Loneliness

I'm feeling pretty lonely right now. In part I'm just allowing me to feel sorry for myself, in part it's the situation of being one of the few people who is alone today (well, it's after midnight, so I should say yesterday, shouldn't I?), and in part the feelings that I'm usually able to ignore are appearing because the situation is conducive to it.

It's not like I don't have friends, and I would be doing many great people a disservice if I said I was friendless, but at some level I still feel a bit peripheral to what's going on. I feel like, to many (though not all) people who I'd consider a 'friend', I'm more tolerated than actively liked. Perhaps I'm setting my standards too high.

In any case, it's largely my own fault, since I don't always make myself emotionally available. I try to be a nice person, but I'm not always open about my feelings to other people.

Well, that's really enough self-indulgent moping for now. I think I'm feeling better anyway. Anyway, I was able to finish my personal statement, and have copied it below for your entertainment. It is quite amusing, and I'm sure you'll get a few laughs out of it.

It is perhaps not very remarkable for me to say that I am an intellectually curious person; most, of not all, of my fellow applicants would probably say the same. However, I think my desire to fully understand the world around me and my drive to relate seemingly independent ideas and phenomena set me apart. While many people can make connections in strictly defined fields, it is rarer for someone to approach things from a broader perspective. In my undergraduate studies, I have tried to retain this ability; the courses I have taken have allowed me to approach a wide variety of subjects and use many different ideological lenses to do so. Having such a perspective is something I value, since I feel that having the ability to mix disparate concepts and themes is an important means by which a student or scholar can test and develop ideas. I feel that by having an eclectic range of interests, I am thus able to enrich my understanding of any particular subject.

The decisions I have made during my undergraduate career demonstrate my desire to understand a great number of subjects and ways of thinking. By choosing to go to a liberal arts institution such as Bryn Mawr, I committed myself to a curriculum that would contain a variety of subjects rather than one that would force me to concentrate on a field of study. My chosen major, history, also speaks to my interests. One of the reasons I was attracted to the discipline in the first place was the fact that the study of history is eclectic and wide-ranging; studying the past requires a study of the many elements that constitute human societies, ranging from the political to the cultural to the scientific. I have also tried to diversify my field of knowledge by minoring in math. I have also attempted to take classes that fell outside the domains of either math or history, taking a heavy course load in order to satisfy my curiosity.

I feel that having such a broad perspective has aided me in my daily life, and will be a boon to me as I attend law school. Because I have had to learn to construct arguments that rely on different ideological contexts, I am aware of the different approaches that can be taken towards a certain subject. Being able to understand various viewpoints makes me more able to understand different peoples? perspectives, which has in turn allowed me to better deal with people. I think that this skill is an important one for anyone thinking of entering the legal profession, as being able to interpret the law in ways favorable to a given client is a skill that every lawyer needs to cultivate.

I think my unique ability to understand a wide variety of subjects and ways of thinking will be a valuable skill through my law studies and beyond. By being able to approach and analyze an issue using different criterion, I can construct arguments that take different pints of view into consideration. Such a skill is central to the practice of law, and I feel that it will put me in a good position as I undergo my legal studies.