Amanda Blackman's Dark Place

Photo credit: Taelar Pollman · The Sentry

On Confidence

Last week, I had a conversation with a homeless man. By “a conversation,” I mean a random man with a sketchbook approached my friends and I and started talking and drawing us. And by “a homeless man,” I mean a self-proclaimed former Disney animator. He told us again and again to Google him, that we’d know he wasn’t lying to us about his past of working at Disney. Sure enough, his name popped up next to the movies of my childhood, and the photos of him looked like this man with suitcases in front of me.

He kept asking my friends and I, “Aren’t I amazing?!” “Isn’t that the coolest?!” “Is that amazing or what?!” This man was so darn proud of himself. And maybe a little drunk, so he was extra proud of himself.

Beyond his eccentricities and self-confessed drunkenness, he told me something that spoke to something that I’ve always felt, but never put into words

“In life, over confidence will get you farther than a lack of confidence.”

It’s simple and it’s obvious, but I feel like that’s the beauty of it. I’ve only recently needed to fully digest that and I’m now starting to try to live in that mindset.

As I’m researching the entirety of the law school application process, I’m overwhelmed at the low rates of acceptance. My top schools have approximately a 20-30% acceptance rates, not to mention the top percentile LSAT scores, killer personal statements and diversity statements, and perfect letters of recommendation. To get into these schools, you need to be the best of the very best.

I don’t know if I’ve ever felt like the best of the best. I think I do alright, but nothing that makes me “the” candidate. So of course, I’ll never get into a good law school

… And how can I expect to get into a good law school if I accept that?! Going to law school is something I want more than anything else in my life. This is something that I’m ready to fight for. And a large part of that fight is standing up straight, looking the admissions boards of these schools in the eye and saying, “You’d be silly to let me go.”

Confidence.

Thanks, homeless man.