Personal Statement Info: The 18th

Personal Statement

Info: The 18th century French philosopher Denis Diderot said, "Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things." Describe one of your passions and reflect on how it has contributed to your personal growth.

When I was a little kid my nickname was "pirate" because I seemed obsessed with pirates. For many years of my life, I had pirate-themed birthday parties, and my family would let me know when stories about real pirates were scheduled to come on to the television. As I grew older, I came to realize that my fascination was not with pirates, but with treasure. I had my own treasure box, in which I collected loose gemstones, and I studied gemstones and rare metals with a fervor unnatural in a pre-teen child. I assumed I would grow up and become a gemologist or perhaps own a jewelry store, though I had no desire to actually design jewelry myself. My family encouraged the hobby, though it was an expensive one, and I received loose gemstones as presents, watched jewelry TV, got to audit a community college geology class taught by a friend of my parents, and even talked my family into a vacation in Arkansas, where I could mine for my own diamond. I was obsessed with gemstones. Moreover, I was obsessed with the idea that nature could create something so beautiful, and I was disdainful of man's attempts to simulate these great natural beauties.

However, there is a dark side to the jewelry industry, which any person who studies them for any significant period of time is bound to discover. Mining for gemstones and precious metals are dangerous businesses, and the miners make relatively little income for their efforts. In fact, it is fair to describe the conditions in some mines as forms of modern-day slavery, where workers, including children, are exploited and exposed to tremendous hazards. Initially, from the relative safety and security of my home far away from any of these mines, I convinced myself that I was not in any way responsible for the wrongdoings of an industry. I convinced myself that American jewelry companies would never purchase gems or metals from companies that exploited workers and believed that as long as people were purchasing certified free trade diamonds that they were not doing anything morally or ethically wrong by supporting the jewelry trade.

A convinced myself of that for a long time, until I watched the movie Blood Diamond and related documentaries, which made it clear that a consumer does have an ethical duty to know how their goods were mined or created. Like many teenagers would, my beliefs swung radically in the other direction. While I had no intention of parting with my gemstones, because the harm done in the mining of them could not be undone, I decided to stop collecting them. I began to speak out about alternatives, and even chastised a cousin who chose diamond instead of a synthetic jewel for his fiance's engagement ring. I gave a presentation to my high school about the detriments of the jewelry industry and considered lobbying to enact stricter laws about gems and rare metal imports, so that any products would be certified fair labor and fair trade complaint.