Even if this won’t be your final topic, it might be helpful to play around with some ideas.
In fact, you might be surprised by what you discover when you do some brainstorming on this topic.
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Let me share some tips to help you get started:
1. Think about the word “inspire.”
Oftentimes, students who choose this topic lose focus and begin to think only about a person. But remember: inspiration is an action. Whether you’re writing about your mom or a public figure, focus on the way that person has impacted your actions or beliefs. Cite specific examples to back up your claims.
2. Choose someone who means something to you.
Just because someone has won a Nobel Peace Prize doesn’t mean they’ve made the greatest impact on your life. It doesn’t matter if the name of your “someone” will be recognizable by admission officers. As long as you can illustrate how that person has truly changed your life in relation to your goals for the future, that’s all that matters.
3. Remember, this is about you.
Here comes the tricky part. While you may want to write about someone who’s inspired you, the overall law school personal statement should still remain focused on you. It’s easy to get caught up in all of the wonderful things you’d like to say about this person, but you’re the person applying to law school. Admission officers want to read about you.
Jasmine, the student whose law school personal statement I featured in my most recent article, handled this masterfully. She dedicates only one paragraph to the designers who have influenced her, saying:
“The Chinese fashion designer Anna Sui has inspired me a great deal. Her style provides me with a sense of direction that modern Chinese fashion can take. Her mysterious and exotic collections make use of Asian styles in a rich and luxurious manner.”
Then, in the next paragraph, she returns the focus to herself, saying:
“As an attorney focused on fashion, I will go to China in order to seek out and develop native Chinese design and fashion talent… With my background in business management and a year of study in design, combined with a degree in fashion merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Technology, I will be uniquely positioned to assist China in its development as a center of global fashion.
Do you see how Jasmine wrote about how the actions of the designer inspired her, instead of just the person herself? Then, she redirected the law school personal statement to bring readers’ attention back to her own goals and future plans.
So, if you skipped this topic because you can’t imagine writing an entire personal statement about someone else, it’s time to revisit it! It would actually be a bad idea to focus your whole essay on another person. However, writing about the impact someone has made on you is an excellent way to showcase your love for learning and inspiration – which is precisely what admission officers what to see.
In my next article, I’ll share a potentially surprising law school personal statement topic that can work very well – if you do it the right way.
Stay tuned,
Steve
P.S. If you don’t love the idea of writing about someone else, no problem! (It’s not for everybody.) Check out my articles on law school admissions to help you get some ideas flowing. And if you have trouble coming up with ideas for your law school application essays, just reach out and I’ll do what I can to help.
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