Powerlifting meet and my personal statement Forum

(Personal Statement Examples, Advice, Critique, . . . )
Post Reply
MOKE4311

New
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 11:01 am

Powerlifting meet and my personal statement

Post by MOKE4311 » Wed Sep 09, 2015 9:27 am

Hey folks,

I am an amateur powerlifter and I think this could be an interesting and unique aspect of my personal statement. It is a LARGELY misunderstood sport and requires a high degree of planning, analytical thinking, preparation, dedication, and work ethic. I want to juxtapose the traditional view of strength athletes vs. the traditional view of the academic and show how not only is this unfounded but the 2 have plenty in common and the mode of thinking and planning for a powerlifting meet translates extremely well to academic performance.

Of course the logical argument here is that this may come across as "tool-ish" or completely obtuse. I was wondering if anyone had any advice or experience on incorporating sports-related performance into a personal statement. I have included a possible opening paragraph below:

You step onto the platform and there are only distractions. The audience, the judges, the music and the other competitors are all pulling focus away from the task at hand. With so much going on around you it is simple to lose the reason that you walked out on that platform in the first place. There’s a simple task at hand: move the weight, but all there is around you is noise. Tune out and zero in. The bar becomes clear in the center of vision and you realize the crowd and the judges and the others are fading into white noise. You grip the bar and enter your routine. After training so long the order of things is mechanical and comforting. The noise fades further until all that’s left is one crystalline moment of clear purpose.

I trained for 12 months leading up to this meet with no coach and no training partner, all the motivation to keep moving was internal. A close mentor told me that "Attorney's are do-ers. We get things done. We accomplish things. We take aim at an end result and we don't stop until we get there." I think this parallels my training very well. I plan to focus on this for half of the essay before launching into how I have progressed as a leader in my career (2 years at a Big 4 Accounting firm with exemplary ratings and a year of consulting before that). I would really really appreciate some feedback on content and advice on how to structure the statement. Thanks in advance everyone!

Scalvert

Silver
Posts: 634
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2015 10:40 pm

Re: Powerlifting meet and my personal statement

Post by Scalvert » Wed Sep 09, 2015 12:12 pm

I think it sounds like you have this mapped out well already: An interesting intro, a parallel between your training and studying/practicing law, an example of how you are already exhibiting these skills in daily life at your current job. Works for me. :)

debdeb2

New
Posts: 66
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 2:21 pm

Re: Powerlifting meet and my personal statement

Post by debdeb2 » Wed Sep 09, 2015 1:51 pm

It is a topic with potential.


User avatar
nlee10

Gold
Posts: 3015
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:00 pm

Re: Powerlifting meet and my personal statement

Post by nlee10 » Wed Sep 09, 2015 8:35 pm

.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


Post Reply

Return to “Law School Personal Statements”