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A portion of Margaret's winning essay:
I didn’t want to read the book. As soon as I read the title I
knew that it was not something that I would be interested in. The
previous thirteen years of my life had been nothing more than a
confusing blur of police officers, caseworkers, and lawyers, and the
last thing I wanted to do was read a novel about the legal system. I put
the book back on the shelf with the hope that my adoptive mother would
never bring it up again. I was wrong. Day after day she kept pushing me
to read the novel that she had handed to me weeks earlier. “You’ll like
it. Just give it a try,” she urged. Eventually I gave in, and I am now
glad I did. Ever since I read John Grisham’s novel, The Street Lawyer,
my life has never been the same. In all of my family portraits, it looks
as if my mother, my grandparents, my siblings, and I had the perfect
life. We lived in a suburb in New Jersey with a cat, a dog, and a tire
swing in the backyard. It was only a five minute walk to the Jersey
shore, so my grandfather would often take me there to play in the sand.
My mother attended all of my school functions and did everything she
could to get me involved in extracurricular activities. To the outside
world, the people inside of that small house seemed to be living the
American dream, but little did they know what horrors lurked inside that
tiny bungalow with the white picket fence. Day after day I would come to
school with bruises on my arms and legs and I am certain that the
teachers all wondered how clumsy I could possibly be. I tried to spend
as much time as possible at school because I feared going home at the
end of the day. At night, I would have to hide to escape the arguments
between my mother and grandfather that often ended with a visit from the
police. Because of the violence, I became shy and exceedingly unsocial.
The violence continued for 13 long years until my mother’s death. As
soon as my siblings and I were placed in foster care, I knew that I had
to do something so another child would never have to suffer like I did.
From the time I was a child I was at a disadvantage. I was born to a
teenage mother who was more interested in partying than taking care of
her daughter. Since my mother was not capable of acting as a responsible
adult, I was raised by my two alcoholic grandparents. For years I had to
endure the verbal and physical abuse of three adults who barely knew how
to take care of themselves let alone a small child. Soon my mother bore
two other children, and my brother and sister joined our dysfunctional
family. Night after night, my siblings and I would hide while my mother
and grandparents would get into massive arguments that frequently
concluded with a visit from the police. Over the course of a school year
I would be absent from more than a third of classes because of the
violence that ensued in my house. Sometimes I would have to stay home to
hide bruises, while other days I was too tired to stay awake in class
because of the turmoil that arose during the night. It was not uncommon
for social workers to take me out of class for questioning, which
resulted in even more missed class time. Rather than letting my
situation negatively affect me, and instead of using my circumstances as
a reason to abandon my education, I chose learning as my escape from my
household situation. My education provided an opportunity for me to
explore the world outside of my home and create my own methods for
determining what is reasonable and moral. I was known for being
intelligent and witty, and it was no surprise that I was on the honor
roll each quarter. Although I could not control my situation at home, I
could control my own education, which caused me to be very diligent
regarding my schoolwork and fueled my desire to learn. My family
situation continued to worsen until elementary school, when my mother
finally moved out of my grandparents’ home and relocated in Georgia.
Although I was torn away from my friends and the only place I had ever
lived, I continued to excel in every subject in my new school. In middle
school, I was in almost every extracurricular activity and club
imaginable while I continued to make honor roll. As teachers and other
community members applauded me for my efforts and success in school, my
family was going through a very difficult time. In seventh grade, my
siblings and I were put into foster care due to my mother’s alcoholism
and abuse. She eventually lost her parental rights due to her
noncompliance with social workers. All three of us were adopted by
separate families, and several months later my mother died of cirrhosis
of the liver due to her alcoholism. My brother and sister were deeply
affected by this loss and their distress was evident in their behavior
following my mother’s death. My brother dropped out of school and ran
away from his new home, while my sister attempted suicide multiple times
and quit trying in school. As much as I was grieved by my circumstances,
I finally came to realize that it is my education that has kept me
motivated for all these years.
My siblings let bad circumstances affect their chances of becoming
successful by dropping out of school. I refused to let other people’s
mistakes dictate my life, and I continued to work even harder in school.
It wasn’t until the fateful day that I began reading The Street Lawyer
that I finally realized how I could help other people that are living in
abusive homes. In the novel, Michael Brock deserts his high-paying job
at a classy law firm to defend the homeless. Not only does his decision
cost him money, it causes him to lose his wife and family as well.
Regardless of what he loses, however, he continues to be a street lawyer
because he knows that what he is doing is making a positive impact on
the community. Just as Michael Brock sought to help the community that
he was in at a high personal cost, I realized that I wanted to help my
community, regardless of what price I had to pay. After reading The
Street Lawyer, I vowed that one day I would become an attorney so that I
could be in the position to help those who have suffered from violence
and abuse. At the age of 16, I began volunteering at my local humane
society. Although I was not helping people at that point, I was still in
the capacity to help the animals at the shelter. While most of the
animals were in perfectly fine condition, a few of them had been abused
so badly that they were almost useless as pets. While most people would
have given up on those animals, I spent my afternoons comforting those
animals with the hopes of rehabilitating them so that they could be
merged back into society. One dog had numerous cuts and burns all over
his body because he had been tied up with rope and tossed in the
dumpster outside of the shelter. The manager at the shelter insisted
that the dog would never make a good pet because he had been so badly
abused, but I insisted otherwise and eventually adopted the dog. After a
few weeks of pampering, “Snoozer” was looking better and acting like any
other dog in the shelter. Rather than giving up on the dog because he
had been abused, I spent time trying to make that animal functional
again, and it actually worked. It was at that point that I realized that
if I could make that much difference to a dog, then I could certainly
make an impact on a human being’s life. During high school I volunteered
with the Victim Witness Assistance Program and the District Attorney’s
office so I could become more familiar with the legal system. I would
help interview the victims that came in and I would assist in the
preparation of temporary protection orders. Everyday it seemed as if
more and more battered women were coming in to seek services from the
office. Those women were not another statistic to me. I could identify
with their stories and I understood what they were going through. When I
finally got the chance to go to the courtroom with one of the women and
I was able to see the expression of relief and joy on her face as her
abusive boyfriend was sentenced to prison, I realized how important the
work I was doing is to the people in my community.
Now that I am attending college at Mercer University, I have spent the
past year volunteering with the Safe House and Crisis Line of Central
Georgia, as well as the Bibb County Legal Advocate’s office. This
volunteer experience has meant a lot to me because not only do I have
the opportunity to help those in need around me, I can also connect with
those people on a personal level as well. I have seen the horrors of
living in an abusive home. I understand what the victims of domestic
violence are going through. Although I was worried about the safety and
mental wellbeing of the victims, one of my biggest concerns was the lack
of efficiency in the legal system regarding these cases. In order to
somewhat alleviate this problem, I helped prepare a new case plan for
the Legal Advocate’s office that would allow them to be better equipped
to assess a victim’s situation and decide what the appropriate response
would be for that individual person. Once I realized that I wanted to
become an attorney, I decided that my childhood experience has taught me
a lot about who I am as a person, as well as about those who are facing
similar situations as I have encountered. I concluded that I can use
this knowledge to assist those who have not yet arrived at the point in
their lives where they can look at their situation and realize what is
happening. When I volunteered at the Safe House, there were many mothers
who were unaware of the affects of domestic violence on their children.
One night during a Women’s Support meeting, a battered mother made the
comment that she wished she could find out how much her children knew
about domestic violence and how they felt about being in such an abusive
home. While some volunteers gave her generic advice, such as not to
worry, I relayed my own childhood experience to the woman. Many children
are unable to express their feelings in terms that can be understood,
but since I went through the same experiences as these children, I was
capable of articulating my own personal understanding of the subject.
Although many people see my childhood as a negative occurrence, I am
proud that I can use my background to help other people. Ever since I
decided what I wanted to do with my life, I have struggled to do
everything in my power to grasp my dream of becoming a lawyer. Although
I was passed between foster homes for three years after my mother’s
death, I continued to do my best in school and refused to let my family
situation affect my chances of going to college. Every day that I attend
classes, I push myself so I can get the best education possible. Rather
than spending my college days partying and slacking off, I take the
maximum amount of class hours allowable and I work three jobs on the
weekend to support myself financially. I am double majoring in music and
English in order to expand my education beyond one field. While my
English major allows me to develop my analytical skills and develop
effective reasoning tactics, music requires the instrumentalist to have
outstanding logical skills to perform properly as well as the ability to
make quick decisions. These skills will be an asset to my future career
as an attorney. Rather than allowing my circumstances to define who I
am, I persevered and became the person I wanted to be. As much as I was
grieved by the situations I have encountered throughout my life, they
have molded me into the person I am today, and as a result, I can help
others understand and avoid the pain and suffering that I escaped. I
have learned that although I may be let down by those who love me, and
although my family may leave me, my education is something that can
never be taken away. I would be an asset to the field of law because my
life experiences, in addition with an excellent law education, will
allow me to fully understand the situations I am dealing with since I
will be familiar with both the role of the client and the attorney. My
lifetime goal is to be a successful lawyer and own my own firm, and I
believe that law school is one of my first stops on this road to
success. By successful, I not only mean monetary success. I want to be
an asset to my community by informing the community about domestic
violence and helping those victims who seek legal advice from me. I
understand firsthand what those who suffer from domestic violence must
endure, and it is my intention to help victims by giving them the legal
council that they deserve to have. By studying hard in college and being
honest and dedicated to my work, I am sure that one day I will achieve
this goal. Law is something that I love and just cannot get enough of. I
revel in the thought of one day helping victims of domestic violence by
providing good council and giving sound legal advice. Being an attorney
would not be a job; it would be a hobby that I just happen to get paid for.
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