1) What led you to make the decision to apply to law school?
2) What would you like to do with your law degree?
3) Why are you interested in the University of Calgary faculty of law in particular?
4) Why you have made previous academic or other choices and how they have affected your decision to apply to law school?
All help is greatly appreciated! I am also willing to help critique and go over your personal statement if you do the same. Just send me a PM.“Is anyone in this class Jewish?” I quickly raised my hand, completely unaware of what was shortly to follow, but a visceral reaction quickly overtook me, as I realized no other individual in my grade four class had raised their hand to this question. I vividly remember being unaware as to why I felt like I did and incapable of labelling these feelings, but they remained close to me for many years.
In hindsight, they were feelings of alienation and difference, marking a pivotal transition where I went from a private to public school. They arose because it was the first time that we started discussing other religions and specifically the Holocaust in my grade four class. It is a commonly held belief that young children do not want to be seen as different from their peers. In my private Jewish school, I was merely the norm, but quickly became ‘the other’ in my Christian-centric public school. As many children started to grow, ultimately embracing their personal differences and distinctiveness, I grasped onto any common ground that I possibly could. I buried those feelings of alienation and difference under the surface, carried them with me throughout high school despising any difference between others and myself. It evolved to the point that it was not just religion I was uncomfortable with, but also almost any difference.
It was not until my first year of university, where my parents advised me of an offer of a free trip to Israel that I would unknowingly come to face with these issues. On one of the days I spent in Israel, one of the planned activities was to go to this holocaust museum named Yad Vashem. It was there, as I sat glancing upon thousands of shoes once owned by those who lost their lives in the Holocaust that I came upon a realization. Many individuals were forced to be ashamed of whom they were and forced to hide those differences that made them unique. It is because of those who fought so hard for their differences that I should be proud of my differences and heritage.
Upon my arrival back home, I started to immerse myself within the Jewish community, whether it was attending group events such as Hillel, or helping with charity events intricately connected to the Jewish community, such as a cantorial concert. I no longer chose to hide my differences, but instead elected to embrace them.
It is because of these experiences that I would like to go to law school to pursue human rights law. I would like to help other individuals defend and be proud of their equality and differences. I further believe that the rigors of law school would be an excellent intellectual challenge. I am specifically interested in going to the University of Calgary because I have lived in Calgary my entire life. I believe it provides the best environment for me to succeed within law school.
Thanks!!!
