Personal Statement - Part One: Getting the Ideas Out

If you're like me, writing the personal statement can seem like quite a daunting task. Right now mine is in its infancy - aka the brainstorming phase. I thought sharing some tips I might be helpful to others. These are suggestions to get the ideas flowing. They might not work for everyone, but hey, some were really helpful for me.

BRAINSTORMING TIPS FOR PERSONAL STATEMENT TOPICS
1. Chronological Order. Try going through life from childhood. Think back starting from the time you were in gradeschool and write down any memories/experiences that had an impact on your life. Include not only the event, but how it affected you and what feelings you associate with it. Do not leave anything out! You'll have a timeline of your life and hopefully remember some old, forgotten memories.
2. Review Your Resume. Not only should you review your resume, but you should also make sure it is current (more blogging on this later)! From looking at your resume, make a list of the skills and accomplishments you have had in the past five years. Add to it with additional information about yourself if it is not listed on your resume. Remember: Accomplishments do not just include an academic honor or award - they also include overcoming obstacles in your life. The same goes for skills - do not think just in terms of "proficient in Microsoft Word" - leadership is a skill, too, you know!
3. Personal Characteristics. What can you bring to the table here? And futhermore, how can you prove that you have such characteristics? If you say you stand up for what you believe in, have you done so through an organization or group recently? Just like in college research papers, you have got to back up your facts.
4. Goals and Why. Think about you career goals and write them down. When did you first become interested in law school? Why? Note qualities and facts about yourself that make you a good candidate for law school. As someone once said to me, why law school, why you, and why now?
5. Highlight, highlight, highlight. Go back through these lists or notes that you have made and highlight words, phrases, and ideas that you would like to expand on. This will help you come up with potential topics. By now you should have some solid ideas to expand on.

This is just Part One of my "Personal Statement" series, but I am hoping that it will get some ideas out for those who have trouble with what topic to write about. If you would like to check out some actual personal statements, the TLS forums has a good thread here. There are also a few good books on personal statements, I found Richard Stelzer's How to Write a Winning Personal Statement to be pretty helpful and a good general guide.

Happy Writing,
A