As this school year is finally ending and graduation is approaching seemingly faster each day, I've been taking some time to reflect on the past year, which was probably—no, definitely—the most stressful year of my life. The process of applying to college took over my entire life last year. Nearly every thought I had throughout my junior year was about college: where did I want to go? Where could I get in? Was my SAT good enough? My GPA? What if I didn't get in, what then? Where am I going to get money from, and will it be enough? Are my teacher recommendations okay? Is my college essay good enough?

The concept of a college essay scared me the most. In a 650 word essay, I had to describe my complete essence as a person. And at age 17, I don't think anyone really knows who they are exactly—regardless, we had to figure out something about ourselves that was worthwhile enough to write about to college admissions offices to get into the university of our dreams.

While I looked back on this year, I tried to think of some things I could have done differently, or some advice I could offer my friends that are younger than me. So, here are some college essay writing tips to help every junior-becoming-a-senior that is going to be struggling with it all summer long.

1. Brainstorm. Everything.

Literally. Take a half hour out of your day, sit down on your bed with a piece of paper and a pen, play some of your favorite music, and write down every single potential idea you have—even the ones you think are dumb. If anything, especially the ones you think are dumb. College admissions people are looking for something to stand out and sometimes, it's the weird and quirky ideas that create color among black and white.

2. Write about a singular moment. It's about the wood, not the house.

Like I said before, college admissions people are looking for something that stands out compared to everything else. You have to remember when writing essays that the people reading them read literally, like, 50,000 essays in all. Don't bore them with stories that they've probably read a million times.

So, you should write about a singular moment that sticks out in your memory because then maybe it'll stick out in theirs. Like a lot of things in life, it's mostly the little things that matter; it's all about the small moments. And really, it's the small moments that define who we are, whether it was this one second of you helping out a kid who was upset, or a moment of honesty when you apologize for lying.

Here's a bit of advice: write about the wood, not the house. During the last year, I heard about a lot of college essays people wrote about going away to a poorer country and helping build houses for the people living there. Don't get me wrong, this is a noble and amazing thing to do—but I can count on two hands the amount of people that I know wrote about that, which means those college admissions people can too. I'm not saying don't write about your amazing trip and your experience, but write about a small moment while you were there. Write about how tired you were, and maybe if you felt guilty for being tired because you were trying to do a good thing. Write about carrying a large piece of wood and feeling the weight of it in your bones as you trudged through the dirt. Don't write about how amazing you are for building the houses, write about the small moments in the process of making them.

3. Just write.

Before you make an outline and a plan for what you want to write, I suggest just writing. For me, my best writing comes when I just sit down and do it, without a plan or an outline. Some people need an outline, and that's fine too, but still, just write. Don't pay attention to the word count, don't try to rewrite sentences as you go. Just write. When you just write, your voice comes out more clearly in your writing, which makes essays stick out a lot more than you would think. If you can hear someone's voice in an essay, you get a small glimpse at their personality—which, I mean, isn't that what college essays are all about? Just chill, eat, put on some music, drink some tea, and write.

4. Edit, edit, edit, and then stop.

When you're writing your essay, you're always going to feel the need to edit it. With the college application process comes the distinct feeling of not being good enough. Eventually, there comes a point in writing and editing where you should just stop. You could edit your college essay forever, but that doesn't mean you should. Editing and proofreading are integral components of the writing process, but eventually, there must be an end.

In a worse case scenario, too much editing could lead to editing your voice out of your essay altogether, and that is extremely detrimental to the essay as a whole. So, you should edit, and you should edit a lot, but you have to recognize the stopping point when you reach it. There's always a line when writing where editing becomes a hindrance more than a tool, and it's important to make sure you don't cross it.

5. Share your essay with only a handful of people.

This step is not something I did. Personally, I shared my essay with every single one of my friends to get their opinion, and I think that was a mistake. Now I'm offering advice to share your essay with only a few people whose opinion you really value and trust. Have a teacher read it, a close friend, a family member, and that's about it. Every person reads things differently, and a lot of the time, people offer advice that may seem sound, but actually isn't. Like too much editing, too many outside opinions can erase your voice in your essay. Above all other things, college admissions officers want to see you in your college essay, not your grandparent or best friend. That doesn't mean don't take advice from people, but go with your gut. If someone says that a certain sentence is unnecessary, but you think it's important, keep it in. Chances are that sentence shows who you are in it, and that's why you want to keep it in.

6. Finally, be yourself.

I cannot stress this enough. Be yourself when you write your college essay. Don't try to be more impressive than you are, don't try to be more intelligent than you are. Be yourself, and share with those admissions officers what makes you you, and why that's pretty incredible. You are amazing for being yourself, you just have to find the right story, the right way to share that. And once you find that, you're in the clear.

At the end of the day, your college essay is only a small component of getting admitted to a college. But among all the numbers and data and statistics, your essay could be the one thing that makes you stand out within the entire pack. So let your personality shine through in your essay, let your voice sing throughout the lines.

You're awesome the way you are, and you don't have to hype yourself up to get into a college. Don't make a sob story out of yourself, don't write about all the bad things that have happened to you—write about standing up to them, write about embracing them. Or don't write about them at all. Your sad story isn't who you are, neither is your happiest story. So write about you, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the small things in between, because that's what the admissions officers want to see.

And, for the love of God, don't let this one essay consume your entire life. Everything works out in the way it's supposed to, even if it doesn't seem like it at first.