Getting Personal in my Personal Statement

I am Sisyphus and the wrath of my gods have given boulders in the form of research proposals, papers, and "personal statements." Right now, my boulder has taken on the shape of a personal statement, and it's a little heavier than the ones I've pushed before.

This is the third time I've had to apply to institutions of higher learning and I'm still not entirely sure what constitutes a "personal statement." I mean, when journalists want to "get personal" with a celebrity or politician, they usually ask about their love life. Now, I don't think the admissions board of Columbia or Princeton wants to hear a Carrie Bradshaw-esque rant about why I'm still single. I mean, I'm no Elle Woods here... and this ain't no Harvard Law School -- a video of me in a bikini won't sufficiently plead my case.

What I do know is that the personal statement required for graduate school applications is not the same thing as the personal essay required by college applications. The "Personal Essay" allows room for creativity, for nostalgia, for anecdotes and for recollections of life-altering events. It can be sentimental. It can be funny. It can have a moral. It can be about a pet dog. etc. The Personal Essay is its own genre of non-fiction writing -- a great genre of non-fiction writing; my favorite genre of non-fiction writing.

The big difference between the personal essay and the personal statement is that the personal statement comes with that "statement" clause. Just as in the personal essay, I'm supposed to talk about me -- I'm supposed to tell my audience something about what makes me a beautiful and unique snowflake. And then I'm supposed to add a "statement of intent" which essentially means "research proposal." Oh, and I'm supposed to tell them what I want to be when I grow up. Can I say: "Simon Schama complete with the Emmy?"

So, not only do I have to explain why this girl with a BA in Economics and a MA in Art History would be a valuable addition to the PhD student body, but I also have to put forward an intelligent and original topic of research that some established academic would want to mentor into a dissertation.

Oh Good Grief.

No wonder this Sisyphus is sweating a little more than usual as she plods up her mountain of academia, personal-statement-boulder on her back. But remember, like Camus said, "Il faut imaginer Sisyphe heureux." And believe me, I'm far far happier pushing this boulder than the one I'd be towing if I wanted to be a banker...