Bringing a President to my School Forum

[knznick]

Would writing a personal statement about the experience of bringing former President Bill Clinton to my campus to speak be an advisable topic? I was one of two people who pioneered the idea and worked most of the details out. It was a grueling process that took 7 months and many many hours of dedicated work to arrange. We convinced his staff/him to speak at our University if our school (I serve on a special committee that is allocated $150,000 a year to bring in speakers to our campus) donated $100,000 to the 9/11 memorial in leu of his typical speaking fee. To top it all off, we contacted the national parks foundation who agreed to match our donation, bringing the total to $200,000. Our school is now one of the major contributors to the memorial and will be honored by having a plaque thanking our student body of 2012. I can't think of a better place for the money to go toward honoring those who died that day and want to show that my passion is international law/terrorism law. Any suggestions? We also made the admission for entrance into the event (over 5,500 people filled up our event center) a jar of peanut butter to help combat hunger among children in our community along with the Snack Pack 4 Kids program.

Thanks!

Nick

[Tom Joad]

Definitely could be well written. And for a political figure I don't think Based Bill is too polarizing anymore.

[dowu]

Definitely could be well written. And for a political figure I don't think Based Bill is too polarizing anymore.

TYBB.

[bdubs]

I would downplay the donation/money part, otherwise sounds like a fine PS on a unique leadership experience.

[Skyblaze]

I disagree, the donation/money part shows what an impact you made.

[Tom Joad]

I disagree, the donation/money part shows what an impact you made.

Yeah, that is lots of the hard work.

[bdubs]

I disagree, the donation/money part shows what an impact you made.

Yeah, that is lots of the hard work.

Dude was *given* a $150k budget for speakers and wound up blowing $100k on Bill Clinton. It actually makes him sound kind of stupid if you ask me. I would emphasize the hard work, but not emphasize the ridiculousness of how much money it cost you to get slick willy to show up.

[laxbrah420]

I disagree, the donation/money part shows what an impact you made.

Yeah, that is lots of the hard work.

Dude was *given* a $150k budget for speakers and wound up blowing $100k on Bill Clinton. It actually makes him sound kind of stupid if you ask me. I would emphasize the hard work, but not emphasize the ridiculousness of how much money it cost you to get slick willy to show up.

I'd show why the monetary allocation was good.

[knznick]

Respectfully, considering his normal speaking fee is anywhere from $250,000-$500,000 I'd say we got a great deal and for a great cause. Regardless of political views or considerations, bringing a former President to speak raises many eyebrows and helps advocate for the completion of a memorial that is way past due.

We were also able to bring in around 10 other speakers throughout the year including Dr. Robert Ballard, the man who found the Titanic.

[vdog]

Are you kidding? This is a GREAT topic. Though if you were going to write this, I would keep the details of the actual project and accomplishments descriptively minimal (include them, but don't make them the focus of the essay; your resume should cover most of that just fine, I'm assuming) to bring in some emotional moments (like how you reacted to what Bill Clinton actually said, how you reacted to the giant crowd, etc.), interactions during the preparation stage (how did you work with the other guy, what was it like contacting his staff, how was it that you got him to lower his cost), and your motivation for the project. It is a personal essay, not a resume rehash.

[knznick]

Since he happens to be a very prominent political figure that almost everyone knows/has an opinion of, do you think it may be too polarizing? Take for example a pepperdine admissions committee compared to a Stanford one?

Thanks!

[bdubs]

Respectfully, considering his normal speaking fee is anywhere from $250,000-$500,000 I'd say we got a great deal and for a great cause. Regardless of political views or considerations, bringing a former President to speak raises many eyebrows and helps advocate for the completion of a memorial that is way past due.

We were also able to bring in around 10 other speakers throughout the year including Dr. Robert Ballard, the man who found the Titanic.

Do you really think he charges Yale or Stanford $250k to give a speech? I don't think so. I would bet that he does that for free. Making the money a focus detracts from the accomplishment of organizing a huge speaking event.

[knznick]

I disagree. While he may speak at the most prestigious schools for free, it is quite an accomplishment for our school to get him to speak for free because of our donation to the 9/11 memorial.

[thelawschoolproject]

One thing that I would try to be mindful of is to make sure that your PS remains about you, and not about President Clinton or about the speaking engagement. Adcomms want to know who you are, so I'd just be careful to craft the PS in such a way that you're focused on you while discussing this process. I think it might be easy to focus more on the event and President Clinton, so just something to be aware of.

[jkpolk]

did you see him naked? for 100,000 id like to have at least seen him naked

[shock259]

did you see him naked? for 100,000 id like to have at least seen him naked

lolwat