The Berkeley Personal Statement

Now that my brain has stopped feeling like a fried egg, I’ll share more about my experience applying to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. The application was pretty standard for the most part–an online application, three letters of rec, two transcripts, a resume, two personal statements, and NO GRE SCORES!

The toughest part for me was the personal statements, seeing that writing quality and the ability to make a compelling case in few words are weighted more heavily for a journalism program. The prompts were really vague and contradictory to the general graduate division instructions, so it took a while to desipher what I was even supposed to write about. It was only after going to an information session at the journalism school, that I learned that I should ignore the general prompts and focus only on what the J school tells me. However, this is what the J school site told me:

F-1: Statement of Purpose (750 word limit; explain why you are applying)

F-2: Personal History Statement (750 word limit; describe your character and commitment to journalism)

Okay….? Luckily, the admissions advisor said the Personal Statement should focus on the present and into the future, answering the questions “Why J School?,” “Why Berkeley?” and “Why now?” She said the Personal History Statement should include every thing up until now and cover how we got interested in journalism in the first place. Only having 750 words for each, my main goal was to answer the questions in a compelling way that conveyed my motivation and character. I know this doesn’t help you now, but here is my finalized personal statement to get you thinking for next year. I’ll let you know if it helps get me in!

The Writer Within

I have always known that I wanted to be a writer. Not just the kind whose words dance gracefully across the page, but a writer who exposes inequality, reveals alternative perspectives and informs communities so they can better live their lives — I want to be a journalist.  And while I know journalism school isn’t the only way to become a good reporter, I am confident that graduate study at the UC Berkeley School of Journalism will help me develop into the writer I’ve always aspired to be.

I’m passionate about social justice, and I dig deep to expose the underlying factors that influence peoples’ lives. I’m drawn to UC Berkeley because of its rich history of activism, and I want my educational background to be molded by such a pluralistic and freethinking atmosphere. Besides the social climate on campus and my inherent love for California, I want to pursue a Master’s degree at UC Berkeley to continue learning at a top-rated journalism program with world-renowned faculty and the unmatched opportunity to master a variety of journalistic mediums.

I’ve covered a range of social and environmental issues from renewable energy to prostitution in Tijuana, and I’d like to fully dedicate myself to storytelling so I can better convey these hard-hitting issues to the public. While I’ve picked up styles and techniques on the job and through internships, I believe I would benefit greatly from full immersion into the technical training and theory of the field at the same time. If accepted into the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, I would focus on magazine writing because I’ve always been attracted to the depth and scope of the long-form magazine article. I have a talent for delving beneath the surface of an issue and making complex topics accessible, but more formal training in the structure and narrative voice of long-form writing would make my stories even more available to readers.

I would also take advantage of the international reporting opportunities, as I plan to utilize my Spanish proficiency and interest in foreign countries to tell stories that transcend cultural boundaries. In addition to print reporting, I am very motivated to build my online and multimedia skills through the required boot camp, new media courses and hyper-local website opportunities offered at Berkeley. I have recently entered the multimedia realm by co-founding Meridian Collective, an online magazine and blog for aspiring journalists and by working as the Resident Blogger for Spot.Us, a nonprofit pioneering community-funded reporting. Through my involvement with these web platforms, I’ve gained experience in beat blogging, social media, audio-visual storytelling and creating new models for journalism. I’d like to build upon these skills by learning how to create my own websites and enhance my multimedia abilities to add images, sound and life to the stories I write — for Meridian and beyond.

Since graduating from UC San Diego, I’ve been seeking opportunities to build my portfolio, expand my network and realize my journalistic talents. The challenge has been finding worthwhile endeavors in such a tough market, where editors rarely have the time or money to take a chance on a young reporter. I’ve learned a lot on my own, but I think the small class size offered at the journalism school and the one-on-one editing opportunities with professors like Cynthia Gorney, Mark Danner and Michael Pollan as well as some of the nation’s preeminent magazine editors would help me reach my full potential. At this stage in my career, I’m overqualified for internships and under experienced for full-time jobs; I need mentoring, critiquing and surrounding myself with other ambitious reporters to boost my career to a more professional level.

In the future, I hope to work as a multimedia reporter, with a specialty in magazine writing. I aspire to cover socio-cultural topics as well as international and investigative stories that have a large impact in the United States and abroad. I’m also interested in journalism innovations and efforts to make the industry more independent, collaborative and community-centric in this digital age.

Despite the current economic downturn, I haven’t stopped blogging, freelancing, pitching ideas and telling stories. I would bring this same dedication and drive to my studies at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. I strongly believe that the media plays a large role in shaping society, and through study at UC Berkeley, I want to be a part of taking the media, and society, to a higher level.