Exploiting trauma for PS bonus points

Tatyana L.

I have a dilemma. I first wrote a first draft of a PS that I thought was good. It was focused on a conversation I had with my daughter (yeah I know, I'm old) and it was light and silly and only obliquely mentioned why I wanted to be lawyer but focused more on wanting to do well in school to be a good role model for my child.
Today though, after not being able to get a thought out of my head I wrote a different version of my PS that focused specifically on why I wanted to be lawyer. That had to do more with the trauma I experienced as a child. Not quite "walking over corpses to escape war-torn country" but definitely stuff that still brings me to tears when I think about it. I don't necessarily think that's appropriate to use to gain admission to law school. If feels like exploitation. On one hand I feel like after spending a life time trying to to not let past events define my identity, I turn around and use it at the first convenient moment. On the other hand, what if the essay before mine is from someone who escaped a war-torn country over corpses, I'm sure I'll sound positively like a crybaby then.
What do you think? Is it just me? Does anyone with the more serious obstacles (sickness, death of a relative, assault, abject poverty, etc.) in your life been hesitant to use it as PS fodder?

OneFortyDotSix

I'm no expert - but it seems if it was an experience that shaped you in a significant way, and specifically in a way that relates to your legal aspirations, then it is relevant and there's nothing wrong with sharing the significance of that event.

Maybe it's the way you're framing its use internally. A hypothetical scenario, but if someone was the victim of a near fatal shooting, let's say, and then wished to lobby for more effective gun laws as a result, I wouldn't see saying so as exploiting that tragedy, but rather as expressing the significance of an event that shaped their aspirations in a way that is relevant to law.

Padawan

Ditto. If it shapes you in some way, and since you seem to feel strongly about it, you shouldn't feel bad about "exploiting" it for P.S. I plan on writing about a very vulnerable subject myself and had similar concerns of my own. I have PTSD from sexual harassment, and to me, it means a lot for me to be able to tell my story that adds what I believe in my heart and soul how this will make me such an even more awesome future lawyer. Check out the webinar on PS. The topic doesn't matter to them. It's how sincere a story you can tell. Ann Levine has a book published on PS and it has some of the most heartbreaking, personal, vulnerable, sob stories ever written.

Chipster Study

I would think about using it. I wouldn't puff it at all, but I also would not shrink it either. Just be honest about it, but if it is informing your decision, I say use it.

JPJ July2021

If you can work with 7sage admissions consulting, I think it would be a great help. They'll help you determine everything and how to best incorporate your experiences into a coherent narrative that is relevant to law school.

Peaceofmind

Just be yourself. What inspired me to be a lawyer was actually a domestic violence incidence which involves very minor physical pain, nothing compares to the war/corpse. The effect was mostly psychological. But it shouldn’t be a competition for who got through worse. The point is to be sincere and genuine about what motivates you. Just my two cents.

AudaciousRed

Someone else will always have a worse horror story, or a more compelling story, or a more interesting story than you have. You could be a Pulitzer prize winner, and someone else will have a Nobel Peace prize. The one lesson in life that we need to keep in mind is that there are always bigger fish. It's not about them. It's about you.
Did this event shape your life? Did it give you a good life lesson that you carried on? Does it motivate and drive you? Then this may be a great PS.
So, you've overcome your past. You had to live it and learn from it to overcome it. It's behind you, but that will always be part of your story. Telling your story isn't going backwards and becoming what you were. It tells us how you got to now. That one moment that changed everything, what you learned and what you did about it.

mew41195

I'm biased because I'm using something similar, and I think a lot of people above hit the nail on the head -- if it is relevant and/or correlated to why you want to go to law school, use it. I don't think it needs to be overly graphic (I read one person's that was half a page about a traumatic car accident -- gore and all) but there are ways to tell the story without saying woe is me. I use slightly more abstract language in mine versus explicitly stating what I'm referencing. I am happy to be a second set of eyes on it, if that would be helpful!

cdaddario2

Hey Tatyana The reason why you want to attend law school is very important. It should stand out in your PS distinctly. Speaking about obstacles you overcame and personal crisis are slippery. You are not being judged by the tragedies in your life, your writing skills and critical thinking skills are being assessed. That is not to say the challenges you have faced are not germane to the conversation, just remember the strength of your PS is in your writing and experiences, how you processed information and how you have grown, changed, learned from your time on earth.