Master of Dispute Resolution by

Master of Dispute Resolution By nature, human life presents all of us with challenges. Not everybody can handle all challenges with an equal amount of grace and style. Indeed, many are crushed beneath the weight of murderous work schedules, family obligations, or simply the uncertainty of the financial times within which we live.

For me, a double dose of disappointment brought me to the realization that reinventing myself was the key to becoming whole again, even as I use the strength of my Christian faith to help me maintain a positive outlook on my life, studies, and work. These are the values I intend to bring to Pepperdine University School of Law, should my application to participate in the Master's Degree in Dispute Resolution be successful.

I believe that my termination from a corporate job, my failure at culinary school, and indeed my faith will combine to help me achieve excellence at Pepperdine University, even while I can also use these personal background factors to contribute value to the student body and the program. I took a job at a Fortune 500 company not so much because it was a passion of mine to have such a job, but rather because I believed that this was what my late father would want for me.

I cannot remember that I was once happy pouring over financial statements during the week and creating reports and presentations nobody read or cared about over weekends. I spent most of my time dreaming about my true passion: cooking. I do no know how I would have survived long-term employment in the corporate world. Today, I believe it is a fortunate thing that I did not have to waste my life finding out. The decision was made for me.

I was terminated from my position not because of my basic lack of dedication or passion (I faked these well enough), but rather because of the financial downturn in 2008. Now, I was finally free to pursue my true passion: cooking. I could hardly wait to enter culinary school; excitement is a dish I could almost taste. Yet, even in this I was doomed to failure, not by any fault of my own that I could fathom.

Perpetual insults by an even more perpetually grumpy chef brought me to regular tears and despair. Was I not a good cook? Did I not cook regularly for my mother and I after she lost all desire to do so when Father died? Did I not perfect my art by means of ambitious family dinners? And finally and most importantly, was this not my ultimate passion in life? Again, this question was answered for me. The cooking school brought many unexpected challenges, of which the grumpy cook was only one.

I was expected to gut fish, kill lobster, separate the parts of a lamb carcass, and cook chicken to the perfect combination of tenderness and taste. According to the grumpy cook, I was none of these. In the end, my feeling was that I had more in common with the fish I gutted than with my classmates, all of whom seemed to fare far better then me in the estimation of our supervisors and lecturers.

When I finally made the decision to drop out before I completed the program, I felt so abused that I did not know if I would ever be able to pick myself up again. Now, both my high-paying job and my dream career had been stripped away from me. I had nothing left of earthly value. But I still had my faith. My Christian faith carried me through these disappointments and brought me the strength to use my experiences and learn from them, rather than letting them crush me.

Through my faith, I have developed the personal and spiritual resilience I believe will be required to make a success of the Master of Dispute Resolution degree offered by Pepperdine University. One thing I appreciate most about the program I am applying for is the opportunity to enter an environment where Christian values are a recognized and desired value. My faith has always been extremely important to me, even since childhood.

Although the corporate and culinary school environments were no particularly conducive to openly live according to the Christian way of thought and belief, I nonetheless made the choice to demonstrate my Christian values by the way in which I did my work and interacted with others. This way of life is second nature to me, and I believe it will serve me well in the Pepperdine environment as well.

I also look forward, however, to having an environment in which I can more openly display and discuss my devotion to Christ. Indeed, I has always been my desire to serve God. I learned these values during my childhood years in Catholic school. We learned about the love of God for humanity, the value of a life in Christ, and the joy of serving others, especially when they are in need.

I hope to use these principles in contributing to and serving my fellow human beings by means of the faith-based opportunities Pepperdine offers. With the painful experiences I had regarding my.