Who knew that my most viewed blog would be the one I posted sharing my Statement of Purpose (aka admissions essay) to Gallatin?! I want to share two short stories about how my posting the statement has impacted myself and others.
First, anyone reading this should know that I believe my purpose in life is to enrich and enable the best capabilities for all people. It is fascinating how nearly any and everything I do these days winds up as an expression of this purpose. My Statement of Purpose has been revealed as one of these unsuspecting seeds of contribution to people I may never have known about.
I got an email one day in late October or from someone asking if I provided editing services. Since they sent the e-mail to my PlanIt Brooklyn e-mail address, I figured they were simply confused about my consulting company. After a quick e-mail for the sake of clarity, I discovered that this gentleman in California was applying to Gallatin and believed that the essay he'd written was crap. He was asking if I'd be interested/capable of helping him with his and asked how much I'd charge. I was moved that he'd been so courageous as to ask for my help with less than 48 hours until he had to press send on his application. He shared with me about what degree he wanted to fashion for himself and I told him not to worry about paying me - simply send what he had thus far. I offered him a few tips and he was off. I told him to do his best to share himself and that if Gallatin didn't accept him it was their loss and not his. He sent me an e-mail letting me know he'd pressed send and I wished him luck.
Three days ago I got a call from a California number (408, my old area code). It was him. He'd called to tell me that he got accepted into Gallatin!!! He felt it was important for me to know because, he says, "[My] essay helped him to craft [his] own." I began tearing up and thanked him.
On another random day in November, I attended a dear friend's intimate birthday party. We somehow began sharing about our passions and the birthday girl asked me if I ever ended up going to Gallatin. "No," I told her, "didn't have the money and wound up getting a job that allowed me the opportunity to do exactly what I was going to Gallatin to help me launch." She went on to tell me that she was speaking to a friend of hers and discovered that that friend had somehow found my Statement of Purpose online and that it inspired her to apply to Gallatin and she too had gotten in!
Extraordinary.
What else can I share that will lead to people living courageously?...
