Diversity Statement Advice Forum

[jobrie21]

I was thinking about submitting a diversity statement about my experience with my sister's alcoholism and drug addiction and how it affected my experience of belonging in college and in elite circles. I am not sure if this is an appropriate topic, especially since I have otherwise been very fortunate in my life and come from a middle to upper-class neighborhood and relatively good high school. I don't want to come off like I'm trying to assert myself as experiencing real hardship, because I really don't believe that I have, but I do feel like it's part of my story. This is what I have so far. Thoughts?

I was ten years old when I realized that my sister wasn’t like my friends older siblings. I was sitting in Mr. Hovis’ seventh grade classroom when the school secretary brought me a note: “Your parents have gone to get your sister in Florida. Your aunt is coming to take care of you and your sisters.”

From there, the chaos commenced. Years consumed by phone calls to local hospitals and the police searching for my missing strung-out sister, posting bail and scrapping a wrecked car, screaming matches down the hall and trip after trip to the limited number of insurance-covered rehab facilities. My sister was a raging alcoholic and a drug addict.

I wasn’t stupid. I knew that every time I said goodbye to my sister there was a solid chance that next time she’d be apologizing, telling me she was going to get help and get clean, or more likely that she’d just end up dead. Dead from a drunk driving accident, or an overdose, maybe murdered by a dealer.

It was my freshman year of college when I really began to internalize this fact. While all of my newfound friends were excited for the next football game or joking about being “weekend alcoholics”, I was waiting for that fateful call that I had to come home for my sister’s funeral. And I felt very, very alone.

Here I was at this prestigious institution, where everyone seemed to have everything. Not just symbols of monetary wealth, but the perfect Notre Dame families. The kind where all the siblings had gone to Notre Dame, graduating with a degree in finance and were now successful in a big city. And I knew that I would never have that. Even worse, I really, really wanted it.

This fact caused me to hate my sister for a long time. I honestly believed that no one else on campus dealt with these issues or would understand my constant anxiety. Finally, my sophomore year, when my sister was sent to another rehab facility after a predictable relapse, I opened up to my friends. Turns out one of my best friends had a dad who was an alcoholic who had gotten clean, just like me and she sympathized with my fears for my sister. She understood what it meant to feel like you came from a messed up family, and that you didn’t belong in that bubble of Notre Dame legacy perfection.

And from there, things got better. My passionate hatred transformed into understanding and love. I finally stopped fighting Carrie, and stated hoping she would fight for herself. She’s gotten better in some ways. Simple things like moving out of my parents’ home and into an apartment with a cat. She still struggles with her addiction, and has gone through recent relapses but I have been able to lovingly detach myself from her pain, realizing that her fate does not dictate my own.

I don’t have to come from the perfect family to be successful. In fact, dealing with the constant uncertainty and pain that Carrie brought on our families for years made me a stronger individual. While my friends were constantly relying on their parents for the most basic of things, I learned how to take small things off my parents’ plate and support them as they had supported me in this family crisis. My sister isn’t going to be like my friend’s siblings and my family will never be like friend’s families. But that’s fine. I know that I still belong here just as much as they do.

[The Lsat Airbender]

This could make for an interesting PS; it's a great story. I can relate to a lot of what you've written here. But I'm not sure about a diversity statement.

Alcoholism, let alone substance abuse generally, is sadly common enough that most people have a close friend or relative who struggles with it. Maybe not quite as close a relationship as you and your sister, but - and sorry if this comes off disrespectfully - your experience is just not unusual enough to add otherwise-unavailable perspective to a law-school classroom. It's honestly kind of a supply and demand thing. Does that make sense?

[albanach]

I was ten years old when I realized that my sister wasn’t like my friends older siblings. I was sitting in Mr. Hovis’ seventh grade classroom when the school secretary brought me a note: “Your parents have gone to get your sister in Florida. Your aunt is coming to take care of you and your sisters.”

From there, the chaos commenced. Years consumed by phone calls to local hospitals and the police searching for my missing strung-out sister, posting bail and scrapping a wrecked car, screaming matches down the hall and trip after trip to the limited number of insurance-covered rehab facilities. My sister was a raging alcoholic and a drug addict.

Okay I just threw this down, but I think if you're going to tell this story of your childhood, it has to be more engaging.

I looked up from my desk as the school secretary entered and spoke quietly to my teacher, and couldn't help but notice their glance in my direction. The note I was handed said my parents had left the state to collect my sister. Even though I was barely ten years old, I knew what that meant; she was was drunk again and in trouble.

My childhood pivoted around my sister's addictions to drugs and alcohol. Collecting my sister from jail as she was bailed out again and the walking the corridors of rehab hospitals were familiar rituals through my teenage years.

But still you made it to college. And now to law school. Where's the part about school being a stabilizing part of your childhood, or you throwing your energy into studies? If this isn't an addendum to explain low grades, I think folk would want to know about how you overcome this turmoil and succeeded. You almost get there at the end, but not quite. Too much is about your sister and not enough about you. Talk about yourself, how you coped and overcame the odds. Then end with getting support in college when you found others with similar experiences.

My attempt above can certainly be improved upon, but I think you need a bit more to capture the reader and really make this about you.