<p>Obviously, when talking about any event, the essay should really be about yourself and not what happened. But does this necessarily mean that we have to give clear examples of how we apply the lessons we learned to our later life? What if in telling the story, we already reveal important aspects of ourselves that could then be extrapolated to how we currently approach our life? If done well, do we even need to mention any events or reflection that occurred after the fact? Sorry if my questions are hard to understand.</p>
<p>depends on writing style.</p>
<p>I feel this essay does a relatively good job keeping balance : <a href=“Sample College Transfer Essay for Admission”>http://collegeapps.about.com/od/transferring/a/sample-college-transfer-essay.htm</a></p>
<p>although I would personally remove a few details at the beginning such as “I wore out two pairs of gloves and the knees in several pairs of khakis” </p>
<p>Alternatively you could have a 80-100% accounting of an event that is almost entirely in the moment. Such an essay would work if the reflections and realizations are to some degree self explanatory. </p>
<p>The most important take away is tho is that details about the event can confuse the reader. The more stuff a reader has to remember, the more likely they are to forget. Because of this generalizations mixed with a few details can go a really long way in writing a good easy. Above all the essay needs to be simple and easy to read without a lot tricky words or phrases. </p>