Sample
Law School Admissions Essays (Courtesy of EssayEdge )
Law
School Essay Two
I began
hallucinating early Thursday morning. My team and I were halfway
finished with what our instructors dubbed “The Long Paddle,”
and I could feel my sanity slowly slipping away. A combination
of severe sleep deprivation and extreme physical exercise
can do that to you. I had not had more than three hours of
sleep since “Hellweek” had begun on Sunday afternoon. As I
looked around me, I contemplated the extent of my delirium.
I was reasonably certain that the Statue of Liberty does not
belong in San Diego, and I doubted that the tigers I could
see racing along the river shore were real. My ears picked
up the sound of our boat’s leader having a heated argument
with Jenkins, but Jenkins had quit the team two weeks ago.
Looking
around me, I felt reassured seeing the confused expressions
on my teammates’ faces. Even though I was stuck in a tiny
inflatable boat with six potential lunatics, I at least
knew that I was not the only one being affected by the exercise.
Hell week. I had been through some incarnation of it during
each year of my life, ever since peewee football. But no
previous “hell” could compare to the punishment that the
United States Navy dishes out during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL
Training (BUD/S). Hell week marks the sixth week of BUD/S,
and is a six-day celebration of misery designed to eliminate
weak candidates. Only the strong can survive it.
This
year’s week of torment was heightened by an untimely cold
spell; more than two thirds of our original class had already
quit. Running on soft sand beaches while wearing combat
boots, getting a facemask full of salt water while lugging
twin steel scuba tanks on your back, being soaking wet and
covered with sand… these are enough to make most people
question their desire to finish the program. But it was
the cold that claimed the most victims. We shivered through
the nights and well into the mornings, the chill of the
air seeping into our very bones. Visions of hot meals and
warm beds haunted us; we knew that ending the suffering
and the cold was as easy as quitting the program. And quitting
was so very east. Simply stand in front of your classmates
and ring a silver ship’s bell three times… the temptation
was nearly irresistible. But I had set a goal for myself
and I knew, even in the midst of that Thursday morning delirium,
that giving up was not an option.
The
BUD/S program had already made a marked difference in my
life. When I first decided to become a frogman, I was not
a gifted swimmer or an accomplished distance runner, and
I had a slight fear of heights. Over the course of my training,
however, I routinely swam six miles into the open ocean
and ran upwards of fifteen miles on land, and had jumped
out of airplane more than once. Moreover, I gained a sense
of confidence in my ability to set and attain goals. I learned
that virtually any challenge can be overcome by defining
clear objectives, understanding the qualities needed to
achieve them, and then systematically overcoming weaknesses
and complementing strengths to best approach the task.
For
many months I agonized over the decision to attend law school.
At this point in my life, I seem to have all I need: a comfortable
house in the suburbs, a happy marriage, and a beautiful
daughter. My career as an accountant is pleasant, and leaves
me enough free time to pursue my hobbies. In short, I could
have simply sailed happily through life toward my eventual
retirement party. But I realized that to do so would be
to set a severe limit upon my potential. I require constant,
arduous challenges that demand all of my resources, both
physical and mental. I want to contribute more to the world
than simply capitalizing on my current company’s success.
I understand
fully the rigors associated with studying law, and I am
prepared to dedicate as much time as it takes to understand
its theories and practices. I believe that certain qualities
distinguish a superior law school graduate: dedication to
the pursuit of knowledge; the ability to effectively argue
and defend an opinion; and the skills to plan, research,
and execute a watertight case. These qualities are vital
to law, and can also reap extensive rewards in many other
areas of life. I am ready, willing, and prepared to accept
the challenges I will face during law school, and look forward
to forging a successful career, both as a student and as
an attorney.
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