Late one gloomy night seven years ago, I decided for certain that I wanted to attend law school. That night, a traumatic car accident caused severe injuries, irrevocably changing my life and spawning a five-year personal injury lawsuit in which I was the plaintiff. I participated in every component of my legal case, which in turn sparked my intense interest in jurisprudence. Since then, I’ve maintained a fascination with the dynamics of law, and I have my heart set on starting a legal career, as evidenced by my class selections at the University of Washington (Constitutional Law, Supreme Court, Philosophy of Law, Ethics, Reasoning, and Argumentation). Because I enjoy learning about law, I have consistently succeeded in these courses.

Even beyond my pre-law classes, I have exhibited a talent for setting and achieving goals. In the 1996 accident, I suffered major lacerations to my arm and face that required skin grafting. Subsequently, it was necessary for me to undertake significant rehabilitation to achieve my goal of a full recovery. I attended physical therapy three times a week for nearly six months and complemented it with an individual home program. At the start, I could neither close my fist nor straighten my arm; in the end, I exceeded the recovery expectations of my doctors with ninety-eight percent strength relative to my good arm and full range of motion. When I am motivated to complete a task, I do not shrink from the hard work, and I do not rest until I have achieved my goal.

I am also led to the law by Aristotle’s famous line, “Man is a political animal." This is my favorite quotation, because I feel that the political animal is in my soul. I love the feeling of patriotism in America, and I aspire to contribute to American politics. The law is an integral part of politics, and I feel personally compelled to become educated and capable of performing in the legal field. I believe that my passion for the law, American politics, and public service would enhance the environment of Stanford Law School.

I have looked forward to law school for more than five years. I have set a lofty goal for myself, and my journey to reach it will take me into and through law school. I have no doubt about this. Similarly, I am confident I will make a positive contribution to Stanford's program if given an opportunity to enroll.

點(diǎn)評(píng)：

這是一片申請(qǐng)Stanford法學(xué)院的essay，一共4段四百多個(gè)字左右。從文章結(jié)構(gòu)上來(lái)看，是合理的，并且作者非常巧妙地運(yùn)用一件發(fā)生在自己身上的事很自然的推導(dǎo)出學(xué)習(xí)法律的強(qiáng)烈動(dòng)機(jī)。

一場(chǎng)交通意外讓作者終身難忘，不單只是身體大面積的受損需要進(jìn)行皮膚移植和術(shù)后康復(fù)，作者還要參與到將近5年的法律訴訟中去。但作者并沒(méi)有因此而一蹶不振，反而引發(fā)了他對(duì)法律的強(qiáng)烈興趣，并通過(guò)積極配合醫(yī)院的治療及自己堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的意志力，最后不單只超預(yù)期的得到了完全康復(fù)，并且立志要在法律方面有所作為，因此決定進(jìn)一步的學(xué)習(xí)法律方面的知識(shí)。

除此之外，作者還在文章中流露出自己的個(gè)性，是個(gè)不屈不撓，一旦有目標(biāo)就是堅(jiān)持到底知道成功的人。在學(xué)習(xí)方面尤其是法律的課程更是非常的出色。通過(guò)對(duì)古希臘哲學(xué)家的一句名言，帶出了自己立志為美國(guó)的政治做出貢獻(xiàn)的決心。并非常有自信的提到若能進(jìn)入斯坦福法學(xué)院，一定會(huì)為學(xué)院帶來(lái)巨大的貢獻(xiàn)。

相信作者文章中的經(jīng)歷，作者表露出來(lái)的決心，自信都是可以成為打動(dòng)錄取委員會(huì)的因素。

譯文：

交通意外

七年前一個(gè)令人沮喪的深夜里，我十分肯定的我想要去讀法學(xué)院。那天晚上，一起將交通意外造成了嚴(yán)重的創(chuàng)傷，不可喚回的改變了我的人生，并導(dǎo)致了一起長(zhǎng)達(dá)5年的個(gè)人傷害訴訟，而我就是原告。由于我參與了這起訴訟案中的每一個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)，從而激起了我對(duì)法學(xué)的強(qiáng)烈興趣。從那時(shí)起，我就一直保持著這股對(duì)法律動(dòng)力的著迷, 并且我渴望開始一個(gè)法律事業(yè)，就如我在華盛頓大學(xué)選修的課程（憲法，最高法院，法律哲學(xué)，倫理，推理，及論證）可以證明。因?yàn)槲蚁矚g學(xué)習(xí)法律的一切，因此我在這些學(xué)科上都取得非常好的成績(jī)。

甚至遠(yuǎn)在我開始法學(xué)預(yù)科之前，我已經(jīng)展現(xiàn)出一種建立目標(biāo)并達(dá)到目標(biāo)的才干。在1996年的那場(chǎng)意外，我的臉部和手臂都遭受到大面積的破損因此我需要皮膚移植。隨后，我必須采取非常重要的復(fù)原已達(dá)到完全康復(fù)的目標(biāo)。在此后的將近六個(gè)月里，我每周接受三次的物理治療，并以個(gè)人家中項(xiàng)目作為輔助。起初的時(shí)候，我并不能合上我的拳頭，或伸直我的手臂，但最后，我恢復(fù)了原來(lái)手臂的98%力量并且可以活動(dòng)自如，完全超出了醫(yī)生起初對(duì)我康復(fù)的預(yù)期效果。當(dāng)我下定決心去完成一個(gè)任務(wù)時(shí)，我不會(huì)因?yàn)槿蝿?wù)艱巨而退縮，并且在未達(dá)到目標(biāo)前我絕不休止。

我也是因?yàn)閬喞锼苟嗟碌囊粋€(gè)名句導(dǎo)致我喜歡上法律，“人類是一種政治動(dòng)物?！边@是我最喜歡的座右銘，因?yàn)槲矣X得這個(gè)政治動(dòng)物就在我的靈魂里。我熱愛美國(guó)的愛國(guó)精神，并且立志為美國(guó)的政治做出貢獻(xiàn)。法律是政治的重要組成部分，我個(gè)人感到十分的有必要去進(jìn)一步進(jìn)修，并能夠在法律領(lǐng)域有所作為。我相信我對(duì)法律，美國(guó)政治，及公共服務(wù)的熱愛可以提高斯坦福法學(xué)院的外界環(huán)境。

我期望進(jìn)入法學(xué)院已有5年多的時(shí)間。我已經(jīng)對(duì)自己樹立了崇高的目標(biāo)，我實(shí)現(xiàn)它的這段旅程將會(huì)帶我進(jìn)入并貫穿整個(gè)法學(xué)院。我對(duì)此深信不疑。同樣的，我確信如果我能夠被錄取我將會(huì)對(duì)斯坦福的學(xué)習(xí)項(xiàng)目做出積極的貢獻(xiàn)。