Perhaps it was the day of your high school graduation. The day you started your dream job — or left a nightmare workplace. Maybe it was a day noted for its poignancy or one that was downright hilarious. Whatever your memory of the most important day of your life is, share it.

Enter Real Simple’s first-ever Life Lessons essay contest and you could have your essay published in Real Simple, with a prize of $3,000. Contest entries should be a maximum of 1,500 words. E-mail your entries to lifelessons@realsimple.com, or mail them to Essay Contest, Real Simple, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 9th floor, New York, NY 10020.

Deadline: Online entries must be received by 11:59 P.M. on September 9, 2008. Mailed entries must be postmarked by September 9, 2008, and received by September 16, 2008.

Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, age 19 or older at time of entry. Void where prohibited by law. All entries become the property of Real Simple and will not be returned.

See complete contest rules and details on how to submit entries