Personal Statement

In my family, we have celebrated more baby showers than we have high school graduation parties. At last count, my immediate family was comprised of three siblings, sixteen aunts and uncles, and fifty-eight first cousins. I am a the first generation United States citizen, and the second in my immediate family born in the United States. and even though eEducation wasn’t highly emphasized in my family, I am first in my family to receive a Bachelor’s degree. Education . It was not something my parents had an opportunity to pursue, so it did not cross their radar.. I was the first in my family to receive a Bachelor’s degree. My fatherMy father only completed his education with the sixth eighth grade, before he left school for full time employment as a butcher’s assistant. After settling in the US, my father had trouble making ends meet. At the , even at a young age of sixteen, he had very adult obligations -;, first both to my mother,, who he met and married at sixteen, and soon after their marriage, me. and myselfme, who soon followed my parent’s the marriage.

Although I was raised to appreciate hard work, it took me many years to appreciate the value of a higher education. My parents came to support me in my pursuit of a college degree, but much of my drive was fostered by people I encountered in the decade after I finished high school. These intervening years shaped my life and ambitions, and have given me the confidence and hunger to pursue a law degree – something I wasn’t ready for ten years ago. I have endured many life lessons over that short time. Since graduating high school, I have been married and divorced, mourned the deaths of my only two children, had heart surgery, owned my own and operated amy own small business, and became the founding member of two civic service clubs. These life experiences, in concert with hard work, forged within me a confidence and strength, of which I did not possess as an adolescent. I made my initial foray