So this is the summer before my junior year and I’ve been thinking about college applications for years now, but it hasn’t really mattered up until this point. I’m not going to name off all my academic achievements because I haven’t even taken the ACT yet, and on top of that, I’m aware that sometimes the admissions essays as well as having certain attributes makes up for lacking areas. The hardest part is deciding what to base your essay off of. I’ve had certain experiences as a first generation American that may elude to interesting essay topics but I’m unsure. Which of these do you believe would stand out the most?
-experiences of being in a country during a war(Not too fond of this because I’m unable to relate it to current issues or dissect a moral that has contributed to my life currently)
-dealing wth constant rejection to do certain things because I wear a hijab/head scarf, such as family telling me I am unable to do certain things or major in certain fields because that is not what a woman wearing a scarf should do(My personal favorite)
So far this is all I have come up with that I would prefer to write about. Personally I prefer not to write about personal, emotional or traumatic experiences because I feel as if it would seem as if I have yet to get over what had occurred. I’m not entirely sure, any advice is appreciated!
You have the potential to come up with a really strong essay if you go with the second topic and focus more about how you dealt with the rejection. Plus you’ve indicated that it’s your favorite of the two, so you would definitely have more passion and fervor shine through on that one. Traumatic experiences aren’t bad to write about as long as your essay isn’t a summary, but rather what you did to overcome it. Best of luck to you! I think you definitely have strong topics that could take you places. 
Thank you so much for the feedback!
Since the essay is supposed to be about you, a general essay about being in a war torn country isn’t going to give them insight into you. On the other hand, if that experience has shaped some of your ideas, attitudes and goals, then it might be worth some extra thought and effort, even if it’s hard to write about. Your experiences and perspectives are not shared by many other applicants. It’s a topic that can be worth grappling with for the insights you may achieve as a result, even if you decide finally not to share it. Whereas many female Muslim students have faced similar barriers related to wearing the hijab and familial expectations. I don’t mean to imply that your experience in this latter area isn’t important or unique - but you have a lot of potentially unique and compelling things to say that no one else can write about if you can write about the former topic or combine the topics effectively.