that compassion and understanding were more valuable than material wealth. It also unveiled my passion for social work and ignited a desire to contribute to society more actively.

The day at the shelter was an incident that profoundly changed my life. It taught me to value humanity over materialism, and it guided me towards a path of social service. Life is indeed unpredictable, but it’s these unexpected moments that hold the power to redefine our purpose and transform our lives.

500 Words Essay on An Incident That Changed My Life

Life is a series of events, some ordinary and others extraordinary. Often, it is the extraordinary incidents that have the power to transform our lives completely. This essay delves into one such incident that not only changed my perspective but also my life’s trajectory.

The Unexpected Encounter

During my sophomore year in college, I volunteered at a local homeless shelter. One winter afternoon, I met John, an elderly gentleman with a warm smile and eyes that held a thousand untold stories. His welcoming demeanor contradicted the harsh reality of his life. He was homeless, yet he carried an aura of contentment that was inexplicably infectious.

A Lesson in Resilience

John was a retired teacher who had lost everything due to a series of unfortunate events. Despite his circumstances, he never lost his spirit or his love for teaching. He would gather the children in the shelter every evening and teach them with an enthusiasm that was truly inspiring. His resilience in the face of adversity was a lesson in itself.

The Life-Changing Conversation

One day, I mustered the courage to ask John how he managed to remain positive. His reply was simple yet profound, “Life is not about what happens to you, but how you respond to it.” He explained that he chose to focus on the things within his control, like his attitude and actions, rather than dwelling on his misfortunes.

John’s words resonated deeply within me. I realized that I had been living my life in constant fear of the future, letting my anxieties dictate my actions. This encounter with John made me rethink my approach to life. I decided to adopt his philosophy and focus on my responses to situations rather than the situations themselves.

This incident was a turning point in my life. It taught me that our perspective shapes our reality. I learned to embrace life with all its ups and downs, understanding that the power to overcome challenges lies within me. John, the homeless man with an indomitable spirit, changed my life in ways I could never have imagined. His resilience and positivity continue to inspire me, reminding me that life is less about the circumstances we find ourselves in, and more about how we choose to respond to them.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Personal Narrative Essay: How Music Changed My Life

Everyone has a passion for something, whether it be sports or public speaking. Well, for me, that passion is music. I have always loved music, and that love has increased more and more over the years. From being in music classes for most of my high school career, I have felt a lot of love and support from my friends and teachers. When I had realized the family bond there is in musical groups, I never wanted to leave. As I was often in either band or choir, I would often see the joy of my teachers when things went according to plan and when we played or sang something amazing. One piece in particular comes to mind. While in my junior year of high school, I was in the chamber choir. My choir director had introduced us to a Christmas piece called “Go, and Tell It on The Mountain.” This arrangement of the song was a very jazzy version of the original piece. After several days of practicing in class, my director stopped us and asked us if we had thought about the words and what they meant. This really took me back, as I had never really been asked such a question before. This experience let me gain more gratitude for the words we were singing, and it helped me to be more expressive and have a love for the music. By the end of singing this piece at our concert, my friends and I were tearing up at the message of joy that the song gave to the audience. I want to help students realize the joy of music and the way that it can touch the souls of the people who listen to them. I want them to feel that they can be united as a family of musicians, that, no matter what part they sing or play, each one of them matters and contributes to the ensemble. I also want them to feel how blessed they are for being able to create music with the talents that they have.

I have felt deep emotions when singing in choir in high school, but nothing has compared to having the privilege to sing in the Brigham Young University Men’s Chorus. Several times I have felt overwhelming joy or deep sadness from singing songs in that choir. For instance, one of the first songs we sang was an arrangement of “How Great Thou Art.” In that song it spoke about the wonderful creation of the earth, the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us, and the power of the Atonement in our lives. Every time we sang that in class, I nearly wept with immense sadness and deep joy at what we were singing about. Countless times our director, Rosalind Hall, would also be in tears because she could feel the joy of music radiating from those men who sang the truth of Jesus’ Creations and His Atonement. From this experience, I have felt the power that music has in our lives and the way that it can change people.

In high school, I always considered myself lucky to be in such amazing groups with such amazing people. When I wasn’t doing as well as I thought, I would often ask myself if it was worth the effort to be in these good ensembles. When I thought about it, I would always think about what my middle school band director always said to us. He would say, “Each of you has a part to play here, each one of you matters. To this ensemble, to me, to your friends, your parents. But you should always matter to yourself.” This has stuck with me throughout all my years in junior high and high school. Even to this day, when I don’t feel like I’m worth it, I always remember what my band director said to us. I want kids to feel like they belong together, and that they matter. Not just to an ensemble, but to me, their peers, their parents, and most importantly to themselves.

I have always been told how talented I am. I’ve gotten comments from my friends, my teachers, and even my parents. Often, my parents would tell me that I should share the talents that I had with others. I had always learned in church about sharing our gifts with others, so I had always kept a high standard when I practiced, so that I could share my talents with others and make them feel happy and to help them feel joy. I have many younger siblings, and when they were all little, I would always sing to them to make them happy. This was especially apparent when I would sing to them as infants. Many times I would have to put them down for naps or calm them down when they were screaming. When I did, I would sing soft hymns to them and within a few minutes, they would calm down or go to sleep. I would often pray to God for allowing me to have this gift of music and to have the opportunity to be able to share it with others.

Music has changed my life in so many ways, and it will continue to change my life as well as others’ lives. I have seen the ways that it can bring joy into not only the lives of the audience, but to the lives of the performers as well. I have seen the ways in which people can contribute to the ensembles that I have been in. Often people don’t think that they matter or that they have an important part, but in reality, everyone is important. I have also learned about how using our talents for good purposes can bless the lives of others. Overall, music has influenced many of my decisions in life, including what college I wanted to attend. I want to be able to share the effects of music with everyone that I meet.

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Personal Narrative: The Events That Changed My Life Essay

When something changes a person’s life they will remember it forever. It doesn’t matter how big or how small it is, it will leave a permanent imprint on that person’s memory. The saddest thing about that imprint staying in a person’s memory is that it could have either changed their life in a positive or negative way. In the last year, three major events have helped change and shape my life in a positive way. These three events have completely changed my life and have made me a better person overall and will always leave a good imprint in my memory. Around August of last year, I started my first semester of college, and working full time as a CNA. I was taking some pretty hard courses and my work schedule was getting a little hectic. I kept getting calls from my place of work asking me to come in and cover someone else’s shift. After awhile the work load got too heavy for me, and I never had time to see my boyfriend, family, or my friends. When I did have time I was over at my boyfriend’s house. Eventually I stopped working as a CNA because I couldn’t handle all the hours and school….

On the Easter vigil of this year I was baptized into the Catholic religion. When I was growing up, my family was not religious at all and I never went to church. I believed in God, but never had a religion to say I was apart of and I didn’t know much about the Bible or even God himself. While dating my boyfriend I went to church with him for over a year and I finally decided that this is something that I want to be apart of. So we started RCIA classes around August of last year. During the classes I learned so much about the religion and about myself. Through all the lessons and stories that I heard during my journey, I really contemplated how I would treat others and how I was portraying myself. I truly believed that those seven months of classes had given me a better sense of humility and taught me how to be more…

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‘I was having a much better time as a girl in that parallel life’: how an app sparked a late-life gender transition

In an extract from her memoir, Lucy Sante reveals how she lived with the feeling of being the wrong gender into her 60s, when a smartphone app gave her the inspiration to take action

• ‘This secret that crippled me for 50 years has been lifted’: read a Q&A with Lucy Sante here

Between 28 February and 1 March 2021, I sent the following text as an email attachment to around 30 people I considered my closest friends. The subject line was : “A bombshell.” I smirked at the unintentional pun and wondered whether anyone else would. It was simply titled: “Lucy.”

T he dam burst on 16 February, when I downloaded FaceApp, for a laugh. I had tried the application a few years earlier, but something had gone wrong and it had returned a badly botched image. But I had a new phone, and I was curious. The gender‐swapping feature was the whole point for me, and the first picture I passed through it was the one I had tried before. This time it gave me a full‐face portrait of a woman in midlife: strong, healthy, clean‐living. She also had lovely flowing chestnut hair and a very subtle makeup job. And her face was mine. No question about it – nose, mouth, eyes, brow, chin. She was me. When I saw her, I felt something liquefy in the core of my body. I trembled from my shoulders to my crotch. I guessed that I had at last met my reckoning.

Very soon I was feeding every portrait and snapshot and ID‐card picture I possessed of myself into the magic gender portal. The first archival picture I tried, contemporaneous with my first memory of staring into a mirror and arranging my hair and expression to look like a girl, was an anxious, awkward studio portrait of a tween. The transformed result was a revelation: a happy little girl. Apart from her long black hair, very little had been done to transform Luc into Lucy; the biggest difference was how much more relaxed she looked.

And so it generally went – I was having a much better time as a girl in that parallel life. I passed every era through the machine, experiencing one shock of recognition after another: that’s exactly who I would have been. The app weirdly seemed to guess what my hairstyle and fashion choices would have been in those years. And the less altered the images were, the deeper they plunged a dagger into my heart. That could have been me! Fifty years were under water, and I’d never get them back.

My high school graduation portrait became an impossibly delicate almond‐eyed fawn (age 17 was indeed the summit of my beauty, which is probably why my male incubus immediately grew a beard). Ten or 12 years later (there are regrettably few photos of me in my 20s; I’ve always been camera-shy), I am a Lower East Side post-punk radical lesbian feminist with a Dutch‐boy bob and a pout. Here I am at a Sports Illustrated junket in Arizona, age 33, looking demure in a white sweater over a red polka‐dot dress.

There are many reasons why I repressed my lifelong desire to be a woman. It was, first of all, impossible. My parents would have called a priest and had me committed to some monastery. And the culture was far from prepared, of course. I knew about Christine Jorgensen [the first person widely known in the US for having gender reassignment therapy] when I was fairly young, but she seemed to be an isolated case. Mostly, what you came across were vile jokes from Las Vegas comedians and the occasional titillating tabloid story. I kept searching for images or stories of girls like me, without much luck.

Over the years I consumed an impressive amount of material on transgender matters, from clinical studies to personal accounts to journalistic exposés to porn. Not much of the porn, though; it grossed me out. I researched the subject as deeply as I did any of my books, but my notes all had to be kept in my head.

I immediately disposed of all materials, because I was terrified of being seen. Until browsers made anonymous searching possible, I wiped the search memory on my computer every day. Why, you may ask, did I feel it necessary to go to such lengths? The short answer is because my mother regularly raided my room, reading anything in my handwriting and vetting all printed matter for anything that might even remotely allude to sex. I extended that caution to my friends, most of whom would surely have been sympathetic, because of the notion I long possessed that women would be disgusted and repelled by my transgender identity. Where did I get that one? It may be because until I was in my late teens I didn’t know many women, as an only child of isolated immigrants, and I didn’t have a female friend until I was 17.

Needless to say, I was awful at sex. I did not know how to act like a man in bed. I wanted to see myself as a woman in the act of love, but I also had to repress the desire, while simultaneously trying earnestly to please my partner (because I almost never slept with anyone I didn’t love, at least at first).

I was not at all attracted to men, and I spent enough time in gay environs in the 70s to be sure of that. At puberty and afterwards I was uncertain how to construct a masculine identity. I hated sports and dick jokes and beer‐chugging and the way men talked about women; my idea of hell was an evening with a bunch of guys. Over the years, from force of necessity, I created a male persona that was saturnine, cerebral, a bit remote, a bit owlish, possibly “quirky”, coming very close to asexual despite my best intentions.

Another reason for my repression was my sense that if I changed my gender it would obliterate every other thing I wanted to do in my life. I wanted to be a significant writer, and I did not want to be stuffed into a category. If I were transgender that fact would be the only thing anyone knew about me. Over the years, transgender people became gradually more visible in the media, and the coverage became a little bit less snide. I lived in New York City, so I saw transgender people often. I was close for a while to the photographer Nan Goldin , who would have been certain to understand my story, but I never breathed a word.

I would hear rumours that this or that person “dressed up” and I would be forever ill at ease in their presence as a result – from envy, of course. My office in the late 80s and early 90s was a block from Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, but I never so much as peeked in at Wigstock, the annual Labour Day drag festival that took place there. It was also half a block from the Pyramid Club – the centre of New York’s drag scene at the time – but I never went there, either. In those days the club had a black menu board on the sidewalk outside that read “Drink and be Mary”. I trembled every time I passed it.

I was terrified of finding myself confronted by what I am confronting now. I wanted with every particle of my being to be a woman, and that thought was pasted to my windshield, and yet I looked through it, having trained myself to do so. Now that the floodgates have opened I am consumed by the thought in a new way. When I uploaded my first picture to FaceApp I felt liquid and melting in the core of my body. Now I feel a column of fire.

That should not, however, imply a steely resolve. The idea of transitioning is endlessly seductive and endlessly terrifying. I take at least one selfie every day and transform it, and it feels as though the pictures are becoming ever-more plausible. With a bit of makeup, a course of oestrogen, and a really nice wig I could look exactly like that, maybe. But will the fact that I can’t grow my own hair make me feel like a fake for ever? And I am soon to turn 67. What if I look like a grotesque? Or merely pathetic?

It’s a vast decision, with the power to affect every aspect of my life. Would I inadvertently destroy important things in my life as a consequence? I keep wanting to be forced to transition by some circumstance, maybe my therapist telling me that it is crucial for my sanity. Anyway, I’m starting here, by writing it down – something I’ve never done before – and by sending it to a very few people whom I trust and who I think will understand. My name is Lucy Marie Sante, only one letter added to my deadname. 26 February 2021

T hat was written from within a whirlwind. I am astonished anew every time I consider the chronology. The first FaceApp manifestation occurred on 16 February. Ten days later I came out to my therapist, Dr G, who didn’t blink, but merely said she thought transitioning made sense and was a good idea. The following evening, after I’d written the letter, I came out to my partner, Mimi, which was the single most difficult thing of them all, and the day after that I came out to my son, Raphael. The fortification of secrets I’d spent nearly 60 years building and reinforcing had crumbled to dust in a little over a week.

The reaction was immediate: emails, phone calls, texts. Everyone was nice, although there was a range. There was “unexpected but not surprising” and “surprised but not surprised” and “shocking but not” at one end, and at the other were a few people who reacted as if they’d been hit by a train while they were looking the other way. Those tended mainly to be guys who over the course of many years’ friendship had come to think of me as a sort of mirror or alter ego, so re‐evaluating me meant having to re-evaluate themselves. Everybody on the “not surprised” end was female, as were the three persons who wrote to say they had happy tears in their eyes as they read my letter.

I was prepared for some kind of pushback, softly and judiciously expressed, of course, but it never really came, then or later. Most responses were yay, go for it, you do you.

So now here I am, just shy of 18 months of hormone replacement therapy at this writing. I am legally Lucy, certified female, out to every single person in my life, however remote. I’m totally normal, the same person as ever, while also quite different. I’m socially at ease as never before. I’ve been stared at plenty, but have faced zero aggression, because I don’t represent a threat: I’m old, white, and reasonably privileged.

I can honestly say that I’m happy, in a way I’ve never been before. I am finally inhabiting myself, the shadow me once hidden under the floorboards. I actually feel free of the neuroses that plagued me for ever. I can and will of course be sad, for many reasons, but depression is at least at bay for now. I naturally wish I could have transitioned in my teens, or my 20s, or any age earlier than mine, but there are compensations: being left in peace, being able to nestle my changes into a life that was already structured, having outlived all the censorious elders. I genuinely like who I am – I’m turning out better than I’d imagined, or feared.

I’m more conscious of others and I find it far easier to bring up emotional matters with them. Often, in varied circumstances, I experience a kind of serenity, a general rightness with the world. I don’t hate myself any more, am no longer apologetic for my very existence. I walk with pride. I feel grateful to whatever force cracked my egg before it was too late. I was saved from drowning.

• Autobiography and memoir
• The Observer
• Transgender
• LGBTQ+ rights

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