***Trigger warning: SA***

Hi everyone!!!

Unfortunately... I do need to write an addendum explaining my GPA in undergrad. I don’t want to go too deep into my mental health issues because I know there’s still stigma, even though schools can’t discriminate.

My personal statement is going focus on my experience with Title IX after experiencing sexual assualt at university, followed by my legal compliance internship within an education/school Title IX department. I want to highlight how I faced my trauma head-on and used it as inspiration to pursue law school. Obviously, my traumatic experience and the failures of my university’s Title IX office almost destroyed me, and it significantly impacted my grades for a long period of my college career.

I was sexually assaulted in the “red zone” (the period from the beginning of the fall semester—typically the first year—until Thanksgiving break), so I was struggling from the start. By my senior year, I worked with psychiatrists, counselors, advisors, and others to better myself, ultimately earning my highest GPA in all four years while taking seven classes, being an RA and working 20 hours a week.

So, the question is: Is a personal statement about my sexual assault (SAd), internship, and pursuit of law school, combined with an addendum on mental health and overcoming a traumatic event, okay?

Thanks, y’all!

Unfortunately, I had an awful undergraduate experience due to mental health issues. At the time, I was going to college without any medication. Now, I’ve tried 14 different medications and this doesn’t even include dose adjustments. I’ve been diagnosed with several disorders, yet I’ve worked continuously for six years. During that time, I was sometimes juggling three jobs at once. I just graduated, and I’m still working while studying. It feels like law school and internships are impossible under these circumstances.