Abstrak
The purpose of the research was to determine the difficulties encountered by students in essay writing and the strategies employed to overcome these challenges. This research employed a qualitative approach with a descriptive method. The subjects consisted of six fourth-semester students majoring in the English Education Department at Universitas Borneo Tarakan. Data were collected through documentation studies and semi-structured interviews. Then, the data were analyzed using the framework by Miles and Huberman (1994). The results of the research showed that the students had experienced difficulties in the psychological, linguistic, and cognitive aspects. These difficulties included low self-confidence, limited vocabulary and grammatical mastery, difficulties in developing ideas, and challenges in organizing thoughts within an essay. To mitigate these difficulties, the students used various strategies such as outlining, brainstorming, reading academic references, utilizing dictionaries, using writing assistant applications and Al technology, as well as conducting peer feedback.