First off, let me just say I'm not a URM and my life has not been tragic. I assume these two things do not work to my benefit in the world of admissions, haha.
The first would be based around my parents' divorce. I'm hesitant to write about this because it was so long ago. However, the toll it took on my life was pretty substantial and I still have siblings under 18, so the battles continue. I tended to be the focal point in these court battles - my dad would make outrageous allegations, puppeteered by my amazing "step-mom". My mom would defend me in court, but then come home and unleash her wrath upon me, telling me I was crazy and my dad was right. I was really close to my dad until he left. He moved from our house into "step-mom's", and she didn't like me because she couldn't brainwash me, so my relationship with my dad ended pretty abruptly. My dad didn't make any attempts to talk to me; he just made up crazy things about me in court. Then, I got sick (heart issue) and that just gave him way more ammo. My straight A's and perfect attendance went out the window. He alleged my heart issue was really a mental issue and my mom just had Munchausen by proxy syndrome. My mom has ZERO coping skills, so she would scream horrible things at me on a daily basis, blame me for the court battles (and all the money she had to spend defending me), and for the heart issue. She still loves to remind me how awful my teenage years were for her. Because they were obviously so pleasant for me... Also, it gets more awesome when you learn I was born with heart issues and have had multiple heart surgeries. Certainly that's my fault, right?
The way I would relate this to law: I substitute teach high school (I know, glorified babysitting), but last school-year, I long-termed subbed for 4 months. The kids in my classes were mostly sophomores, but they showed up on my roll sheets as freshmen... because they had failed classes. More of them were smart than not and that made me sad because it reminded me of myself, in a way. A majority of them just wanted someone to give a shit. I thought I could talk about that experience and how I bonded with them because they felt like I could relate to them. My siblings and I were appointed a lawyer for minor's counsel - she was awful, but I was thinking about saying that's what I want to do. Like that I know from my own experience that kids get caught in the crossfire in divorces and a lot of the time they just need someone who will actually listen to them and go to bat for them. I'd rather be a family court judge so I could tell parents (and lawyers who fuel the fire) to get their crap together and realize the detriment they're causing their children... but I don't want to make it sound like I think you can just become a judge if you feel like it.
The second topic I was thinking about involves my sister having heart surgery. It was a "routine procedure" and the surgeon messed up. Messed up as in he accidentally cut a major artery. She was without oxygen for more than 5 minutes and was then in a coma for a few weeks. She has scars all over her body, they messed up the arteries in her legs (so she has no sensation in her thighs), she has some memory issues, and now her heart is worse. However, for technically being dead for 5+ minutes, she's doing pretty well. You would think you could sue for this... but oh no, med malpractice caps are currently at 250k in CA, so no lawyer would take the case. This is because malpractice insurance will just defend the doctor until you spend 250k in legal fees. I was initially thinking I could say I wanted to go into law that deals with helping people in these situations and that I wanted to advocate for changing the caps. But lo and behold, guess what prop 46 is on the November ballot? It advocates for changing the caps to 1.1 million, because the 250k limit was imposed in 1975 and there has been no adjustment for inflation.
So, assuming it passes, that kind of kills my point. I could still say I wanted to help people because of what happened though. The other problems with this topic:
1. It isn't about me... except, obviously from an emotional standpoint. The surgery was also out of town, so I became responsible for taking care of my other sister for a month. And also, now it's like my entire family is being persecuted by the hospital because of what happened. My surgeries were all at this hospital and I've gone there since birth. So, it's unfortunate. However, I don't know how you could help other people with this issue.
2. I don't want to send the message that I'm out to get doctors. I definitely don't think they should be persecuted. I don't even think the surgeon in my sister's case deserves that. He's a top surgeon at a top hospital. It's not like it's easy to get to that position. I actually feel bad for him and think someone beneath him dropped the ball.
Anyone have any input on these topics?
Thanks!
