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In retrospect, my entire life has been pointing me to become a tech-attorney; I just wish I noticed sooner. From an early age, both my interest in all things digital and my enjoyment of logic and debate have developed into a lifestyle of almost daily improvement. But these two traits never seemed related, each growing independently while I searched elsewhere for a clear career path. However, the events of the last year culminated in my decision to apply to your school.
My technological development was heavily influenced by my geeky, graphic designer mother. At age 8 she helped me to construct a website about my favorite toy, Pokemon. At age 9 she taught me Adobe Dreamweaver so I could build a an interactive Flash website to teach quantum physics to other kids. By age 14, I was hacking the interface of my Xbox games so I could gain an edge against my online competitors. I continued my digital growth in college, making extra cash on the side by blogging and performing SEO marketing for various non-profit organizations looking to expand their online presence. I formed relationships with heavily discounted online wholesalers, purchasing and selling their products at profit on Amazon and Ebay. And now, at 24, I invest in BitCoin, I am fluent in HTML, Python and basic “Dark Web” (oft-encrypted networks inaccessible by search engines and web crawlers) protocols, and I spend way too much free time 'redditting,' 'Tweeting' or surfing the IRC channels. My passion for self-education with the latest online technologies was consistent and prominent; however, my passion for logic grew a bit more discreetly.
If you ask any of my ex-girlfriends what they think of my arguing or negotiating skills, they will tell you I would make a great attorney. This logical bent was fortunately (or unfortunately, if you're still asking my ex's) handed down by my father, an intellectual entrepreneur with a specialty in accounting. At an early age, he taught me to haggle with street vendors on international travels to secure the best price for various trinkets that I wanted to bring home. Our family meals were spent debating whether the latest events in politics and the business world were good for the economy and society as a whole. I took this practice from the breakfast table and applied it as the captain of my high school's Model UN team. I continued working on these abilities with my Philosophy major, focusing on logical writing, critical thinking and the dialectic method. After class, I would often congregate with other philosophers, debating how the theories we read for our courses could be applied to shape the world as we know it. But it did not occur to me that these passions for logic, communication and arbitration might be professionally useful until my later experience on political campaign trail.
After college, I decided to enter the political world that I had spent so much time studying in my free time. I volunteered to work for Independent Congressional candidate Bill Bloomfield in Los Angeles, thinking that a candidate removed from the current partisan deadlock could really help our country recover from recent problems. I excelled at campaigning and within a week I was promoted to the paid position of Volunteer Coordinator. I traveled our district recruiting others who agreed with Mr. Bloomfield's ideas against stubborn partisanship and bickering. I focused on high school and college volunteers because I knew that (aside from them having more free-time than working adults) their future has the most at stake. Within days of my promotion, our campaign office transformed from the ghost town normally associated with an Independent candidate projected to lose by more than 15% to a bustling work-room of over a hundred active volunteers. Every volunteer was determined to dial as many phones and lick as many envelopes as necessary to lead to the success of who they firmly believed would bring real progress to the nation.
Of course, it came with extreme heartbreak (but not extreme surprise) that we lost the election to our establishment challenger. But what was surprising was the support by 47% of the vote in our favor, an unprecedented third-party result against an incumbent congressman of 40 years and an outcome largely credited to our campaign's effective grassroots volunteer program. After the election, Bill thanked me for all I had contributed and encouraged me to keep working for causes I found compelling. He mentioned that he believes I could be a leader for real change if I combined my inherent skills of social-organization, sales and public speaking with a law degree. That was the moment that I recognized all the signs pointing to an obvious career choice and why I am writing you today as an applicant for your law school.
While Congressional campaigning was among the most fulfilling experiences of my life, it seems more practical that I utilize the other skills I have nurtured and help shape the legal atmosphere that surrounds our rapidly expanding internet technologies. Online intellectual property issues are expanding in need for definition litigation, like how recent developments in the MegaUpload cases might affect virtually every interactive website on the internet. Privacy vs. security questions raised by the revelations of the NSA consultant Edward Snowden and the questionable subpoenas against the Associated Press are changing the way we think about the limits placed on the government as it tries to protect our nation. Digital currencies like BitCoin and the repercussions they may have on our financial and criminal justice systems will continue manifesting in the courtroom. And the recent digital privacy law for minors passed here in California opens many questions for how a state-wide initiative can be enforced across the entire internet. I hope to contribute my unique skill-set to the resolution of these (and many more) issues throughout my law school career and after.
Looking to the future, the internet has the potential to solve many of the problems that have plagued our society for generations. But it seems that often those defining the law around technology often have so little experience with it; I am hoping to improve this trend by injecting my technological experience into the political and legal worlds as best I can. With your school's accepting me for admission, I aim to bring my experiences and skill-set to help continue our society's tradition of a fair and practical legal atmosphere as it proceeds through the digital age.
