Personal Statement LLM
Edit/rewrite the personal statement below.
Personal Statement
Initially when I enrolled in the LLB (University of London) program, offered at the local teaching center School of International Law (SIL), Islamabad, I was skeptical about my decision to pursue a law degree; since my father wanted me to become a doctor. Despite my father’s reluctance, I kept pressing for admittance in law school. My efforts did not go in vain, and I joined SIL in 2019. During my academic tenure, I was appointed as Secretary for Communal Social Responsibility, a prestigious post in SIL’s law society. Being the only student in my class to be a part of the afore mentioned society for 3 consecutive years was an honor. This opportunity not only enriched my law school experience, but also gave me a unique opportunity to serve the underprivileged community, which inculcated more empathy and sense of responsibility in me. The work that I did as CSR for the community with regards to giving, arranging and facilitating charity for trans genders, to helping women and children contributed to who I am today. And by way of contribution, I would like to think of myself as a drop in the endless ocean. However in the words of Scott Adam ‘Remember there is no small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.’ A huge fan of this statement personally, as I believe compassion reaches where mathematics even comes to an end. It further made me realize how adverse life can be and how we are to value, cherish and humbly be in gratification for all the privileges life has given us.
In my second year, participating in a moot further polished my confidence and speaking ability. Along with extracurricular activities, I strived to do better in academics, though this was an ongoing process. Having natural inquisitiveness and curiosity I strived to improve myself but to a certain extent remaining calm in one sense of the word is vital. However, in the process of scoring well, I drove myself to the verge of insanity from searching mindset tutorials on YouTube to overanalyzing the texts in my books.
In my third year, I took on the task of doing an internship which taught me to further discipline myself at ABS and Co (a leading law firm in Pakistan). Furthermore, life had a curveball awaiting for me in my third year. It was on June 2021, that my father was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. With my father in the ICU in the hospital, I was giving my third year exams. It was during those times when my family around me was shattering apart, and I saw my own self going from hospital to home, altering between books and looking at hospital machines and screens, that I realized I had not much in my control as a human except prayer and my own efforts. Thankfully, my father is on the path to recovery now. It was then I further significantly learnt to control overthinking about problems which are not in my control too much and channelized my focus on learning and giving the exam, and to focus instead on what I could do. Perhaps then as from my own personal observation, I think it is safe to say patience and calmness is achieved by those who had their worlds crumbling to a certain degree around them. The eagle’s flight was what I had in my mind. On the face of it, it flies high, above turbulence, but in order to that, it remains focused on performance, spreading its wings with hope and flies against the wind without looking sideways. It was in my third year I was able to secure one distinction, two merits and one credit.
I joined law school desiring to give a good performance and at least give it a good fight to secure a good division. Fortunately it was written in my fate that I would realistically be graduating with an upper second class division, which is the highest division achieved in my school batch and is a division my own teachers and the director enjoy, i.e. those who contributed in shaping my character as well as academics.
I do not however, in anyway contrary to what many would say, believe I have transformed, I feel the urge to do more and better ourselves as humans’ lies in all of us, and it is through pain that light radiates in the heart. And in the views of Robert Frost, I have miles to go before I sleep. It has been a passion for me to study and research on the law and thereby, during my third year I did pro bono work at the Office of the Attorney General where I conducted research on constitutional regulatory issues. Communication today is more crucial than ever, many at times I came across issuess issues during my pro bono work research and even while working at the law firm who seemed to have a problem with their files being looked into and catered on the official level. Had they been more aware of the corporate structures, business interactions and especially rights of entities, I observed plenty of issues could be dealt with more efficiently and it had been my pleasure educating and helping those in need. To conclusively sum it up, it was as if the law was an alien language that needed translation to the very people who were seeking justice.
While conducting my research at ABS and Co on the corporate governance of NUST (National University of Science and Technology), corporate law with technology, limited liability partnerships, trusts and mergers, acts such as the Companies Act 2017 (Pakistan), trends in the stock market, non for profit corporations and making brief outlines of the budget, I realized how much I enjoyed the legal structure research and how inclined I was towards studying the law. Even during my internship at the Office of the Attorney General, I viewed the dealt with various claims against and by non- profit organizations. It further made me appreciate how law was embedded in all aspects of our lives, from the goods that we go and buy markets being largely governed by the regulations of the WTO, to the Italian marble tiles in houses. While learning the laws of anti-dumping, I further learned how important is to implement the laws and how positively good implementation and interpretation can affect the law, but lead to quite a degree of mischief if the laws are not applied and implemented properly.
It is through studying the law and internships, I realized how I was naturally curious towards law where availability, marketing and corporate governance along with the use of technology, whether it be business formation to employment to consumer rights, or legal issues related activities involved, law holistically covers these aspects. I feel pursuing the LLM at Berkeley University will equip me with the right tools to understand and dwell further in the legal structure. Not only in legal knowledge, but the balance of interactions of entities and learning more on the subject matter will equip me with valuable knowledge I can then use to specifically address issues tomorrow, contribute to the field by working in a prestigious law firm and on a higher aim perhaps with time and from being equipped with this LLM, someday contribute by bringing amendments and suggestions to the subject itself.
