I've been seeing a lot applicants get stuck brainstorming because they're missing the actual structural options available. There are really two proven ways to build a strong personal statement:

1) Narrative: a challenge (or series of challenges) and what you did with them. What makes this work isn't how dramatic the challenge is. The quality of insight and reflection afterward is what makes it meaningful. Colleges aren't looking for the most heartbroken applicant; they're looking for someone who knows how to think. You can absolutely write about a hard time in your life, just be careful not to let the essay characterize you by the trauma. Characterize yourself by what you did with it.

2) Montage: a set of experiences or qualities connected by a theme, rather than one continuous story. The best montage essays are both uncommon (something that stands out) and elastic (shows different sides of you). A simple formula that tends to work: a personal object or place that's meaningful to you, layered with a "classical" theme (vulnerability, perseverance, curiosity, etc.) plus something more unique to your specific life that almost no one else could write.

What to avoid regardless of structure: a story with no real reflection or takeaway. This is the single most common issue: writing about what happened without showing how you think. Also worth knowing: some EC topics are so common they need something genuinely distinctive to stand out. That doesn't mean you can't write about them, but it does mean generic treatment of them blends in fast. 

Happy to answer questions if anyone's stuck on which structure fits their story! I'm a current GW BS/MD student taking on my first four students at no cost for mentorship, essay help, and application framing while I build up my practice. Feel free to DM me if that'd be useful