A person seeing the light and feeling it deep inside the heart will always find the way forward, even in the darkness, led by the light of truth. In my case this can be applied to the example of my aunt and uncle who are both blind, yet extremely positive and motivated contributors to the society, leading their lives according to the noble and righteous principles. They do not define their blindness as a disability, preferring a personal definition of this notion. They did not voluntarily choose to live in such circumstances, but they certainly made a choice of the way they use to respond to their circumstances each and every day. Starting with my participation in their life story and on has become a motivating force behind the woman I have become. Their example served me well in making a choice between the options of my future career.
Since my aunt and uncle both miss their eye-sight they found a powerful voice, a voice they used to educate, motivate and advocate for other people. This became a crucial point in the emergence of my passion for advocacy and my deep sense of commitment to guide others, especially the one who happen to be less fortunate or with limited abilities. Hopelessness of the other people always made me feel concerned, since I could not just let it go; it was a burden of mine. In case of my aunt and uncle, their hopelessness paralyzed them to the point that they had very limited opportunities for personal development, work or entertainment. I could very easily visualize this in full detail during my college years at King’s College in Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania. The dichotomy between the reality of the college campus and the deprivation within the community propelled me to listen to what my inner voice was saying, just as I had countless times before. I knew this voice could not be offering anything wrong, as it was the voice of truth. What I took for myself from the example of my aunt and uncle is the principle of following the right lead. In terms of nowadays it means one should clearly understand what is wrong and what is right and behave, not act accordingly.
The character of any person is revealed in the best manner by the reaction to things that touch the person’s heart. A sympathizing person will always act rightfully, according to the call of the heart, aiming to help others, not to benefit one in the first place. I believe I am a very sympathizing person, as for the numerous times in my life I have heard so the voice of truth and justice. As I mentioned before, I went to school in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, and I successfully graduated with a BA in Psychology. Upon graduation from college I was in the high spirit, filled with passion to commence working and ready to conquer the world. I found my first job at The First Occupational Center of New Jersey as a Mental Health Worker, where I worked with mentally ill and developmentally disabled people. I had a broad range of responsibilities, which included conducting group therapy, individual counseling, family sessions, and vigorously advocating for the patients to obtain additional services to meet their most urgent needs.
There was one particular event that left a mark in my heart and made my viewpoint on the way things in the world work out totally change. I know I will never forget the day. It was March 9th, 2011 when I received a phone call from the lab where the patients get their blood drug levels tested. After giving one of my patients a battery of tests we were informed about an incidental finding of a positive pregnancy of one of the female patients. The case I was dealing with involved a forty-one year old woman who lived in a boarding home, had no family and lacking material support. The patient shared with us that the father of the child was her boarding home worker, which made the case even more complicated. I was outraged thinking that someone who was hired to assist the people in the boarding home with their daily activities abused one of the residents. If we look at it from the legal point of view, a person who was not able to make clear and concise decisions was taken advantage of sexually. Despite one may argue that the patient was of legal age to have consensual sex, the fact that this is a woman who was developmentally disabled as well as mentally ill should be taken into account. This particular event made a turning point in my life as well as in my career. Prior to that I was confident of becoming an expert in the area of psychology and developing my career in this direction. At exactly that point the fact of pursuing a career in the law field became crystal clear to me.
Besides the examples above, I need to mention the self-dedication I have for becoming a law student and developing my career in this direction. I believe this is one of the key awarding features for any student who later turns into a professional. My congenital intuition and the sense of justice, developed long time ago, will work out together in the best way possible, making me an outstanding expert in the law area. I believe that despite the further development of my career taking the year at law school would remain unnoticed. Another quality a good lawyer needs is patience, and I have this feature. I am completely ready both to working hours and days long, as well as patiently waiting for the chance to work out a necessary scheme and eventually succeed. I believe patience is my potential strength, as most people either do not have it at all or cannot control their temper and this might be very crucial in some serious cases. My hot heart and cold brain, joined together with limitless patience will guarantee me the opportunity to beat the opponents in all cases, and especially in the ones related to my future career.
As you are reading this essay you may be wondering how does Vanessa stand out, what sets her above the next person in line? My answer is exclusively clear, as these are passion for helping people, kind heart, desire to develop as a professional and an unrelenting drive to look for justice. I am absolutely familiar with working long hours and meeting extreme deadlines and I believe that I have what it takes to become a diligent and extremely successful lawyer. Given the opportunity, I am confident that you will find me as an asset to your culturally diverse class of 2012-2013.