Telling Your Story: About Whom is this Article? You!
A personal statement is really no more than telling a story—one that illuminates the “you” a law school would be lucky to have in its student body. In this series, “Telling Your Story,” a jdMission Senior Consultant will discuss how elements of storytelling can—and should—be applied to your personal statement.
A few years ago, I was at a wedding, and someone stood up to give a toast. If you have been to many weddings, you know that toasts can get pretty bad—awkward, drunken, sometimes mean. This toast was not bad in that sense, but it was not as good as it could have been had the person not been so determined to use perfect grammar.
I do not remember how it began, exactly, but it was something like this. Instead of just saying, “Growing up, there was always one thing that would make Jessica and me laugh,” she said something like, “When we were growing up, there was one thing about which Jessica and I would laugh.”
How are these different? They actually are not, by much, except that the first sentence is the way people talk, and the second is the way people write when they are thinking too hard about not ending a sentence with a preposition—in this case, the word “about.”
Personal statements, like toasts, sound best when they are delivered in the speaker’s natural voice. Sure, you want to properly observe the rules of grammar when you are applying to law school, but you can worry about them later, during revisions. In writing your initial draft, forget about preposition paranoia or when to use “whom,” and just write your story. One, getting caught up in whether your third grade teacher would hand your essay back to you with red marks will stifle your creativity. Two, often the “real” way you would speak or write the story to a friend sounds much better.
Writing this way is certainly more fun, and that makes for an essay that is likely more fun to read as well. ?
jdMission is a leading law school admissions consulting firm with a team of dedicated consultants who have not only been through the law school application process themselves, but also possess elite communications skills and can help you navigate this crucial—and often perplexing—process. Your consultant will serve as your coach and partner every step of the way, advising you on school selection, helping you brainstorm personal statement topics, editing your essays and resume, helping you manage your recommenders, advising on any addenda, and more!