The “I Come From” Exercise

Last updated on 07/07/2026 by Ethan Sawyer

Some of the best college essay material is not published in the world. It is already inside the nooks and crannies of your experiences and memories. That’s what this exercise is for. It takes about five minutes, and there are almost always a few gems (specific images, phrases, or moments) that you can build a great essay around.

Watch the video above to get started. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: One minute “I come from…”

Set a timer for one minute. Complete this sentence stem as many times as you can:

I come from…

Don’t think too much. Do not edit. Don’t worry about whether something is “essay-worthy.” Just keep your pen moving (or your fingers writing) and let whatever comes come. Clutter is good here. The goal is quantity, not polish.

Step 2: Two to three minutes with the instructions

Now reset the timer for two to three minutes and continue to complete “I come from…” but use the prompts below to propel you to a new place. You don’t have to use them all. Scroll through the list, land on the ones that trigger something, and write.

I come from…

• dinner table where…
• a family that taught me…
• a father who…
• mother who…
• grandparents who…
• the sounds of…
• the smells of…
• the flavors of…
• the feeling of…
• long afternoons (or evenings) spent studying about ___
• rituals like…
• questions like…
• places like…
• a name that means…
• the pressure to…
• the freedom to…
• languages ​​that…
• the realization that…
• books, movies, plays or works of art like…
• the intersection of ___ and ___

Notice that these prompts appeal to different senses and different parts of your life. The senses (sounds, smells, tastes, the feel of) tend to create the most vivid, specific lines, the kind that make the reader feel like they’re standing in the room with you. The others (name meaning, pressure to, intersection of) tend to overlap values, identity, and tension, which is where essays can lead to deeper meaning and insight.

What to do with what you wrote

Once you have a page full of lines, here are some moves to try:

Hunt the surprises. Read again and circle the two or three lines that surprised you, made you laugh or made you feel something. Those are your gems. Surprise is a great signal because if it surprises you, it can do the same for your reader.

Pull a thread and keep writing. Take a line that has life in it and write freely for another five minutes. Where does that lead? A specific table can become a whole scene. The name meaning something can become a meditation on identity.

Look for the templates. Go back and notice what keeps coming up. A topic that comes up three or four times, often without you thinking, usually indicates something you really care about.

Play with “intersection of ___ and ___”. This one in particular is worth a look. The most interesting essays often live where two unexpected things meet (faith and science, your grandmother’s kitchen and your love of chemistry, two languages, two worlds). If that prompt gives you something, sit with it.

A note before you begin

You don’t have to write something deep. You just have to write something right. The “I come from” exercise works because it gives your memory a bunch of little doors to walk through, and you only need one of them to open a story worth telling.

If you want to see this exercise, watch the video above.