Sample Personal Statement for Consideration of Law School Admission

My decision to acquire a Juris Doctor, albeit a decision made later in life, was one I came to quite easily. Although I’ve always had an interest in law since the latter years of undergraduate school, the impetus to seek the degree was brought on by a tragic event much later, which forced me to look deep within myself and see life through a different lens. On June 2, 2011, I received a telephone call from my mother. I learned that my only sibling, a brother two years my junior, had committed suicide that afternoon. He and I were raised in a wealthy household with adequate discipline, until I was fourteen years old. In that year, as I was just entering manhood, my mother divorced my father, and this set forth a series of heartbreaking events in our lives that spanned over two decades. Most of it was due to my mother’s destructive choices, which culminated with the loss of every penny from her divorce settlement, the breakup of her second marriage, and eventually my brother’s suicide. Coming from my mother’s dysfunctional household with zero discipline, expectations, or direction since my early teens, it was a challenge to push onward and realize my place in the world. The same went for my brother. I broke free from the destructive aura in that household and set out on my own. I went on to earn a BA degree from The University of North Texas where I was on the Dean’s List. While I graduated, went on to land decent jobs, married, built a new home, and raised a child, my brother did not escape the vortex of his own eroding life. As you have read, his story ended very badly. That is the Cliffs Notes version. Chad’s suicide was a wakeup call. Although I was doing very well professionally, exceeding sales goals by over 170%, at FirstCom and others, I didn’t feel a sense of personal happiness. I wasn’t doing what I was passionate about. I was great at selling things and persuading people to buy, but I wasn’t really making a difference in anyone’s life.