PS Feedback - late to process. Would love some feedback
Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 4:29 pm
LATE DECISION TO APPLY TO LAW SCHOOL. WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FEEDBACK
It was eerily quiet that night. Most kids would be scared of the deafening silence, with fears of monsters in the closet. But not me. Not that night. That silence meant that he was gone. There would be no more Sunday football catches and no more family skiing trips. The kids would be sure to make fun of me in school. At home, my mother’s demeanor would never be the same. I just knew it. The previous night I had been cowering under my covers in bed, trembling while trying to hold my crying to a quiet whimper. The yelling was worse than ever. They didn’t know I could hear them every night through the floor. That night was different, however, as it would be the last night I heard the yelling. My father packed his things and moved out the next day. He left five kids at home with my mother who had withstood the fighting for so many years for the sake of her children.
School was no longer a refuge for me, as indeed, the other children did make fun of me because I was the only child in my grade that had divorced parents. My home was not a safe haven either. My siblings constantly bickered, and my mother kept to herself while trying to cope. I was left to make dinner for myself, put myself to sleep, and do homework without the help that most other children received from their parents. The one place, however, I could go to feel safe was the local synagogue. There, the whole environment was warm and caring. The group leaders were kind and gracious and the youth director would be there to listen to my issues. There were always the sounds of kids playing and laughing. I used these sounds to drift off into another world, far away from the troubled one I was living. Those sounds were the perfect antidote to the resounding silence I heard each night when I went to bed.
Ten years later, in my sophomore year of college, I was given the opportunity to become the youth director of the very same synagogue in which I grew up. I wanted to give back to the community which fostered such a warm and welcoming environment for me as a child. After having been the youth director for the past three years, I have had the opportunity to enrich children’s lives and foster that same welcoming and helping environment which I had the pleasure of experiencing. Recently, a child came to the synagogue and he seemed different than normal. Though she was reluctant to tell me what was wrong, I dug deeper until she broke. Tears were relentlessly streaming down her face as she told me she had just learned that her father had just been diagnosed with cancer and most likely didn’t have much time left to live. Her family could not afford treatment and they had to revert to selling some of their most precious items, including her doll collection. At that very moment, I realized that I could do nothing for her except provide some noise; a way for her to escape the dark reality into a place of imaginary dragons and games of freeze tag.
After reflecting back on my life and all of my trials and tribulations, as well as those of others, I have come to the decision to use my skills to become a lawyer. Seeing the impact of my work as youth director has strengthened my awareness of the need to use one’s abilities to the benefit of others. I plan, through the pursuit of a legal education to continue my mission to help others on, hopefully, a much larger scale. Maybe I can help that little girl’s family find a way to afford proper health care for her father. Maybe I can help parents come to peaceful conciliation during a messy divorce. Though my skillset has come from a very different realm, I am confident that I can utilize the skills I have mastered and make a seamless transition into the field of law. I am confident that I can provide some noise to those in need.
It was eerily quiet that night. Most kids would be scared of the deafening silence, with fears of monsters in the closet. But not me. Not that night. That silence meant that he was gone. There would be no more Sunday football catches and no more family skiing trips. The kids would be sure to make fun of me in school. At home, my mother’s demeanor would never be the same. I just knew it. The previous night I had been cowering under my covers in bed, trembling while trying to hold my crying to a quiet whimper. The yelling was worse than ever. They didn’t know I could hear them every night through the floor. That night was different, however, as it would be the last night I heard the yelling. My father packed his things and moved out the next day. He left five kids at home with my mother who had withstood the fighting for so many years for the sake of her children.
School was no longer a refuge for me, as indeed, the other children did make fun of me because I was the only child in my grade that had divorced parents. My home was not a safe haven either. My siblings constantly bickered, and my mother kept to herself while trying to cope. I was left to make dinner for myself, put myself to sleep, and do homework without the help that most other children received from their parents. The one place, however, I could go to feel safe was the local synagogue. There, the whole environment was warm and caring. The group leaders were kind and gracious and the youth director would be there to listen to my issues. There were always the sounds of kids playing and laughing. I used these sounds to drift off into another world, far away from the troubled one I was living. Those sounds were the perfect antidote to the resounding silence I heard each night when I went to bed.
Ten years later, in my sophomore year of college, I was given the opportunity to become the youth director of the very same synagogue in which I grew up. I wanted to give back to the community which fostered such a warm and welcoming environment for me as a child. After having been the youth director for the past three years, I have had the opportunity to enrich children’s lives and foster that same welcoming and helping environment which I had the pleasure of experiencing. Recently, a child came to the synagogue and he seemed different than normal. Though she was reluctant to tell me what was wrong, I dug deeper until she broke. Tears were relentlessly streaming down her face as she told me she had just learned that her father had just been diagnosed with cancer and most likely didn’t have much time left to live. Her family could not afford treatment and they had to revert to selling some of their most precious items, including her doll collection. At that very moment, I realized that I could do nothing for her except provide some noise; a way for her to escape the dark reality into a place of imaginary dragons and games of freeze tag.
After reflecting back on my life and all of my trials and tribulations, as well as those of others, I have come to the decision to use my skills to become a lawyer. Seeing the impact of my work as youth director has strengthened my awareness of the need to use one’s abilities to the benefit of others. I plan, through the pursuit of a legal education to continue my mission to help others on, hopefully, a much larger scale. Maybe I can help that little girl’s family find a way to afford proper health care for her father. Maybe I can help parents come to peaceful conciliation during a messy divorce. Though my skillset has come from a very different realm, I am confident that I can utilize the skills I have mastered and make a seamless transition into the field of law. I am confident that I can provide some noise to those in need.