Motivations for pursuing law school education

¶ … law school?

I was born in India although I moved to New York with my step-mother when I was twelve. My father is a high ranking police officer in India. He is an honest and hardworking law enforcer in a country which, like most developing countries, is known for poverty and corrupt government officials. It was through him that I developed a respect for the law and realized its importance for progress in society. Since I had moved to the U.S., it was only a few years back that I was able to return to India for a visit. It was with new awareness and level of maturity that I viewed the everyday scenes on the streets of my country that I used to simply take for granted.

During my visit to India, I saw the rich people with their large cars and fancy houses and the poor in their small huts by the side of the roads. I saw the restaurant chains throwing away their extra food while many people were literally starving on the streets. It was as if I was seeing the poverty for the first time and realizing the gaping difference between the rich elite and the poor masses. I saw the lack of obedience to authority, the lack of discipline. I noticed many people littering the streets and refusing to follow road rules. I saw bribes exchanged as a matter of course. I saw how authority took advantage of the innocent and the poor and ignorant.

I saw how laws that were made to improve the lives of people were constantly disregarded. I saw how those who were tasked to enforce the law abused the power it granted them and preyed on those who the law should most have protected. It was the many things that I saw on my last trip to India which made me realize the urgent need for change in my country and have made me decide to finally take up law.

I believe that knowledge of the law is empowering. During my trip to India I realized that before I can affect any concrete and long-term changes, I must be in a position of some control over the matters and situations I want to change. I also realized that it is through the power brought by the knowledge of the law and the authority brought about by knowing how to protect people's rights and the pursuing justice that I wish to make the changes that urgently need to be made in my home country. This is why I want to go to law school.

It is in law school where I believe that I will learn how government and legal systems enforce justice and bring about social reforms through law enforcement and the courts. I believe that the practice of law is the key discipline that can be used in order to make significant political and societal changes within a community.

At this point in my life I am very interested in the study of constitutional law. I believe that the constitution is the instrument by which powers of the state are created and regulated, the rights of the people are enshrined and protected, the checks and balance between the branches of government are enforced. While I want to make changes in India's legal system in areas such as human rights, environmental policy, workers protection, family law, and business law, I know I need to have a good basis in constitutional law to be able to make all these.

I know that law school will be difficult. However, I believe that as a disciplined and diligent student who has worked to help provide for my own education, I know I will be able to overcome difficulties. I believe that my life experiences and education path have prepared well for the tough challenge of law school. I have known since I was a teenager that education is the key for the long-term success of a person and have always strived to work to help provide for funding of my education. By the age of 16, I worked as a delivery person for cellular store. This gave me the ideas of starting my own business in the cellular phone industry with a partner. I taught myself about the basics of business law in order to establish my own business.

After high school I worked in the insurance and real estate industries. During the course of my work for an insurance company, I was able to gain the opportunity to go back to visit my family in India. When I got back, after earning enough money, I enrolled in a community college in a business course. I graduated with honors while working full time to continue supporting my studies. I then transferred to Hofstra University where I enrolled in business administration. I started in accounting and then added finance major subjects to take advantage of my work background in the financial services.