How do I start writing my personal statetment?

It is difficult to know where to start. Instead of launching straight into it, planning is key to writing a good personal statement. First of all, create a list of all your relevant experiences, and for each briefly summarise why this experience is relevant, particularly what you have learned from it. An important point here is that the personal statement itself should not simply be a list of what you have done, but instead reflections upon how your experiences have allowed you to develop skills and demonstrate your commitment and passion for something. Having done this, group these into rough categories, perhaps 'academic', 'work experience' and 'extra-curricular'. You now have the basis of your personal statement. This foundation can be nuanced and expanded upon to provide the bulk of the writing. While doing all of this, try and think about what you feel makes you unique and are your most important characteristics; these will be added as short and punchy 'introduction' and 'summary' sections at the beginning and end respectively.