Personal Statement On Extracurricular Activities And Undergraduate/Career Accomplishments

Law school presents many diverse and complex challenges. Being prepared to answer questions on the spot and an ability to spontaneously respond to queries is necessary. Other challenges involve navigating a rigorous course load, negotiating hallways with new friends and colleagues, and maintaining preparation throughout the experience. My accomplishments since graduating high school have been a result of challenging and stressful environments. These experiences have molded me into who I am today and will enable me to successfully complete law school and pursue higher callings of justice and equity.
Three days after I completed High School, I enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. As a Corporal I was elevated to the role of team leader involved in Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical defense. I oversaw the training for over 350 marines who relied on me to impart knowledge designed to preserve their lives. Another difficult assignment was mentoring and providing professional counseling for junior marines. Challenges involved identifying areas of improvement and helping devise a plan to ensure that our goals were not only met, but surpassed. I was also directly responsible for training marines in marksmanship and the proper operation of emergency vehicles. This culminated in my deployment to Iraq, where I partook in over two hundred missions. I was involved in hundreds of patrols that resulted in the capture of High Value Targets such as Al-Qaeda operatives. The environment was phenomenally stressful and we recovered thousands of pounds of ordinance and located countless improvised explosive devices. Through perseverance and dedication to my duties, I was the proud recipient of several awards such as the Navy Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, a Good Conduct Medal, and several others.
Immediately after discharge CSX Transportation hired me as a Conductor. My duties at CSX involved supervising the safe movement of trains on their assigned routes. While employed full time, I enrolled in Colorado Technical University and completed my B.S. in Business management in two years. Despite the heavy workload, I was able to maintain a 3.3 GPA. During my time in undergraduate studies, I was challenged intellectually and enjoyed being able to apply what I learned in the Marine Corps and at work, in the classroom environment. The grounding I had received through active duty and work created an appreciation for the close teamwork and intense debates that would arise in class. Since graduating I have continued to be employed by CSX Transportation, and my responsibilities and competencies have grown. I completed AMDG Conductor College and a course in the CSXT Railroad Education and Development Institute. I qualified as a Retarder Operator at Radnor Yard, and was certified as a Remote Control Locomotive Operator. In my opinion, my most important workplace achievement is eight years of injury free operations.
My experiences have placed me in many high stress and high-risk environments. The most critical component of my previous undertakings has always been communication. I have had to interact and perform high-level tasks with extremely diverse groups of people in vastly different work environments. These experiences have instilled in me respect for the selfless conduct of professional duty for its own sake. My ultimate goal is to serve justice, and the strict economics of it are not a high consideration. I want to help people, and as an attorney I want to prevent them from being bullied around: either by corporate hoodlums, individual thugs, or government bullies. Nashville School of Law will allow me to stay local and serve my community and provide support for my family: my most important accomplishment.