Prompt: The personal statement should be a comprehensive narrative essay outlining significant aspects of your academic and personal history, particularly those that provide context for your academic achievements and educational choices. Quality of writing and depth of content both contribute toward a meaningful and relevant personal statement.
It's four am and I am boarding a flight to Amman, Jordan. Passing through customs, I immediately note the switch in culture, people, and language. I leave the airport, and with my fellow lawyers, head to meet up with clients in Zaatari. We spend months negotiating and doing all we can to help these refugees, who, without the help of our NGO, would be simply, and unfortunately, be looked passed. Or at least, that is how I imagine my life five plus years from now. My interest in justice and helping people has always been an important part of who I am. Since I was just fifteen, I knew exactly what career path I wanted to take, and what I wanted to study in my undergraduate as well as my graduate years; I wanted to major in Philosophy Pre-Law and attend law school to specialize in International Human Rights.
My love for learning has always been apart of who I am, and when it came time to graduate high school and head off to college, I was beyond ready. For years my mother and father told me all about college being the best years of a young adult's life; you get the opportunity to truly grow and develop into your own person. So, when I arrived at university, I knew I had to make the best of my time here, and do nothing but my best, and even better. My first semester at Washington State University was an exciting time. I adored my classes, the passionate professors, as well as the freedom. I excelled, doing better than my years in high school, receiving a 3.8 grade point average, making the president's list. I had never felt better, and more ardent about my education. Second semester, however, was another story. Hyped up off of my last semester's grades, I enrolled in high level courses at seventeen credits. Overwhelmed and far less motivated than the previous semester, I failed myself, receiving a 2.9 grade point average. Ending my freshman year of college, I knew I could never make the mistakes I made in my second semester. Leaving college and heading home for the summer, I realized that I need to improve my time management as well as my overall performance if I were to reach the goals I had set for myself.
Starting off my sophomore year with a refreshed understanding of my habits, both good and bad, I knew I would excell again this year, like I did that of my first semester my Freshman year. I decided to add an Art minor to my curriculum, to improve on my love for painting. I wanted to better myself as an artist and learn as much about it as I could. Being a Philosophy Pre-Law major, I get to look at the world in a new way; I see things from a point of view that I may not always agree with. Putting yourself into the point of view of other people and their minds, to me, is key. Having a Minor in Art, allows me to keep an open mind, be creative, and see things in a new light. Both my Major and my Minor encourage me to see why and how people think the way they do and analyze them.
Although I have enjoyed my educational career at Washington State University, I feel as though I am missing something. I would love to be at a university that is rich in diversity. Being at University of Washington Tacoma, not only will I be surrounded by multi-cultural communities and closer to my family, but I will be in a city that offers an education of it's own. A school in a city offers something that a college town simple cannot; a fresh, upbeat, fast paced, intellectually driven environment with diverse ways of thinking. I feel as though University of Washington will nourish my mind in a way that will help me achieve all the goals I set for myself. Being apart of the Philosophy Department at your University will not only help me to analyze, evaluate, and advocate for all things, but do so in a light that no other university could. I would love to be apart of the university that taught notable graduates such as Gordon Hirabayashi, Jeannette Rankin, and so many more.
It is hard to explain just how much of who I am was shaped by my cultural upbringing; it is everything. My parents raised me to think for myself, and ask questions. Growing up, our family dinners were what one may call "Socratic". Everyday, my parents would ask me and my two brother what we learned, what we think about it, and why. This never stopped; even going home today our household is filled with mindful discussions and inquiry. Being the child of two first generation immigrants, like many others, I learned the value of hard work and dedication. My father, moving from Jordan to America to study Mechanical Engineering in California by himself while he was just seventeen. Meanwhile, putting himself through school and supporting his family back home. And my mother, moving to America just at sixteen to escape the war in Lebanon, having to start a whole new life over, and later on studying, Psychology. My parents never made excuses for their circumstances, they just did all they could to create a better life for themselves and for me and my siblings. I hope to live the life they built for me to the fullest, and that starts with a college education, ideally, at the University of Washington in Tacoma.
It's four am and I am boarding a flight to Amman, Jordan. Passing through customs, I immediately note the switch in culture, people, and language. I leave the airport, and with my fellow lawyers, head to meet up with clients in Zaatari. We spend months negotiating and doing all we can to help these refugees, who, without the help of our NGO, would be simply, and unfortunately, be looked passed. Or at least, that is how I imagine my life five plus years from now. My interest in justice and helping people has always been an important part of who I am. Since I was just fifteen, I knew exactly what career path I wanted to take, and what I wanted to study in my undergraduate as well as my graduate years; I wanted to major in Philosophy Pre-Law and attend law school to specialize in International Human Rights.
My love for learning has always been apart of who I am, and when it came time to graduate high school and head off to college, I was beyond ready. For years my mother and father told me all about college being the best years of a young adult's life; you get the opportunity to truly grow and develop into your own person. So, when I arrived at university, I knew I had to make the best of my time here, and do nothing but my best, and even better. My first semester at Washington State University was an exciting time. I adored my classes, the passionate professors, as well as the freedom. I excelled, doing better than my years in high school, receiving a 3.8 grade point average, making the president's list. I had never felt better, and more ardent about my education. Second semester, however, was another story. Hyped up off of my last semester's grades, I enrolled in high level courses at seventeen credits. Overwhelmed and far less motivated than the previous semester, I failed myself, receiving a 2.9 grade point average. Ending my freshman year of college, I knew I could never make the mistakes I made in my second semester. Leaving college and heading home for the summer, I realized that I need to improve my time management as well as my overall performance if I were to reach the goals I had set for myself.
Starting off my sophomore year with a refreshed understanding of my habits, both good and bad, I knew I would excell again this year, like I did that of my first semester my Freshman year. I decided to add an Art minor to my curriculum, to improve on my love for painting. I wanted to better myself as an artist and learn as much about it as I could. Being a Philosophy Pre-Law major, I get to look at the world in a new way; I see things from a point of view that I may not always agree with. Putting yourself into the point of view of other people and their minds, to me, is key. Having a Minor in Art, allows me to keep an open mind, be creative, and see things in a new light. Both my Major and my Minor encourage me to see why and how people think the way they do and analyze them.
Although I have enjoyed my educational career at Washington State University, I feel as though I am missing something. I would love to be at a university that is rich in diversity. Being at University of Washington Tacoma, not only will I be surrounded by multi-cultural communities and closer to my family, but I will be in a city that offers an education of it's own. A school in a city offers something that a college town simple cannot; a fresh, upbeat, fast paced, intellectually driven environment with diverse ways of thinking. I feel as though University of Washington will nourish my mind in a way that will help me achieve all the goals I set for myself. Being apart of the Philosophy Department at your University will not only help me to analyze, evaluate, and advocate for all things, but do so in a light that no other university could. I would love to be apart of the university that taught notable graduates such as Gordon Hirabayashi, Jeannette Rankin, and so many more.
It is hard to explain just how much of who I am was shaped by my cultural upbringing; it is everything. My parents raised me to think for myself, and ask questions. Growing up, our family dinners were what one may call "Socratic". Everyday, my parents would ask me and my two brother what we learned, what we think about it, and why. This never stopped; even going home today our household is filled with mindful discussions and inquiry. Being the child of two first generation immigrants, like many others, I learned the value of hard work and dedication. My father, moving from Jordan to America to study Mechanical Engineering in California by himself while he was just seventeen. Meanwhile, putting himself through school and supporting his family back home. And my mother, moving to America just at sixteen to escape the war in Lebanon, having to start a whole new life over, and later on studying, Psychology. My parents never made excuses for their circumstances, they just did all they could to create a better life for themselves and for me and my siblings. I hope to live the life they built for me to the fullest, and that starts with a college education, ideally, at the University of Washington in Tacoma.
