RaggedyAndroid

I attemped to write my personal statement the other day. I just spewed it without preparation and forethought. Unfortunately, it is conversational and unprofessional and unusable. So I figured I’d better post it, otherwise it would be a waste…

>> I never doubted that I would go to graduate school, and for the eight years since receiving my bachelor’s degree, I still did not doubt it. At first, I thought it was just a matter of time. Once I had completed my undergraduate studies in Mass Communications, I had to work to support my fiance through school. After that, my migratory pattern was based upon employment. In my time between undergrad and now, I worked almost exclusively in graphic production, both print and web, with a short period as director of a local cable access station. My academic successes early on seemed dulled by the proverbial ‘grind.’ I sadly admit that rent took precedence over intellectual pursuits, and this persistent cycle was difficult to break.

Upon my resolution to wake up and take action, I applied to Marquette as a non-degree seeking student and enrolled in an all-consuming history crash course. I am currently taking classes that I feel are obligatory to my preparedness for the history graduate program. I find that, with age, the mind, like the body, is less limber. I am steadily relearning much of what I took for granted while attending school for sixteen consecutive years. But I have also found that I am now willing to work much harder, partly because I must in order to gain momentum, but also because I have learned to appreciate my goals of continuing my academic experience into professorship. In high school and as an undergrad, a naiveté sets in that convinces you that you can coast by on talent indefinitely. But a stint in the workforce provides a swift boot to the keester, revealing that hard work and direction are required for true achievement. << ...Ok. That said, I must try again. But the ticker is running down. I doubt I'll even get a response in time for the Spring 2006 semester. But I really need the acceptance just so I can apply for FAFSA loans; as non-degree, you cannot get government loans. How do I say that I was a big smarty pants in the past, but then made stupid decisions and now am a dummy pants that will never live up to my standardardized test scores of yore? I am also unsure how to include the time I was working to support someone else, because I am no longer involved with that person, but I was set back so far because of it. But who wants to say, "I was a self-sacrificing girl with a charity-complex that spent too much time helping and supporting the wrong sort of people, and wasting years of my life doing it, until I barely recognized myself as anything but a springboard for the advancement of the selfishly 'troubled'." Anyway, I am going to try to revamp the statement. My friends suggested that I submit a video as my personal statement, but I don't really see how that would go over as well applying for history as it would for mass comm. They said I could just record myself reading what I wrote since it's "conversational", but maybe I should make a Flash movie of a kitty or Queen Elizabeth or something reading it. Or I could turn it into a catchy song that everyone with email to their co-workers and buddies, and I'll become anonymously famous over the internet. "Fa la la- a non-degree seeking student and enrolled- Fa la." In truth, I would probably have to make it a madrigal, because that's just how I am. Uh, why am I suddenly liking this idea?

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 30th, 2005 at 11:58 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.