Page 1 of 1
Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:19 pm
by sasquatchsam
.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:22 pm
by Tom Joad
lol. Don't do it, man.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:29 pm
by Emma.
Tom Joad wrote:lol. Don't do it, man.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:36 pm
by hephaestus
Emma. wrote:Tom Joad wrote:lol. Don't do it, man.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:36 pm
by NYstate
I think there is a huge market in Advising/ critiquing PS. I've read a few really terrible ones the past week. Someone like Ludivico could help these 0Ls out.
OP: don't write about bit coin. Think of painting yourself in the most positive light possible. This isn't it. If you want to write about Internet freedom find another way.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:39 pm
by sasquatchsam
I am assuming you all mean I should scrap the topic.

I am fine with that and had only attempted it at the suggestion of a few other individuals who thought it would be a unique angle. If you think the topic is interesting, but I simply failed in my execution, I would appreciate additional feedback as to how I can make it better.
Thanks for the loving comments

Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:40 pm
by Samara
Says a lot about Bitcoin, practically nothing about you.
(BTW, lawyers don't draw that line, legislators do. And even then...)
Edit to respond to your above comment: You can try reworking it, but I doubt there is enough there to make it sufficiently personal. Why do you want to go to law school? What do you hope to accomplish?
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:41 pm
by hephaestus
I would scrap the topic altogether. Interesting story, but bitcoin has a reputation as a black market currency in the media. Even if that reputation is undeserved (questionable), you don't want to be so controversial.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:43 pm
by mvonh001
while i tend to agree with everyone on this topic... i have to say that i actually read the entire thing... idk if it was because Im familiar with bitcoin/silkroad/or was just waiting for something crazy to happen like homeland security bumrushing you into compromising your servers... But nevertheless i read it.....
so....
there's that lol
ALSO this brings into question your ideas for supporting this currency... Why didnt you realize it could be used illegally? are you that naive? I would scrap it.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:43 pm
by NYstate
No the topic isn't interesting. I was just trying to be nice.
Seriously, we can't tell you what topic to write about. You have to figure that out.
Try this: what do you want an admission committee member to know about you? Are you incredibly aware/ involved with censorship and the Internet, or is this just something you stumbled across?
You mention that your family lost your home. I'm sorry about that and I wasn't laughing at that part of your life. Maybe there is something more personal you can write about? This sounds like the story of bit coin and not who you are as a person.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:52 pm
by sasquatchsam
Thank you all again for your comments. I think I will try my hand at a more "traditional" (safe) topic. My numbers are good so no need to do anything seen as risky. I agree it does not say enough about me. I saw this as a problem from the beginning since it would take me a while to explain what the heck bitcoins were in the first place.
No I wasn't naive. There is a difference between the possibility for illegal use and actually utilizing Bitcoins for illegal purposes. I am not going to defend myself on here too much though since obviously my PS scored about a .2 out of 10
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:56 pm
by mvonh001
No need to defend yourself. I wasnt attacking you, just pointing out what an adcomm might think about when he reads this...
Also, you don't need to go the safe route.But make sure the route you take explains who you are as a person...
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:00 pm
by sasquatchsam
As a sit here and ponder the demise of my PS

I do have one question for all of you. My background is pretty filled with "law". My bachelor's degree is law related and I have worked in a law firm for three years (four if you count 20 hours a week during undergrad). Should I do something un-law related for my PS just to add some variety? Anyway I am going to play some CS:GO now and take out my PS woes on unsuspecting noobs. :p
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:06 pm
by mvonh001
write about ur uber-pwnage of noobs on cs:go... That will let them know your a man with a plan, and not to fuck with you lest they want to be headshot'ed.
ETA: Semi-serious. lol
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:56 pm
by sasquatchsam
mvonh001 wrote:write about ur uber-pwnage of noobs on cs:go... That will let them know your a man with a plan, and not to fuck with you lest they want to be headshot'ed.
ETA: Semi-serious. lol
Haha I am not that good

maybe if I was part of NiP or something.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:59 pm
by dr123
Put it back up. I wanna read it.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 11:22 pm
by sasquatchsam
I love how everybody hates it but they want to read it. Reminds me of crashes on the freeway.

PM me if you want to read it and I will be glad to let you have a crack at it

Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 11:36 am
by sasquatchsam
I did some editing and at the risk of being ridiculed (but also on the encouragement of a few individuals) I am posting a revised version. Let me know if it is as bad as the original or if I have done well enough to warrant more edits. Thanks!
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 11:48 am
by Danger Zone
I didn't get to read the original, but I still think you should avoid such a controversial topic, especially since rigging your home with bitmining hardware is... unusual. Can't you think of something else?
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:47 pm
by NYstate
You really spend too much time talking about bitcoin. Just from your statement the entire operation and your role in it sounds shady.
You must have some other ideas. Please try something else.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:52 pm
by 09042014
Nobody who doesn't know what bitcoins are would even understand this. You don't even say what bitcoins are, yet you start talking about Cyrus related bitcoin rallys. Jesus dood, this thing doesn't make sense.
Your statement is basically, do some weird thing on the internet. Til I found out you can buy drugs with it. Now I wanna be a lawyer so I know if thats wrong or not.
DING
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 2:09 pm
by mandyjay11
Desert Fox wrote:Nobody who doesn't know what bitcoins are would even understand this. You don't even say what bitcoins are, yet you start talking about Cyrus related bitcoin rallys. Jesus dood, this thing doesn't make sense.
Your statement is basically, do some weird thing on the internet. Til I found out you can buy drugs with it. Now I wanna be a lawyer so I know if thats wrong or not.
DING
yes, I have no idea of what a Bitcoin is, so I stopped after the first paragraph when you didn't explain it
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 2:11 pm
by sasquatchsam
Thanks again for the input. My goal was to hopefully create a PS around a unique topic that is unlikely to be presented by another candidate. In addition, I wanted to alleviate any fears that I would be narrow minded in my view of the law since I have worked at a prosecutor's office for the last three years. However, if my topic is so obscure that the adcoms are likely to need a detailed explanation then I certainly think I should scrap it. There simply isn't enough space to make this personal and to also include an adequate explanation of bitcoins is what I am hearing from everyone. I have quite a few other directions I could go but most of them are more on the "I played soccer with refugee children from war-torn Africa and even though I couldn't speak their language we were able to find common ground through our love of sports" spectrum which is a pretty common direction from what I hear.
Thanks for the advice and back to the drawing board

Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 2:20 pm
by Danger Zone
It would be way better to read a sincere account of why you want to be a prosecutor so badly.
Re: Bitcoin Personal Statement
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 3:13 pm
by NYstate
Don't worry about being unique in subject matter. That can lead you down the wrong path with your statement. Your personal statement will be unique because it is about you.