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MaxineSP

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Nanchito-1-1

Can you somehow mix them? Some questions to think about if you can mix.... Does the disability have anything to do with why you decided to get certified? what obstacles did you have to overcome to achieve that condition/cert? How did you cope with the difficulties of the condition? What have you learned? I'd prob make the condition the main star of the show. Make it sound like you overcame something, don't make admissions feel sorry for you... if that makes sense.

Diversity statements generally ask what kind of diversity would you contribute to the law school community. Every school's descriptions may vary. Just look on the application so find out exactly what they're looking for. It may include something like racial, ethnic, medical condition, socio-economic status and gender or sexual identity among others.

Hope that helps.

Alejandro

The whole goal of that statement is that you show how you will bring a non-majority point of view to the classroom. If you honestly feel that you can bring that to the table, then go ahead!

MaxineSP

Thanks so much! @nanchito I actually started doing yoga due to my medical condition! The idea to mix them is great- I'm going to try to do that.

Addistotle

Thank you for posting, very helpful!

Pacifico

I am also a yoga teacher with a TBI and I did not nor would I write about either in a diversity statement.

allison.gill.sanford

@"Maxine Peskens" question for you: are you a middle class straight white woman? If so, tread carefully with the DS, unless it is required for your application. I don't know your demographics, or if you have more ties to majority culture vs. other cultural viewpoints, but if you are squarely a majority culture person who writes a diversity statement about your personal experiences that have little connection to systemic inequity, you run the risk of coming off tone deaf about the values inherent in diversity. This could hurt your application more than help it, and you can always write about overcoming personal obstacles in your personal statement.
PM me if you want to talk more, I'd be happy to learn more about where you are coming from.

runiggyrun

I would tend to agree with @allison.gill.sanford (with the caveat that I'm not an admissions officer). I think the concussion and its aftermath that lead you to yoga can be very good material for a personal statement, because it probably did have a significant impact on who you are, but it's not really a point of diversity in the way law schools look at diversity.

ethaaaan

I agree with @allison.gill.sanford and @runiggyrun . A diversity statement has a pretty specific purpose. Your experience as a yoga instructor and having a traumatic brain injury are attributes that help to make you unique from other applicants, but do not equate to diversity. This would be ideal for a personal statement, which should underscore your uniqueness as an applicant. Adding to what @allison.gill.sanford said - If you're a white woman and include this as a diversity statement, I think that many application readers would read it as detachment, not diversity; it would undoubtedly damage your overall application. Generally yoga is also not an inexpensive pursuit and achieving that certification likely required a 4-figure expense, which is why it would read particularly bad - as privilege, not overcoming obstacles.

I don't mean for any of this to come off as personally offensive, I just wanted to illustrate how it will likely be perceived.

Pacifico

I don't think you need to take that narrow of a view of diversity, as it simply has to be something that gives you a unique perspective relative to other law school students and in no way does it require that you overcame a hardship or suffered from some form of inequity. I'll caveat that by saying you need to read each prompt carefully, but every school to which I applied embraced the broader sense of diversity that I'm speaking about. Many schools had separate questions to address socioeconomic hardship, LGBTQ status, etc. so that people could address ther issues in a diversity statement if needed.

Above all else you really want to show the adcoms what your diversity will bring to the student body. While I hope to teach yoga during school and it would be awesome if my classmates or teachers came, I personally could not justify saying that it was bringing a diverse perspective in a classroom environment, not to mention the above mentioned socioeconomic factors involved in paying $2,500+ for teacher training.

As for the TBI, while it definitely has had a significant impact on my life I can't say that it has an impact on my peers in a classroom setting and it definitely didn't when I was finishing my Master's degree.

Two things I did talk about in part of my diversity statement were being a father and military spouse to illustrate my level of maturity and ability to deal with adverse circumstances that go far beyond those encountered by your average K-JD student. And for what it's worth I worked with one of the best consultants in the country and he was totally on board with all of it and I was able to craft an excellent DS. Feel free to hit me up if you have more questions.

runiggyrun

I don't think being white and middle class necessarily disqualifies you from a diversity statement, and I don't think overcoming hardship is really necessary either. @Pacifico's example is excellent - without having to be non-white or economically disadvantaged, being military/military spouse, a parent and substantially older ARE things that give you a different perspective on the world that can translate in a different classroom "voice" than what you'd get from a group of mostly white, mostly middle-upper class, mostly single, mostly American born and raised millennials. That is not to say that the perspective of those students is less valid, it's just that it's likely to be very well represented in any incoming class.
I would only attempt a diversity statement on your TBI/yoga certification if you are absolutely sure you can show how it would bring a genuinely different perspective to a classroom discussion/interaction with other students.

Nicole Hopkins

@allison.gill.sanford said:
are you a middle class straight white woman? If so, tread carefully with the DS, unless it is required for your application.

Wow, amen!

@allison.gill.sanford said:
but if you are squarely a majority culture person who writes a diversity statement about your personal experiences that have little connection to systemic inequity, you run the risk of coming off tone deaf about the values inherent in diversity.

Here's the nail. Here's a hammer. Here's how to hit it on the head.

allison.gill.sanford

This is great too, and a solid counterpoint to the one I was making:

@runiggyrun said:
@Pacifico's example is excellent - without having to be non-white or economically disadvantaged, being military/military spouse, a parent and substantially older ARE things that give you a different perspective on the world that can translate in a different classroom "voice" than what you'd get from a group of mostly white, mostly middle-upper class, mostly single, mostly American born and raised millennials.

David Busis

@"Maxine Peskens" I like the fact that you're thinking about this creatively, but I'd advise you not to submit a DS. Writing about yoga or post-concussive syndrome might make the admissions committee roll their eyes, and thus do more harm than good. Remember: the adcom doesn't want to read more essays! Far better to submit a single great PS than a PS plus a DS that's a stretch.

lenelson2

Very helpful!

MaxineSP

Wow! I am amazed that so many people took the time to answer my post! Thank you all so much! I now see that I was thinking more along the lines of a personal statement. It seems as though "diversity" is more tightly defined for admissions than I had thought. I will most likely not be writing a diversity statement, after reading your comments. Thanks again.