Deleted Forum

[lex529]

Thanks for your thoughtful comments and opinions.

You've given me all the reasons for me to stick with my topic and do what I'm supposed to do - be honest about myself.

I'm starting a new day now and it's become more hopeful, thanks to you guys

[WhiteyCakes]

IMO as long as you can clearly demonstrate how your story is related to law school/the skills needed for success in law school, I say go for it. Definitely sounds like a unique story, just make sure it doesn't come off as "woe is me"

[powder]

The good news is you have something worth writing about; the bad news is that it's hard to write about such things without overplaying your hand. I am in a similar situation, I also have a life story which can be easily dramatized and I worry my PS will suffer for it. Don't run from the topic. It could be a tie-breaker and you shouldn't relinquish an advantage without reason. Rule of thumb, if it seems too dramatic, it probably is. Tone it down. Resist the urge to wrap content in a neatly drawn narrative. It probably wasn't simple when it happened and a narrative, smooth and thus cliched, works against you.

Anyway, what I was initially planning to do was to talk about how going to university itself changed the course of my life, from being an insecure, hurt teenager to being an enthusiastic and passionate university student driven by a yearning for academic excellence and good leadership.

This is what I mean. This is a cliched characterization, a Horatio Alger story. Let events speak for themselves. Don't dwell too long on negatives, a lot can be suggested in a sentence or two. Look for the turning points and write about those in greater detail--those are the important moments which should be explained. Offhand, I would say the turning points are dropping out of high school and getting into college. The anorexia, the discrimination, the debate club--this stuff is texture, information which either sets up or flows from these central events. How did you drop out of high school? What made you decide to go to college? Tell how it happened, write about the situations which led to these actions.

Keep in mind, these are just suggestions for how to structure/think about it. Perhaps the turning point is in the anorexia or the debate club, I have no idea because I'm not you. Texture is important, but it's important relative to what you're really writing about: events which give an idea of who you are.