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So I submitted my law school application to day. Here is my personal statement. Tell me what you think. I Know it is cheesy but it is a damn personal statement! Haq and other law school students your feedback would be most desired.
Is apathy a natural human condition, or is it merely a trendy name for what is commonly referred to as laziness? Should an individual care at least a little about every aspect of her life, or should she allow specific areas to lapse into a void of unimportance? I am here to use myself as the archetype for idea that apathy does not equate to laziness, but that it is instead a tool by which individuals understand what they believe to be most important to them. I will use a loose outline of my ordinary life to show how apathy, a condition usually associated with a lack of motivation, has, along with other factors, driven me to the place in my life where I now find myself. I should begin by saying that most normal people would not characterize me as an apathetic person.
I believe the first pangs of apathy began to rise within me towards the end of my high school career. I was excelling in the most advanced classes offered at my high school. I was also serving as the statewide National Honor Society President, an office that entailed planning all details of a convention that would be attended by over five hundred people. But at some point I had an epiphany. Many of the classes I was taking were no longer piquing my interest. Worse, the only real function of the convention I was planning was to elect yet another President, who would plan another convention to, as you may have already surmised, elect another President. In pondering these unavailing circumstances, I realized that I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to learn about politics. I wanted to help elect the leaders of this country. I wanted to be a part of organizations that had visible goals and momentum toward a difference. I would find all of this in the great American institution known as college.
In college I took classes that interested me, including ones about European forms of government and international trade. At my University, there was a strong chapter of the Young Democrats, in which I quickly assumed a leadership role and was an eager participant in both local and national campaigns. I was attempting to live the stereotypical college dream. I was meeting new people, learning new ideas, and participating in social activism. The more I learned the less I knew. I knew the Democrats were for me, yet I found myself wanting far more liberal gains than could be had in the American winner-take-all system. Clearly, I did not think that rewriting the Constitution would be a viable option. All of a sudden, my once semi-socialist friends were turning into moderate “New Democrat” power-mongers. I thought that going to law school and exploring the third branch of government, where I had seen substantive gains (gay marriages, medicinal marijuana, etc.), would be the best option. I also thought that being involved with non-profit organizations, which operate outside the typical channels of government, could lead me to self-fulfillment.
After graduation I filled a position with a small non-profit in my hometown called Silver Threads & Golden Needles. It was there that I learned the “satisfaction” of being without health insurance and working for slave-labor wages. I had told myself going into the job that these were sacrifices I was willing to make. I enjoyed aiding low-income senior citizens everyday, but with some regret I can say that I did not feel completely engaged. I looked at my wife and recognized that I thought she could do a much better job than me. I believe that part of the reason I did not do better in this job is that, somewhere along the way, I made a wrong turn. This wrong turn caused me, once again, to be apathetic, and has contributed to my desire to attend law school.
I first said I would like to be a lawyer when I was six years old. My great-uncle, who had been a prominent litigator, advised me against it at eleven, spouting anti-attorney jargon. But now at twenty-three, I feel my apathy has drawn me firmly towards the profession of law. I have had other objectives throughout my life towards which I eventually become apathetic, but I have at no point not desired to go to law school. The law is an area where my analytical skills can be put towards inexhaustible usefulness. It is a place where, if I become apathetic in one area, I will have numerous other legal avenues to pursue.
The irony of this essay is that not caring about many things has caused me to care very deeply about one thing. Each day at work, I think about how I would like to be in law school right now. This should by no means lead you to believe that I am some sort of flake, or that I have the mentality that “the grass is greener on the other side.” As disillusioned as I may seem in some areas, I still love being involved in worthwhile causes, I still love every nuance of politics, and I still love helping people for a living. The fact of the matter is I have always wanted to be a lawyer. All my attributes and life goals have also led me to this conclusion. I am articulate. I am intelligent. I am a relentless worker. I am a thoughtful reader, an effective writer, and a persuasive speaker. I am a lawyer. Admittance to law school will provide the focus necessary to set my academic and professional existence into motion. I can say with assurance that in the law I will never be apathetic. But apathy, or the lack there of, will continue to motivate me.
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I'm not a businessman, I'm a business..........man.
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