Feel free to be blunt and critical.
I am aware many of y'all are very smart, and sometimes snarky. I am not professing to be any sort of genius or prophacy. I am but a humble and prospective 0L.My GPA is 3.1
I took the LSAT in December and expect to get between a 160 and 165.
I live in TX and would like to attend SMU or U of H @ sticker, or Texas Tech or Marshall with a Scholarship.
I will also be retaking the LSAT in February because I got destroyed by RC (-10 possible), while I likely missed less than 10 total on the other 3 sections.
**UPDATE**
I really appriciate all of the feed back. I decided to basically rewrite my statement to not include drug abuse. I also used several suggestions from the kind folks who replied to my thread. I have been working on a computer that does not have a word processor so please pardon the spelling errors. I will of corsespell check everything before submitting a final draft. YES, I know my spelling is awful. Please keep the feed back coming
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My story is most notable for a series of triumphs over extreme, often self-imposed, adversity. I was a shy child, always polite and thoughtful. I didn’t talk much and was bullied often. Even my friends bullied me. I was an easy target, the kid who was just "too nice". During my 8th grade year, I threw that person away. I stopped being polite, pierced my ears, got contacts, and adopted a carless and disruptive attitude. I was now the bad boy on the block. No one saw me as weak or too nice anymore.
By the age of 17, I was an aggressive animal. School came easy and I did just enough to get by. My main concern was winning the Varsity State Championship for amateur wrestling. To me, wrestling was a form of retribution aimed at anyone who ever beat me up, or made me feel inferior. I rose to the top with a relentless work ethic, entailing countless hours practice and sacrifice. No one could hurt me now, nor did they dare ridicule me. Wrestling was a hobby to some, but a lifestyle to me. I was all in.
As my success grew, so did my ego. I was an inconsiderate, self-righteous, jerk with a letter jacket. I became the kind of person who made me so sad as a child. My warpath came to an abrupt end when I was expelled for fighting. Suddenly my season and semester were over. Not only was I unable to compete in the state tournement, but more importaintly, it would take me an extra semester to graduate highschool. These devistating circumstances prompted me to take an unconventional roll of the dice.
In rebellious fashion, I dropped out, obliterated the GED, and enrolled in community college during what would have been the spring semster of my junior year. With a few caluculated moves I went from one semester down to three semsmters up. Still, my attitude problems were making me miserable. I began reflecting on my life only to realize I had not matured in years. I did not know what i stood for and I did not know who I was. I began to face the demons that had haunted me since youth; a life time of insecurity, an unhealthy desire to be accepted, and most recently, my own imposter.
My first step was to stop suppressing the kind nature that defined me as a child. It was more relieving than a difficult to finally end the internal struggle. Next, I made a promise to myself to stop worrying about the critics and be ok with my true nature. I accepted the fact people are not always going to like me, and some people will try take advantage of my characteristics that they percieve as weakness. My new attiude was to stay strong, trust myself and my principles, and to counter my critics with class and dignity.
I was accepted to Iowa State University in the spring of 2009. Over the next 14 months, I used academics to fill the void wrestling had left while employing the same relentless work ethic in acedemics that i used while pursing a state championship. I earned my last 70 credits at ISU, graduating two years early at the age of 20. I immediately moved back to Texas to begin earning an honest living for myself. Over the past year, I have worked as the manager of a very successful retail outlet. Even though the past two years since graduating have taught me to be self-sufficient and personal responsibility, I am hungry for the future acedemic and professional challanges that await me.
I want to practice law for several reasons. First, I want to contribute to social justice. I have wanted to have a career in public interest most of my life. This is because I want to contribute to making sure people who commit serious crimes are dealt justice. When someone commits a serious crime such as assault, rape, murder, or armed robbery, they deserve to be punished, and it is to the benefit of society that they spend some time away from the general population.
At the same time, I realize that the justice system isn’t perfect, and innocent people are often accused and sometimes convicted of crimes they did not commit. I want to do everything possible to not aid in the convicion of citizens who are not actually guilty. Incarcerating an innocent person is a terrible crime in itself. Also, I want to do something that is both rewarding and intellectually challenging. Nothing is more inspiring to me than having a career where I know what I do matters. Sure, some will say that law is boring and dreary, and not as glamorous as the TV dramas make it out to be. I am not concerned with glamour; I am concerned with using my critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills to make a difference in my society.
I hope to be a valuable addition to [LAW SCHOOL], and desire nothing more than to excell in my proffession in order to play a positive and active role in the surrounding community.
