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[Hawkeye Pierce]

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[4for44]

Hey guys, I would love some input.

I've been brainstorming some ideas for personal statements, and there's one in particular that has stuck with me. Here's just the general idea behind it, since I haven't actually started writing yet:

When I was young, I was never interested in art. Whenever my family and I went to museums, I was always very bored. However, a couple years ago, my family took a road trip to California. I had purchased a point and shoot camera to capture some moments during the vacation. We drove south from Marin county and saw the Golden Gate Bridge, the skyline, and the fog. I remember this as being the most beautiful, awe-inspiring thing I had ever seen. I began to seriously think of how I could frame the photo, not just take it blindly like a tourist. Fast forward a little bit, I picked up a DSLR camera, began reading up on composition techniques, and began to get really involved with photography. Present day, I just recently went to San Francisco again, equipped with my new camera. I was able to see the city in a new way, and also went to the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park where I saw impressionist paintings from the Musee Dorsay. That original scene got me interested in photography, which in turn opened my mind to art in general.

What do you think? Is this something I can work with?

IP?

[rinkrat19]

It could be interesting, and a good way to tell the adcomms about yourself, but it doesn't tell them why you're interested in law school or why you'd be successful there. You'd need to find a way to work that in while you're telling them about your interest photography.

Perhaps learning to see the world in a different way through a lens also changed your perspective on the legal system in general/intellectual property and art/other people and how you want to help them/unfairness within established institutions/etc. (Just a few examples of themes I've seen people use to tie something personal back to 'Why You Should Let Me Into Your Law School'.)

[Hawkeye Pierce]

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[rinkrat19]

I actually hadn't thought of that, but it does make sense. I'll definitely think more about how I can weave IP law into that. Would that need to be a theme throughout? Or would it be fine to bring that up (IP) in a closing paragraph?

You could bring up IP at the end, but it can't just come out of left field. Something in your narrative about how you came to appreciate art needs to introduce the subject at least implicitly, if not by name. It would be better to weave it in throughout, perhaps talking about something you've found interesting in art forgery or copyright infringement, somehow tying an interest in traditional art (i.e. hanging on walls in galleries, assuming that's what you like) to protecting the works of modern artists and creative types of all sorts (writers, inventors, musicians, programmers--not just painters) through IP law. Perhaps talk about the creative process and how you have come to appreciate how an artist pours something of themself into their work, and you are as much an afficianado of the creative process as you are of the art itself. And as such, you believe that an artists' rights to his work needs to be protected as much as his works themselves.

[1Levening2013]

It could be interesting, and a good way to tell the adcomms about yourself, but it doesn't tell them why you're interested in law school or why you'd be successful there. You'd need to find a way to work that in while you're telling them about your interest photography.

Perhaps learning to see the world in a different way through a lens also changed your perspective on the legal system in general/intellectual property and art/other people and how you want to help them/unfairness within established institutions/etc. (Just a few examples of themes I've seen people use to tie something personal back to 'Why You Should Let Me Into Your Law School'.)

i disagree with this to an extent--not all personal statements need to make a reference to why you are interested in law/why you'd be successful in law school--many adcomms actually discourage this

but with this being said, simply talking about your love of art may not be the best route (i.e. why not go to art school instead of law school). so while i think you need draw some sort of message out of your statement, i dont think it needs to be a reference to law or law school

[Hawkeye Pierce]

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