How to start a SOP?

[MtrlHstryGrl]

Hello!

I am trying to start writing my statements of purpose, but I feel a bit stuck. Originally, I had gone straight into my interests ("At [School], I plan to study..."). I have also been told that starting with a brief anecdote that relates to how I became interested in what I want to research. My first thought, anecdote-wise, was seeing my female friends at my Catholic undergraduate school form their devotional lives and identified with certain saints, and then placing that historically through my academic reading. I feel like this may be okay for religious studies applications, but not necessarily history or medieval studies. Some other things that I was thinking about:

• Study abroad experience-- particularly a study trip to Greece (seeing the Caryatids) or experience in Assisi 
• Experience working on an archaeological dig in northern Italy, but it does not seem as female-oriented as some other experiences