One week ago, back in America...

Thoughts on the Irish fascination with American politics, and the art of the law school applicant's personal statement

Hmm, who did Rachel vote for?!

Ever since arriving here in August, one of the first questions I'm asked by Irish people I meet is, "Who are you voting for?" My American friends and I have compared notes, and we concur that this is a loaded question. If you don't answer it correctly, you are immediately - and harshly! - judged. The nuances of American politics are common knowledge to many Irish persons my age, and while they're better informed than most college students I know from home, their bias is clear, too. In Europe, everyone is an Obama supporter, and has been since they first heard of him, which for many was some time ago.

The last couple of weeks have been exciting ones for me, though not without their tense moments. Since first writing furious notes in lieu of a journal entry in the evenings at the hostels in Belgium, the need to get my personal statement for my law school application has been looming. I wanted to express some "big ideas" without making some silly, pretentious declaration about intending to change the world. But the more I thought about my ambitions for myself, the more I realized that I do hope to change the world - at least in some small way. I think this is a common hope for people my age, and an important one.

Besides the preoccupation of the personal statement and the effort to absorb all I can from every minute of my time here, news of the campaign and the economy also vied for my attention. I was trying to read top New York Times stories every day from the web site, in addition to downloading the New Yorker's "Campaign Trail" podcast, NPR's "weekend wrapup" of US politics, and the daily "Planet Money" podcast with updates about the economy and background information on the collapse. In order to understand the dynamics of the election, I have had to do some legwork, too. How does Obama compare to Jimmy Carter? What are the patterns in McCain's voting history? What crazy accusation has one camp made against the other that I would like to check out before deciding to dismiss or believe it?

As it turned out, just trying to follow election coverage and actually know what was going on meant I had to do some research on the history of my country and the way its government functions. This in combination with the debriefing on American economics I was getting from the Planet Money podcast - hedge funds, the paper money market, naked short selling - and I felt like I was being introduced to the structure of my entire society for the first time. These aren't lessons I haven't sat through before, but in high school government and economics classes, I wasn't engaged in the material.

While I kept trying to shut off my curiosity about the goings-on at home so I could work on a two page summary of my positive personality traits, achievements, and aptitude for law school, I suddenly realized that my revolutions of thought and understanding were fuel for a good personal statement. I'm more confident than ever about applying to law school, and that has so much to do with my most recent experiences. Being away has been difficult in many ways, but probably none so much as forcing me to reexamine myself and my ideas about my part of the world.

One week ago, I stayed up until the early hours watching election coverage. I went to bed with Obama in an early lead, and woke up to a friend who crashed on the couch squealing from the living room. A moment later she leapt into bed with me. "He won! He won!" We hugged, and I started squealing too. There might have been some tears. On the Irish morning news, they rushed through the weather and essentials to spend the rest of the hour covering the election and its aftermath.

I know not everyone is happy with the election's outcome, including some of the people I most dearly love. But I'm unwilling to let my own excitement be dampened. I believe in my ability to weigh information against my own principles and cast a vote for myself, and I understand that this process is different for every individual and not everyone reaches the same conclusion. Such are democracies. I may be disappointed - my expectations of my president elect are quite high - and I may be an idealist whose perspective will change over time. All I know for certain is who I am today, and the effort I put in to making the most educated choice possible.

By the way - I think I know for certain who I am today! Did you catch that? I almost didn't. And then I realized that part of my joy over Obama's election was my confidence in voting for him, a decision linked to my recent effort to better understand the United States of America. So I sat down, and I wrote a draft of my personal statement. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't pretty, but a few days later I sent a draft to my mother and with her and Duane's help, it has become a piece of writing I'm proud to send to admissions committees.

I would like to publicly thank beloved Mimi, Popi and Aunt Patty for my most recent pieces of mail, including a festive Halloween card and perfectly appropriate bookmark (it instructs me to "Read in the Wildest Places!", which I have tried to do). Tomorrow I leave for Italy, and I will have highlights and photos to post when I get back early next week.