Free College Admissions Essays: The Sonoran Desert

“Whatsoever things are true…”

The Sonoran Desert is a magical place. In the sweltering heat of southwest Arizona, cacti cast ghostly shadows over sun-scorched dunes transforming the barren wasteland into a fantastical Dreamscape. Here, at the age of eight, I imagined myself overcoming insurmountable odds to vanquish phantom armies of alien invaders. Perhaps it was the immense desolation or simply the innocence of a child, but my make-believe conquests inspired within me the courage to dare dream dreams others deemed unattainable. History laments of Alexander weeping when he realized there were no more worlds to conquer. Retrospectively, one could argue that the “great one” simply lacked vision. Had he the foresight to conceptualize

The film capital of the world, Los Angeles, and screenwriting courses at UCLA beckoned, which led to directing and producing numerous films at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts where I studied film production, business finance, and of course, pre-law. Accomplishments of merit included a spec television pilot, feature films and a much lauded USC MFA thesis documentary selected and screened at the prestigious Festival de Cannes. On the eve of my eighteenth year, my reality had already surpassed reasonable expectations, but in my heart, I felt unsatisfied. There was still another passion yet unfulfilled, another world yet to

This fact became all too evident during the production of my latest feature film, which proved to be a grueling endeavor fraught with legal complications. Negotiating contracts, understanding liability and explaining the mitigating effects of tax incentives and risk to investors; these are but a few aspects of the film industry for which an entertainment law perspective is vital. Presently, I find myself at a crossroad, unable to achieve one passion without first fulfilling another. Those of fainter heart foresee an impossible conundrum, but I’ve heard negative rhetoric before and I stand impervious to doubt. To paraphrase Robert Frost, my two roads have diverged in a wood and the only way to reach my final destination is to traverse them concurrently, thereby creating my own figurative road less traveled. An education gleaned from studying at a top-level institution such as Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law is my pathway toward the eventual convergence of my dual passions; strengthening my skills as a deal maker, producer and ultimately a studio