Personal Statement Example #2
Home for me is the small, picturesque city of Victoria, British Columbia. Growing up, my relative liberty and
affluence were largely unapparent to me. My concepts of inequality and injustice informed by trivial
unfairness such as when my twin sister received the larger slice of cake. Despite my comfortable upbringing, I
possessed, from very early on, a strong curiosity and eagerness to understand the people and the world
around me. This happened at first through language, later through travel, and today in my current work as a
youth education advocate for refugees.
From childhood I evolved from an exclusive twin talker, to an English-speaking chatterbox, to a fluent French
speaker and dabbler in Spanish, Latin, and Bulgarian. As an undergraduate majoring in French and Linguistics,
I was thrilled to explore the bilingual nature of my Canadian identity and to be able to engage with an
increasing number of people globally. Throughout my studies, I worked with international ESL students,
further nourishing my cultural and linguistic curiosities, as well as the nascent teacher in me, who was to
mature further as I took on roles as a private French tutor and university tutorial instructor. Additional time
spent volunteering at a local immigrant and refugee centre allowed me to better comprehend the depths of
diversity and adversity, justice and injustice, in my own community and the world. These experiences,
compounded by my natural curiosity, inspired me to undertake more global pursuits upon graduating, first as
an international humanitarian volunteer in Senegal, and then as an NGO staffer in Mexico, Ghana, and Fiji in
the years to follow.
My post-graduate travels and professional work not only helped consolidate my undergraduate experiences,
but also led to great personal and professional growth as a teacher, student, advocate, collaborator, manager,
and leader. These experiences on the ground served as an invaluable contribution to my evolving
understanding of equality, justice and their counterparts and both fuelled and fed my innate curiosity in ways
not possible in a classroom. Whether listening to the stories of hardship of urban families in Guadalajara,
establishing unique educational programming in rural Fiji, or monitoring teams documenting human rights
abuses in Ghana, I was reminded again and again that justice is not a given, and that strong advocates are
needed to help give voice and strength to those who are so often silenced or ignored.
Importantly, these years abroad served as my initial exposure to international human rights in context and
eventually inspired my pursuit of a Masters degree. Balancing the demanding schedule of graduate school and
part time work, conducting in-depth education and policy research, participating in rigorous debate, and
interacting with strong and diverse ideological and political viewpoints were all challenging but enriching
experiences. These challenges colluded over a short 16-month period to strengthen my own values and
beliefs, ultimately solidifying my decision to pursue a legal education and career.
My experiences since graduate school as a human rights worker, leadership and problem solving instructor for
young women, and education advocate for refugee families have further reinforced my beliefs in the
importance of human rights and education, the potential of the law to protect and strengthen these
institutions, and my desire to act as an empathetic, socially conscious advocate in these contexts through a
legal career.
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