I've lived a pretty comfortable life and didn't need to endure a lot of hardships like my peers. I don't have any particularly good achievements to show off. How do I write a good personal statement for a university?

There’s a common but mistaken belief that an ideal personal statement for US college and university applications will be an “overcoming hardship” story. But… look at the ranks of the more prestigious colleges and universities; do you think that the majority of those students (let alone a very high percentage) experienced profound hardship?

The bigger issue is a lack of achievement, not because of the lack of achievement, but because you haven’t yet figured out where you’re headed. That’s normal. You seem like a typical bright teen: you’ve accomplished teen stuff. That’s fine. Don’t aim for Harvard or MIT, but even if you had a good sob story and some accomplishments, you still likely wouldn’t get admitted to Harvard or MIT.

In Hamlet, Polonius gives his son Laertes advice before Laertes leaves for university. It’s commonly and correctly noted as being trite and obvious, but it’s also genuinely good advice. His last piece of advice is “This above all; to thine own self be true.”

That’s your job in writing. Write about who you are and who you want to be, and what you hope to accomplish. Be authentic. Authenticity and a strong reflection are worth more than you realize.