Personal Narrative Draft Process

I remember clearly at the beginning of the semester when Scott announced to us that we would be finishing the semester with a personal narratives, declaring that writing about yourself is often seen as one of the easier genres of writing, when actually it can be the most complex.  In the moment I remember a grin slowly spreading across my face, I hadn't written stories in years and I would at last be getting to write in the way I originally learned how.  I didn't think much about the difficulty he had proclaimed would be associated with the process until about a week ago when I was sitting in the lounge staring at my screen blankly.  Every idea I had felt like it wasn't good enough, no single experience or moment could sum up my personality or personhood.  Each event I could think of, big or small, had already been carefully analyzed by my tireless, over-thinking brain.  I wanted to think of a moment that excited me, to explore a territory never before charted within the recesses of my brain, and everything that came to mind felt much too surface level.  What I resulted in was writing about a specific moment that highlighted my thought process, and how it is related to my social identities.  It was a simple moment but one that I found I could share both my thoughts and what causes those thoughts, going deeper and deeper into asking who I am.  In this process I realized how frequently we put so much weight into ideas experiences we see as "defining moments" when really they play such a small part of our lives.  Our ability to determine what emphasis we choose to highlight is one which is developing increasing value in my college years.