TOEFL independent writing section tests the candidate’s writing skills through an essay. Candidates are provided with a topic, and they need to form the essay by providing their personal opinion, experiences, and relevant examples. This TOEFL independent writing topic focuses on staying in one place or moving around. Candidates will find similar topics in TOEFL writing practice papers.

Topic: Do you prefer to stay at one place or move around?

Model Answer 1:

Stay at one place or move around? This is quite a commonplace question that makes people inquisitive. While some people find peace in one place and avoid moving around, there are some who enjoy moving around. People who don’t wish to move around prefer sticking to a particular place where they have known neighbors, and friends. The other kind of people find happiness in moving around, meeting and staying with new people, and don’t wish to settle down in one place. I would personally like to move around till I become old.

Many people move around because of jobs, education, or family matters. Most of the time it is because of education that people move around. It is very important for students to find a perfect school as every school has different methods of teaching. There are many times when a kid finds it difficult to learn in a specific school and changes for that reason. I myself have studied my graduation from a college which is quite distant from my hometown. Then I pursued my master’s from a different state because it provides an excellent education. Now, I am planning to pursue my Ph.D. from abroad. This way, many people consider moving around as a method to adopt.

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The next factor is work and career development. Career development is mostly achieved by moving around from one company to another. We will often find our friends, cousins, colleagues to shift to other companies or relocate to another state or country for career advancement. People change jobs to find job satisfaction, proper payscale, favorable cultures, location, and more. Moving around becomes inevitable for career advancement.

Though when talking about my subjective wishes, I am more of a laid-back person. I would prefer to live in a stable place for a long time without worrying about making changes in my career. I would like to prepare myself so that I get to relax in one place and get to meet my old friends.

Considering all these factors, I will give myself one option: I would better grind during my working days and give myself a place where I can relax in the later years of my life.

Model Answer: 2

There are many people who prefer staying in one place for the rest of their lives. They don’t like change and consider sticking to a place for the longest period of time. Though it is a pleasant experience for people of older age, for the younger ones moving around and finding new opportunities is a better option. For myself as well, I would like to choose to move around without having to stay in a single place forever.

I knew it very early that my life would include moving from one place to another when I decided to pursue content creation. My work included visiting different places, meeting new people, trying out new cuisines, reviewing new restaurants, staying at different hotels, and more. All these works made me fly from one place to another and that too within a very short period of time. I pursued my bachelor’s and master’s from two different universities and equally enjoyed both places. Since my childhood, I have traveled to ample places with my parents and siblings. It was from that time that my passion for pursuing a career that includes traveling came into action.

Though it should also be noted that not every person moves around out of passion. There are many people who relocate after years of futile searches for jobs. Some even move around just to avoid their past experiences or are unable to reside in a place they want. In fact, the people like me who like moving around also suffer from disadvantages. We get to stay far away from our family, and friends for a very long time. In some cases, it even becomes a year or more that people stay at different places. We often become homesick, especially when we are alone. Then parents worry about their children when they move around which also adds to the stress.

The most suitable thing to do is travel the world and quench the desire of meeting new people and cultures. But there should always be a place to return to. That place will be the home where everyone should only relax.