I found Barron’s Essays that will get YOU into medical school extremely helpful, even if the sample essays were mostly from traditional students.
the whole first part of the book is a writing exercise - walks you through identifying important biographical milestones, values, heck I don’t even remember what else. I initially thought that, since I am a good writer, I wouldn’t need such a thing. Then I found myself staring at the screen/page, unsure where to start. The Barron’s exercises were GREAT for helping me figure out how to make it all work together.
You definitely DO want to come across as passionate about this choice. It is a PERSONAL statement, after all!