法学院申请文书——蜂鸟（Hummingbirds）

Up until a few years ago, I thought hummingbirds had no feet. I had graduated from college with honors and was writing and producing newscasts for a nationally recognized television station, yet I still believed that hummingbirds never perched on a branch to take a break from flying. How could they stop and rest if they didn’t have any feet?

I was a freckle-faced five-year-old on my grandmother’s back porch in Lawrence, Kansas, when I first encountered a hummingbird. It seemed like the yellow-bellied birds never gave up, never stopped their frantic flapping in pursuit of food. I never saw a hummingbird land, and I couldn’t see any feet, so I simply assumed that they didn’t have any.

When I finally figured out that hummingbirds actually did have feet, the realization was slightly embarrassing. I endured taunts from my coworkers and minor humiliation, but in the end, the hummingbirds taught me a little something about myself. Before the incident, I had considered myself a naturally inquisitive journalist with excellent instincts and a knack for retaining details. Apparently, hummingbirds turned out to be the one topic that I had failed to research properly. As a result, I started to question my surroundings more than I ever had before. It was also about this time that I first seriously considered attending law school.

Like those hummingbirds I saw as a child, I have always pursued my goals relentlessly. After graduating from the University of Colorado, I packed up and moved to California, determined to make a name for myself as a journalist. Shortly after arriving in San Francisco, I was offered a job writing for the Nine O’Clock News on BayTV. It was quite a coup for a guy fresh out of college to land a job in the fifth-largest television market in the country. Every day, I researched and wrote more than a dozen stories, taking information from various sources and explaining it in an unbiased, twenty-second news clip.

Television is a taxing career with long and odd hours, but the overnight shifts were worth it for the thrill of a great story. I researched the intricacies of a scandal involving California’s former insurance commissioner and the unethical settlements he negotiated following the Northridge earthquake. I tackled legal assignments ranging from the 2000 presidential election and Supreme Court decision to the battle over leash laws and vicious dog statutes in San Francisco.

At Bay TV, my manager promoted me to producer in charge of the entire newscast. Supervising older and more experienced workers taught me invaluable lessons about communication. I then moved on to write for both KRON and KPIX. Now, I’m ready to continue my personal and professional growth by pursuing a law degree.

I have been preparing for law school since I was an undergraduate. I took several political science and law courses, including communications law and two semesters of constitutional law. In these classes, I discovered my fascination for the legal system and my concern for people’s rights. After graduation, I volunteered at the Legal Aid Society of Colorado. I completed the LSATs more than a year ago, and I’ve spent the time since then reading up on various schools and programs.

My research has led me back home to the University of Colorado. In addition to Colorado’s highly regarded programs in appellate advocacy and environmental law, I am also excited about the Legal Aid and Defender Program. My past experiences with legal aid programs made quite an impression on me, and I look forward to taking part in a program that will further my education while helping the community at the same time.

My snap judgment about hummingbirds made me vulnerable to good-natured kidding from my friends. But that judgment taught me an important lesson: there is always another side to a story and more information to uncover. With law school, I have not made any unfounded assumptions, the way I did with the hummingbirds. I have fully researched and considered the implications of applying to law school, and I’m certain that my unrelenting diligence and strong work ethic will aid me in my pursuit of a law degree. I also know now that I am ready for the commitment of law school and a legal career, and, most importantly, I know that hummingbirds do, in fact, have feet.

点评：

作者一直天真地不假思索地认为蜂鸟是没有脚的，但后来得知事实并非如此。身为一名名牌大学的优秀毕业生和一名对事实真相有着灵敏触觉的新闻工作者，作者竟然会毫无根据地对事件做出推断，导致了蜂鸟这一闹剧而遭到同事和朋友们的嘲笑。作者对此进行了反思，事件虽小，但作者却看到了自己的不足。原以为自己心思比较缜密，考虑比较周到，但现在却发现自己原来还是会做一些理所当然的推测，缺乏寻求真相的主动性。于是这使他萌生了去法学院学习的念头，并决定将他的职业生涯奉献给那些需要帮助的人们。这是一个崇高的理想，也是作者似乎已下定决心追求的目标。

这是一篇比较好的反问，它说明，一段平凡的经历也可以完全可以像那些轰动大事一样产生转折性的影响。所以当你动笔写Essay时，不仅应该花时间想想那些显而易见的教训，也要思考那些你没有指望要学到的东西。但无论你从转折的瞬间中吸取了什么经验教训，都要尽量解释它如何在更多方面影响着你的一生。这也是这篇文章中所缺少的一点，如果文章可以详细阐述思考过程中的一些细节，那就会更有说服力了。

译文：

蜂鸟

几年之前，我一直以为蜂鸟是没有脚的。我虽然是大学毕业并获得荣誉毕业生的称号，毕业后还在国内一家比较出名的电视台负责新闻稿的编辑工作，但是我始终认为蜂鸟是不会停止飞行而在树枝上栖息的。如果它们没有脚又怎能停止下来休息片刻呢？

我首次碰见蜂鸟是在家在堪萨斯州劳伦斯镇的祖母的后走廊里，那时的我是一个脸上生有雀斑的五岁小孩。蜂鸟就像黄腹啄木鸟一样从来都不休息，也从来不会停止他们的猎食飞行活动。我从来就没有看见一只蜂鸟飞落到地面，也从来未曾看到过他们的脚，所以我就简单地认为它们是没有脚的。

后来当我发现蜂鸟确实是有脚的，这一事实令我有点尴尬。我曾为此被同事们嘲笑，自己也感到一丝的羞愧，但最终是蜂鸟让我进行了自我反思。在这之前，我认为自己是一个不折不扣的充满好奇心的新闻工作者，有着灵敏的触觉和追求细节的恒心。但显而易见蜂鸟事件是一个我没有足够研究清楚的例子。于是我开始比以前更加严重地质疑我身边的人和事。也是从那时起我开始想着要去法学院念书。

就像我儿时所见的蜂鸟一样，我总是疯狂地追求着我自己的目标。在科罗拉多大学毕业之后，我收拾好行装，移居到加州并决定要成为一名出色的新闻工作者。在到达San Francisco后不久，我就在海湾电视台的找到了一份工作，主要是做九点新闻稿的编辑工作。对于一个刚刚大学毕业出来的学生，能在国内的第五大电视台里工作简直是出人意料的。每天我都在收集资料并且撰写十几篇新闻稿，试着从不同的源头里获取信息并将其加工成不带个人主观意识的20秒的片段新闻。

电视广播业是一份工作繁重的职业，工作时间长而且不定时，但是为了能够写出优美的故事，熬夜工作也是值得的。我曾调查过前保险业委员的有关在Northridge地震过后进行的不正当交易丑闻中错综复杂的关系。我所报道过的与法律相关的有2000年总统大选事件和和旧金山的犬类出户有关条例的制定。

在海湾电视台，经理晋升我为整个新闻台的制片人。管理一些高资历和经验丰富的老员工使我明白了沟通的重要性。然后我也继续写与KRON与KPIX的报道。现在我想通过攻读一个法律硕士的课程来提高我的个人以及专业水平。

我从本科阶段开始就为我以后在法学院的学习做准备。那时候我就选修了多门政治科学和法律的课程，包括和交通运输法两个学期的宪法课程。上了这些课程之后，我发现我对法律体系的学习非常的感兴趣，同时我对于人权的话题也非常的关注。

我的研究工作让我回到了我的母校－科罗拉多大学。除了学习科罗拉多大学有名的上诉辩护和环境法课程以外，我还对法律援助和辩护感兴趣。我之前对于法律援助知识的学习给我留下了非常深刻的印象，我也期待着我能更深入地去学习这方面的知识，这样一方面可以提高自己对这方面内容的理解同时也可以帮助到别人。

我对蜂鸟的所下的莽撞的判断使得我对于朋友们善意的嘲笑有点耿耿于怀。但是也是那次莽撞的判断使我上了重要的一课：凡事都有两面，有很多信息等着我们去挖掘。在法学院里面没有凭据的假设是不被允许的，就像我对蜂鸟所下的毫无根据的判断不被允许一样。我已经做了很深入的研究，也知道进去法学院对我来说意味着些什么，而我坚信我坚持不懈的努力和我的良好的职业道德会帮助我在法学院的学习。我也知道自己已经为进入法学院和以后从事法律相关的工作做好了准备。而最重要的是，现在我知道蜂鸟是有脚的。