How My Community Prepared Me for Law School: College Admission Essay Sample

When I was nine years old, my father proposed my first official, self-building challenge. I had fallen in love with a five-year-old pygmy goat named Jake while at the county fair in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Jake and I were even on the evening news together when his owner allowed me to parade him around for visitors to admire. At the time, I was a new member of the Bedford Clovers 4-H Club. I had gone to the fair to show off my rabbit, which was easy to keep in our suburban neighborhood. At the end of fair week, however, all I could talk about was Jake, Jake, Jake. That was when my dad posed the challenge. He said, “If you can find out where and how to get them, then we will get you some pygmy goats.”

Of course, he never thought I could actually do it. I started by using the family computer to find the National Pygmy Goat Association. There I was able to find a list of breeders, and I wrote them a letter about how much I loved the goats and wanted one of my very own. I proceeded to use my father’s fax machine to fax the letter to the breeders. One woman, Penny Clark, faxed me back. She told me about a baby goat she was looking to sell for seventy-five dollars. I presented my dad with the information I had collected, and he was struck with that familiar “I’ll be damned” expression of his. In short, he made good on his promise, and in September of 2000, we moved to the rural town of Chesterland, Ohio with four pygmy goats in tow.

I grew up in 4-H, going from the barely nine-year-old girl who joined and started a farm to an eighteen-year-old mentor of other nine-year-olds new to the organization. I served as President, Vice President, and Secretary of the three clubs of which I was a member over the years. I finished my time in 4-H with The Pygmy Connection Club in Geauga County, Ohio as the most senior member of that club. My final year, I was crowned Showman of Showmen, an honor that I earned by demonstrating my mastery of showmanship qualities with every species presented at the fair, from rabbits and ducks to dairy cattle and steer. Our community service efforts that year also earned the club the Excellence in Community Service Award from U.S. Senator George Voinovich.

Growing up around the responsibility that surrounds goats, horses, rabbits, dogs, and the like taught me to be a leader. I was led by wonderful role models when I was young, and I had the presence of mind to make sure that I grew up to be one. Today, I mentor Chanbrail, an eight-year-old girl living in poverty in Raleigh, North Carolina. Every week, she and I go on outings to talk about school, home life, and the things she wants to be when she grows up. It is so very rewarding to hear her ambitions develop. As I see more and more of this diverse world, my own ambitions continue to develop as well.

I will be bringing with me to law school the same drive that spurred on the nine-year-old girl who had her heart set on goats. At nine, I started a farm. At eighteen, I used my savings to build a whole new life in a whole new region of the country. When I graduate at twenty-three, I foresee that my possibilities will be endless. I want to bring my respect for all walks of life to my work. I want to be a leader in my field. I feel that I have the innate ability to communicate effectively, and I am committed to working for positive results. In a very heartfelt way, I have Jake to thank for that.