Topic A/Statement of Purpose Writing Prompt
Statement of Purpose Essay
The end of my senior year in high school came too soon and unfortunately, I was left behind. Having narrowly failed to complete the subject matter, I was one credit short of graduating and with no idea what I wanted to do in life, I chose to drop out. While I had always had a mild interest in law and politics, I had never really thought much of it until October 26th, 2011 when Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) introduced the abomination commonly known as the Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA. The public outrage surrounding the proposed legislation inspired me to look more into the matter and as a result, develop a deeper interest in the subject of American Politics and policy. Ultimately I discovered something far more intriguing, a decentralized political movement that called itself Anonymous. This "hacktivist" collective had declared itself "The final boss of the internet" and using tactics such as distributed denial of service attacks and website defacement, Anonymous launched what it believed to be an all-out digital offensive against the supporters of the bill. Intrigued the collective, I chose to become involved and the longer I spent in their chat rooms the more my interest in politics expanded. For a short while, we were legion. However, the fact that all actions have some form of consequence is a lesson that I ended up learning far, far too well.
On September 26th, 2012 the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided my parents' home and arrested me on accusations of conspiring to commit computer fraud. In response Verizon Communications' lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission, I had created a YouTube video threatening to take out the Telecommunications giant's LTE network, a feat which short of Department of Defense resources, is logistically impossible. Though I did plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor and was sentenced to one year probation, the experience itself is probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I personally believe that it was what I needed to get my life back on track. I went to my local community college and took a dual credit class to graduate high school and continued attending that community college. While there I developed a love for music and learned to play guitar, taking lessons for credit at the college. I had the privilege of becoming acquainted with an attorney whom is passionate about cyber law and digital policy. She, I, and another political activist from Central Texas, are now in the process of forming a non-profit digital policy research organization. Finally, at the end of the Summer of 2014, dissatisfied with my lack of progress, I transferred to Texas Woman's University.
In my time at Texas Woman's University, what was once an interest in politics has become a passion beyond compare. My drive for the pursuit of knowledge, though perhaps a bit obsessive, has become an essential part of who I am. My dream of graduate school or law school finally feels achievable. Unfortunately, as much admiration and respect as I have for my professors, I feel that I am underserved here. Texas Woman's Universities' Department of History and Government is incredibly small, which is perhaps appropriate for a school with only 15,000 students. Unfortunately this means the University also lacks the resources of a larger school like University of Texas at Austin. This distinct difference is easily observed in the University of Texas at Austin's Department of Government, which is substantially larger than that of Texas Woman's University. It is simply undeniable that the University of Texas at Austin's library provides substantially better resources than that of Texas Woman's University, especially considering it is the tenth largest public library in the country. Additionally, the University of Texas at Austin is in an ideal place for a person majoring in government. Located near the heart of Austin's, it is no more than a 20 minute walk from the University's campus to the state capitol building, the center of politics in Texas. While there are numerous reasons that one may have for transferring to the University of Texas at Austin, some of which are of course better than others, my reasons and goals are clear and concise. I apply to further the pursuit of knowledge in the aim of fulfilling my dream of graduate school and I feel that the University of Texas at Austin is the best way for me to achieve that goal.
Statement of Purpose Essay
The end of my senior year in high school came too soon and unfortunately, I was left behind. Having narrowly failed to complete the subject matter, I was one credit short of graduating and with no idea what I wanted to do in life, I chose to drop out. While I had always had a mild interest in law and politics, I had never really thought much of it until October 26th, 2011 when Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) introduced the abomination commonly known as the Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA. The public outrage surrounding the proposed legislation inspired me to look more into the matter and as a result, develop a deeper interest in the subject of American Politics and policy. Ultimately I discovered something far more intriguing, a decentralized political movement that called itself Anonymous. This "hacktivist" collective had declared itself "The final boss of the internet" and using tactics such as distributed denial of service attacks and website defacement, Anonymous launched what it believed to be an all-out digital offensive against the supporters of the bill. Intrigued the collective, I chose to become involved and the longer I spent in their chat rooms the more my interest in politics expanded. For a short while, we were legion. However, the fact that all actions have some form of consequence is a lesson that I ended up learning far, far too well.
On September 26th, 2012 the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided my parents' home and arrested me on accusations of conspiring to commit computer fraud. In response Verizon Communications' lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission, I had created a YouTube video threatening to take out the Telecommunications giant's LTE network, a feat which short of Department of Defense resources, is logistically impossible. Though I did plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor and was sentenced to one year probation, the experience itself is probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I personally believe that it was what I needed to get my life back on track. I went to my local community college and took a dual credit class to graduate high school and continued attending that community college. While there I developed a love for music and learned to play guitar, taking lessons for credit at the college. I had the privilege of becoming acquainted with an attorney whom is passionate about cyber law and digital policy. She, I, and another political activist from Central Texas, are now in the process of forming a non-profit digital policy research organization. Finally, at the end of the Summer of 2014, dissatisfied with my lack of progress, I transferred to Texas Woman's University.
In my time at Texas Woman's University, what was once an interest in politics has become a passion beyond compare. My drive for the pursuit of knowledge, though perhaps a bit obsessive, has become an essential part of who I am. My dream of graduate school or law school finally feels achievable. Unfortunately, as much admiration and respect as I have for my professors, I feel that I am underserved here. Texas Woman's Universities' Department of History and Government is incredibly small, which is perhaps appropriate for a school with only 15,000 students. Unfortunately this means the University also lacks the resources of a larger school like University of Texas at Austin. This distinct difference is easily observed in the University of Texas at Austin's Department of Government, which is substantially larger than that of Texas Woman's University. It is simply undeniable that the University of Texas at Austin's library provides substantially better resources than that of Texas Woman's University, especially considering it is the tenth largest public library in the country. Additionally, the University of Texas at Austin is in an ideal place for a person majoring in government. Located near the heart of Austin's, it is no more than a 20 minute walk from the University's campus to the state capitol building, the center of politics in Texas. While there are numerous reasons that one may have for transferring to the University of Texas at Austin, some of which are of course better than others, my reasons and goals are clear and concise. I apply to further the pursuit of knowledge in the aim of fulfilling my dream of graduate school and I feel that the University of Texas at Austin is the best way for me to achieve that goal.
