In the past five years, my interests in the criminal mind have led me to an intense education surrounding forensic psychology. Now as I reach the end of my undergraduate career, I have chosen law as my future profession. I believe that with the extensive knowledge I have of criminal psychology, I will be an asset to the field of law, fusing together two fields that are destined to collide. This statement explains how I have come upon this path.
As a freshman in college, I was underdeveloped and juvenile, but with many fresh ideas. Although immature, my dreams were well grounded from my experiences as a high school senior. During my last year of high school, I was given the opportunity to do a science project on anything I wanted. Highly intrigued by the field of forensic psychology, I received the privilege of conducting an intense sociological study on sixty-three sexual offenders for which I was to present at the Virginia Junior Academy of Sciences. Spending more than six months reviewing confidential files of these offenders and their victims, while also having the privilege to witness a live forensic evaluation of a sex offender, I developed a disturbing understanding of the sexual offender, as well as a deep sympathy for their victims. This experience would bring me to the decision that I would live my life dedicated to the cause of keeping sexual predators away from society with efforts to ameliorate the sufferings of sex crime victims.
But in order to accomplish my dreams, a transformation was necessary, for while my ideas were wildly alive, I was not yet a complete person. Throughout college I would take little steps towards maturity. Through the support of my parents, and the challenging nature of a bright young man whom I will now eventually marry, I went from the self-conscious freshman to a confident individual who seeks challenges, and craves knowledge.
Sophomore year I would take my first step of transformation. I wrote a petition in defense for my professor�s jeopardized teaching position. Now Dr. Walton is considered a �Visiting Assistant Professor� as opposed to being an adjunct, and he has his own office, as opposed to sharing one. In my junior year I founded the Forensics Education Organization, an organization educating students who are interested in law, forensic psychology or forensic science. That following year I began submitting my political cartoons to the university�s newspaper and the year after I became a columnist. In my senior year I became a resident advisor, responsible for supervising over thirty residents who seek my guidance during their college experience. In the three years since my first, I have transformed from being a na�ve and immature student to one who defends her beliefs, who leads her peers, and who looks forward to the challenge of battles that must be fought.
I spent the majority of my years at college planning to use my Psychology degree to enter a forensic psychology program so that I would become a forensic psychologist, one who would research sexual offenders, consult investigations, and support court cases. However, as time moved on it grew apparent that my passions did not only surround forensic psychology, but also public speech. I began to contemplate a career in law and came to know my great affinity for debate. With my grounded respect for ethics and the law and my understanding of criminal behavior, it became clear to me that my place was in the courtroom rather than in research.
September 11th brought me to consciousness in regards to the rise of antisocial behavior. While for the past thirty years antisocial behavior has been escalating on an exponential scale, it was an event that so devastatingly brought me to a deafening reality. By the end of the month it was resolved: I would apply to law school to become a useful instrument for America�s justice system. I would fight to uphold truth and justice in a world that is often found in climax, and in a sleeping generation that had been woken by the loud hatred of antisocial predators.
My interests in criminal behavior and my compassion for the victims have not diminished; rather, they have strengthened. I fully intend to integrate my experiences with my education in law as they remains to be the fuel of my passions. The end-goal remains the same; the means to get there have changed. If I become accepted into your program, you will receive a very focused law student, one who is malleable to new teachings, yet rigorously concentrated on criminal justice, victim/child advocacy, the defense of ethics and morality, while also bringing together psychology and law. I am confident that my undergraduate transcript, letters of recommendation, and curriculum vita resonate the versatility of my academic interests and abilities.