Diversity Statement -- Advanced Age? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Decided to focus on age for my diversity statement. Initially, my topic was ethnicity, but my people said it sucked so I switched to what you see below. Submitted this cycle.

I looked around the class and noticed for the first time that the average age of my classmates was 21. Most of them were intelligent and confident go-getters who had been taking college level credits since their senior year in high school. I felt a bit nervous about this new reality because in the past I was usually one of the youngest students in class. What if at my advanced age (30 at the time), I could not keep up with the rest of the class? I started my first quarter at the X School of Business with this reservation in mind. However, by my second quarter it was clear to me that my apprehension was unfounded. Not only did I excel academically, but I was also able to share my work experience with my course mates, and learn new skills from them in the process.

My practical work experience was evident in the class projects I worked on with my team mates. I remember working on a Marketing project to create a new technology product which we presented to the entire class. I convinced my team mates to use the project as an opportunity to formulate a real product and develop a real plan to introduce it into the market place. We created a very compelling presentation by combining my experience with the creativity of other members of the team. I also made a concerted effort in my technical courses not to monopolize class discussions, but rather to ask key questions in order to clarify the core concepts of complicated technical topics.

I was truly inspired by my classmates who participated in national and international business case competitions. With little to no business experience, they analyzed business problems, researched and formulated solutions, and presented their recommendations to the executive teams of real Fortune 500 corporations. I was proud of what they were able to accomplish even though they lacked tangible work experience. In my case, I applied what I learned in class, and from my classmates, to my work as a Software developer in a startup technology company. I now have a more complete understanding of the necessary functional units of a business and how it can be run more effectively. In the end, my age was an asset not a liability to my undergraduate community. By keeping an open mind, I was able to learn from my colleagues while also adding value to their experience. I fully intend to employ this same approach in the future to the benefit of my classmates and the law school community in general.