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Sample Essay

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Rather than simply recounting academic and work experience, this applicant selected certain key experiences and evaluated them in terms of his personal development, world view, and future plans. By corroborating his vision and ideals with these particular experiences, the applicant avoids appearing naive or overly sentimental about his dedication to a cause.

I have always been motivated toward achievement: my high school classmates voted me "Most likely to have a publishable resume." When I identify an emerging interest, my natural reaction is to pursue it actively. This instinctive drive has fueled my personal development. It has also led me to many inspiring destinations: the courtrooms of Los Angeles County; the University classrooms of Grenada; the underdeveloped economies of the Third World; and ultimately, the multilingual halls of the United Nations.

I spent my first college summer as a trained representative of the L.A. District Attorney's Victim-Witness Advocate Program, working to see that the rights of victims were as zealously protected as the rights of the accused. I enjoyed providing assistance to these under-represented citizens; however, my inability to assist adequately the numerous Spanish-speaking victims underscored the desirability, if not necessity, of being bilingual in today's world. Determined to transform my college-level Spanish into a proficient second language, I took a leave from my college and enrolled at the University of Grenada. By integrating myself into the local student community, I became immersed in the Spanish language and lifestyle. This experience sparked my fascination with other cultures. When a Moroccan classmate invited me to visit his North African homeland, I enthusiastically accepted. Our travels through this impoverished nation left me with many disturbing images: an eight-member family fixing the leaks in their canvas-covered hut; desperate children tugging on tourists' pants legs while pleading for pennies; a malnourished infant being carried off to his grave. It was a sobering introduction to the problems of the third world.

When I returned to college in the United States, I decided to combine my newly-piqued interest in underdeveloped economies with my intensified interest in the Spanish language. I entered the Honors Program in Latin American Studies, its interdisciplinary coursework complementing my political science major. Book learning, however, was not enough. I spent the following quarter at my college's Overseas Center in Santiago, Chile, examining issues of Latin American development in seminars with the field's leading scholars. I also supplemented my academic understanding of Latin America with a more grassroots approach: backpacking extensively through the Andean region. Purposely straying from the tourist trodden paths, I trekked through the Peruvian jungles and into the Ecuadorian countryside, from capital cities to indigenous villages. I no longer had to conceptualize abstractly a situation in which ninety percent of a nation's wealth is concentrated in the hands of ten percent of its people. I had been directly exposed to the realities of Latin America.

Further investigation of these social inequities included my conducting honors research at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, headquartered in Santiago, Chile. While working at the United Nations, I came to appreciate the importance of mutual respect within the context of multinational interaction; a country's dignity must not be overlooked. Keeping this in mind, I believe we must approach Latin American issues with a better understanding of Latin American perspectives. I hope to use my legal education in conjunction with my interest in Third World development to enhance Latin America's position in the world economic structure. Whether my future includes negotiating international trade agreements, challenging immigration legislation, or providing legal assistance to the Hispanic Community, I look forward to being an advocate for "el pueblo"-the people.

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