Almost everything requires and essay. Want a scholarship? Essay. Want to get accepted to college? Essay. Want to win an award? Essay. Your mom wants to hear an apology? Essay.

Well hopefully your mom doesn’t require you to write essays when you make a mistake, but you get the point. Essays can easily become annoying and repetitive,especially when you have to write about the same topic over and over again. This list compiles prompts you will see when applying for various different things, so keep these essays and use them for many different applications.

1. "What Are The Qualities Of A Good Leader?/ What Makes You A Leader?"

I cannot even tell you how many times I’ve seen this prompt. Almost everything involving some sort of leadership on your part will ask you to answer this question. Pick three traits then explain why they are important and how you exemplify them.

2. "What Do You Want To Do With Your future?"

Most scholarships will ask for this. Remember your audience. Focus on the part of your future that best relates to the scholarship’s mission or purpose. And if you're unsure about what you want to do for the rest of your life, talk about the different options you're considering and how they relate to what you're applying for.

3. "What Will You Contribute To Our Organization?"

Pick things that your unique experiences and skills can specifically bring to the table. Show your depth of knowledge of the organization by connecting those skills to specific parts of the organization.

4. "How Would This Scholarship/Program/School Benefit You?"

Scholarships: everyone needs money. No one can afford college. The readers know this. Think about how the money will help you focus on your studies or get the full college experience. For an extracurricular activity, focus on the purpose of the organization and how that purpose will change your life.

5. "How Do You Impact Your Community?"

Try to dig deeper than just “volunteer”. How does your community service help your community? Give specific examples of when you saw something you did create a real change for the neighborhood or someone within it.

6. "Why Should We Choose You?"

This is your chance to show what makes you extra awesome. This is an essay that you will have to morph a little for each different application to relate what makes you awesome to that specific scholarship/club/school you are applying for, but keeping the basic structure will help you submit it in a flash.

Something Else You Should Make: A Resume.

I cannot tell you how many times this has made my life 264375239 times easier. When you participate in many activities, it's really easy to accidently forget one. Keeping a resume, and updating one, helps you when you apply for different things and is also extremely helpful for anyone writing you a letter of recommendation. To create one, look up templates and examples of some online to guide you as you create yours. Have a section for education, extracurriculars, community service, work experience, awards, and a special interests section. Make sure you put the dates of participation for each activity and the year you received each honor.