<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>A trend I have noticed in essay is “When I was _<strong><em>, I was bad at _</em></strong>” or “I was never good at _____”. I refer to this as a neg, or a negative opener. You establish something you were bad at, and then you develop your essay so in the end you show how you’re good at it or you’re irrelevant or whatever.</p>
<p>Imagine you’re reading a string of essays that open with:</p>
<p>“Life is hard in the SGA”
“NHS is a burden”
“I have played violin for 11 years.”
“My love for mathematics has no limits, pun intended.” </p>
<p>and then you get:</p>
<p>“I was never good at…”</p>
<p>The first 4 are relatively dull openers - the math one is funny IMO - and then your neg opener is just as sad. It’s very difficult to construct a great essay with it. You can definitely do it, but it’s basically making life harder for yourself. Consider this intro:</p>
<p>“I was always a bad loser. Stu Ungar once said “I hope nobody calls me a good loser. You show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.” That’s my hero, Stu. Most people get turned off by his cocaine usage, but I focus on the positives - that man lived with vigor and conviction. He makes you wonder, however, what is a loser?”</p>
<p>I think that’s a fairly good introduction. It’s crazy enough to make you go “hmm?”, but makes you want to read more. That’s how a neg intro can be successful. Generally, however, most neg intros follow the same structure and have many of the same weaknesses. Avoid it unless you know what you’re doing.</p>