First-generation student here: Can someone explain what is an essay in the real world?

[ClerToo]

I'm the first person in my family to go to college, and I'm realizing that everyone around me seems to understand something I don't. My parents work blue-collar jobs. When I tell them I have to write an essay, they say 'okay, write a paper,' but they don't really get what that means. I don't have older siblings or cousins who can explain the unwritten rules. I've figured out the basics—thesis, evidence, conclusion—but I feel like I'm missing the deeper cultural knowledge about what an essay is supposed to be.

My classmates talk about 'finding their voice' and 'making an argument' like it's obvious. To me, an essay is just a thing I write to get a grade. Is it supposed to be more than that? How do I move from writing essays that just 'get the job done' to writing essays that actually say something? I feel like I'm playing a game where everyone else knows the rules and I'm just making it up as I go.

 

[Aurora]

The word comes from the French essai, meaning "attempt" or "trial." Michel de Montaigne invented the form in the 1500s as a way to TRY OUT ideas, to think on paper.

An essay isn't supposed to be a finished product. It's supposed to be a PROCESS of figuring out what you think.

The secret that everyone else knows: You don't start with your argument fully formed. You start with a question, you explore evidence, you change your mind, you discover what you believe. The writing IS the thinking.

Your classmates talk about "voice" because they've learned that essays are where their actual personality shows up—their curiosity, their doubts, their discoveries.

You're not supposed to have it all figured out. You're supposed to use the essay to figure it out.

That's why first-gen students sometimes struggle—you've been told school is about getting right answers. But essays are about asking good questions.