""Essence" speaks of the Godhead. In the unity of the Godhead there are 3 persons (hypostases, if you will.) These three persons are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
Part of the problem is in using the word "person" for hypostasis; that's not what it means and its always a mistake to attribute human characteristics to God.
Try looking at "Against the Arians" by +Athanasius the Great. It is a marvelous work on the Son in relation to the Father and the Trinity. It is thoroughly "orthodox" and in sync with the Creed. Its very long, but there is a pretty good paper on it presented at a Baptist seminary which you both might find interesting (pdf format):
http://www.templebaptistseminary.edu/alumni/jones.pdf.
I am told that "persona' originally meant "mask" - as in an actor's mask. I'm not sure if that helps, but it strikes me as encouraging a kind of modalist monarchianism. But it's not strictly and archaically speaking a "human" type attribute.
Out here is where I usually begin to get dizzy.