personal statement 2018

• Aug 12, 2018

How to write an Oxford personal statement

Make sure your personal statement conveys your interest in the subject – write down talks you’ve been to (and what they made you think), open days you’ve attended (and what you took away from them), and maybe even books you’ve read (and whether or not you agree with the author and why). Are you seeing a common thread? It’s less about what you’ve done and more about what you make of it! It’s best to only mention one book or one talk, but really go in to some critical analysis, rather than to just write a list of seven without any additional commentary.

Any extra-curricular activities should be ‘super-curricular’, i.e. related to your degree: for Maths, maybe the Maths Olympiad, for Science, maybe a Science EPQ or that time you entered a Lego competition (totally relevant to Engineering!). For Law, I talked about teaching and debating, and the self-discipline involved in teaching myself a language as an A Level. You can honestly make anything work – try to make yourself stand out a little by having something people don’t normally have! But don’t worry about not having twenty different hobbies – you don’t have space to mention more than one or two, and you won’t really be asked about your personal life at interview.

What I would reiterate, above all, is to not stress over the personal statement. If you’ve spelt everything correctly and you’ve got all your proof that you’re genuinely and voluntarily interested in your subject outside of school then you’re doing it right! And, to the year 12s going in to year 13 – for the love of all that’s holy, take a few weeks off this summer. Breathe. Let yourself detach from the intimidating university admissions process and the pressure of A Levels for a bit, because that will let you be so much more engaged when you jump back in.

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• How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

Published on February 12, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 3, 2023.

A personal statement is a short essay of around 500–1,000 words, in which you tell a compelling story about who you are, what drives you, and why you’re applying.

To write a successful personal statement for a graduate school application , don’t just summarize your experience; instead, craft a focused narrative in your own voice. Aim to demonstrate three things:

• Your personality: what are your interests, values, and motivations?
• Your talents: what can you bring to the program?
• Your goals: what do you hope the program will do for you?

This article guides you through some winning strategies to build a strong, well-structured personal statement for a master’s or PhD application. You can download the full examples below.

Urban Planning Psychology History

Table of contents

Getting started with your personal statement, the introduction: start with an attention-grabbing opening, the main body: craft your narrative, the conclusion: look ahead, revising, editing, and proofreading your personal statement, frequently asked questions, other interesting articles.

Before you start writing, the first step is to understand exactly what’s expected of you. If the application gives you a question or prompt for your personal statement, the most important thing is to respond to it directly.

For example, you might be asked to focus on the development of your personal identity; challenges you have faced in your life; or your career motivations. This will shape your focus and emphasis—but you still need to find your own unique approach to answering it.

There’s no universal template for a personal statement; it’s your chance to be creative and let your own voice shine through. But there are strategies you can use to build a compelling, well-structured story.

The first paragraph of your personal statement should set the tone and lead smoothly into the story you want to tell.

Strategy 1: Open with a concrete scene

An effective way to catch the reader’s attention is to set up a scene that illustrates something about your character and interests. If you’re stuck, try thinking about:

• A personal experience that changed your perspective
• A story from your family’s history
• A memorable teacher or learning experience
• An unusual or unexpected encounter

To write an effective scene, try to go beyond straightforward description; start with an intriguing sentence that pulls the reader in, and give concrete details to create a convincing atmosphere.

Strategy 2: Open with your motivations

To emphasize your enthusiasm and commitment, you can start by explaining your interest in the subject you want to study or the career path you want to follow.

Just stating that it interests you isn’t enough: first, you need to figure out why you’re interested in this field:

• Is it a longstanding passion or a recent discovery?
• Does it come naturally or have you had to work hard at it?
• How does it fit into the rest of your life?
• What do you think it contributes to society?

Tips for the introduction

• Don’t start on a cliche: avoid phrases like “Ever since I was a child…” or “For as long as I can remember…”
• Do save the introduction for last. If you’re struggling to come up with a strong opening, leave it aside, and note down any interesting ideas that occur to you as you write the rest of the personal statement.

Once you’ve set up the main themes of your personal statement, you’ll delve into more detail about your experiences and motivations.

To structure the body of your personal statement, there are various strategies you can use.

Strategy 1: Describe your development over time

One of the simplest strategies is to give a chronological overview of key experiences that have led you to apply for graduate school.

• What first sparked your interest in the field?
• Which classes, assignments, classmates, internships, or other activities helped you develop your knowledge and skills?
• Where do you want to go next? How does this program fit into your future plans?

Don’t try to include absolutely everything you’ve done—pick out highlights that are relevant to your application. Aim to craft a compelling narrative that shows how you’ve changed and actively developed yourself.

My interest in psychology was first sparked early in my high school career. Though somewhat scientifically inclined, I found that what interested me most was not the equations we learned about in physics and chemistry, but the motivations and perceptions of my fellow students, and the subtle social dynamics that I observed inside and outside the classroom. I wanted to learn how our identities, beliefs, and behaviours are shaped through our interactions with others, so I decided to major in Social Psychology. My undergraduate studies deepened my understanding of, and fascination with, the interplay between an individual mind and its social context.During my studies, I acquired a solid foundation of knowledge about concepts like social influence and group dynamics, but I also took classes on various topics not strictly related to my major. I was particularly interested in how other fields intersect with psychology—the classes I took on media studies, biology, and literature all enhanced my understanding of psychological concepts by providing different lenses through which to look at the issues involved.

Strategy 2: Own your challenges and obstacles

If your path to graduate school hasn’t been easy or straightforward, you can turn this into a strength, and structure your personal statement as a story of overcoming obstacles.

• Is your social, cultural or economic background underrepresented in the field? Show how your experiences will contribute a unique perspective.
• Do you have gaps in your resume or lower-than-ideal grades? Explain the challenges you faced and how you dealt with them.

Don’t focus too heavily on negatives, but use them to highlight your positive qualities. Resilience, resourcefulness and perseverance make you a promising graduate school candidate.

Growing up working class, urban decay becomes depressingly familiar. The sight of a row of abandoned houses does not surprise me, but it continues to bother me. Since high school, I have been determined to pursue a career in urban planning. While people of my background experience the consequences of urban planning decisions first-hand, we are underrepresented in the field itself. Ironically, given my motivation, my economic background has made my studies challenging. I was fortunate enough to be awarded a scholarship for my undergraduate studies, but after graduation I took jobs in unrelated fields to help support my parents. In the three years since, I have not lost my ambition. Now I am keen to resume my studies, and I believe I can bring an invaluable perspective to the table: that of the people most impacted by the decisions of urban planners.

Strategy 3: Demonstrate your knowledge of the field

Especially if you’re applying for a PhD or another research-focused program, it’s a good idea to show your familiarity with the subject and the department. Your personal statement can focus on the area you want to specialize in and reflect on why it matters to you.

• Reflect on the topics or themes that you’ve focused on in your studies. What draws you to them?
• Discuss any academic achievements, influential teachers, or other highlights of your education.
• Talk about the questions you’d like to explore in your research and why you think they’re important.

The personal statement isn’t a research proposal , so don’t go overboard on detail—but it’s a great opportunity to show your enthusiasm for the field and your capacity for original thinking.

In applying for this research program, my intention is to build on the multidisciplinary approach I have taken in my studies so far, combining knowledge from disparate fields of study to better understand psychological concepts and issues. The Media Psychology program stands out to me as the perfect environment for this kind of research, given its researchers’ openness to collaboration across diverse fields. I am impressed by the department’s innovative interdisciplinary projects that focus on the shifting landscape of media and technology, and I hope that my own work can follow a similarly trailblazing approach. More specifically, I want to develop my understanding of the intersection of psychology and media studies, and explore how media psychology theories and methods might be applied to neurodivergent minds. I am interested not only in media psychology but also in psychological disorders, and how the two interact. This is something I touched on during my undergraduate studies and that I’m excited to delve into further.

Strategy 4: Discuss your professional ambitions

Especially if you’re applying for a more professionally-oriented program (such as an MBA), it’s a good idea to focus on concrete goals and how the program will help you achieve them.

• If your career is just getting started, show how your character is suited to the field, and explain how graduate school will help you develop your talents.
• If you have already worked in the profession, show what you’ve achieved so far, and explain how the program will allow you to take the next step.
• If you are planning a career change, explain what has driven this decision and how your existing experience will help you succeed.

Don’t just state the position you want to achieve. You should demonstrate that you’ve put plenty of thought into your career plans and show why you’re well-suited to this profession.

One thing that fascinated me about the field during my undergraduate studies was the sheer number of different elements whose interactions constitute a person’s experience of an urban environment. Any number of factors could transform the scene I described at the beginning: What if there were no bus route? Better community outreach in the neighborhood? Worse law enforcement? More or fewer jobs available in the area? Some of these factors are out of the hands of an urban planner, but without taking them all into consideration, the planner has an incomplete picture of their task. Through further study I hope to develop my understanding of how these disparate elements combine and interact to create the urban environment. I am interested in the social, psychological and political effects our surroundings have on our lives. My studies will allow me to work on projects directly affecting the kinds of working-class urban communities I know well. I believe I can bring my own experiences, as well as my education, to bear upon the problem of improving infrastructure and quality of life in these communities.

Tips for the main body

• Don’t rehash your resume by trying to summarize everything you’ve done so far; the personal statement isn’t about listing your academic or professional experience, but about reflecting, evaluating, and relating it to broader themes.
• Do make your statements into stories: Instead of saying you’re hard-working and self-motivated, write about your internship where you took the initiative to start a new project. Instead of saying you’ve always loved reading, reflect on a novel or poem that changed your perspective.

Your conclusion should bring the focus back to the program and what you hope to get out of it, whether that’s developing practical skills, exploring intellectual questions, or both.

Emphasize the fit with your specific interests, showing why this program would be the best way to achieve your aims.

Strategy 1: What do you want to know?

If you’re applying for a more academic or research-focused program, end on a note of curiosity: what do you hope to learn, and why do you think this is the best place to learn it?

If there are specific classes or faculty members that you’re excited to learn from, this is the place to express your enthusiasm.

Strategy 2: What do you want to do?

If you’re applying for a program that focuses more on professional training, your conclusion can look to your career aspirations: what role do you want to play in society, and why is this program the best choice to help you get there?

Tips for the conclusion

• Don’t summarize what you’ve already said. You have limited space in a personal statement, so use it wisely!
• Do think bigger than yourself: try to express how your individual aspirations relate to your local community, your academic field, or society more broadly. It’s not just about what you’ll get out of graduate school, but about what you’ll be able to give back.

You’ll be expected to do a lot of writing in graduate school, so make a good first impression: leave yourself plenty of time to revise and polish the text.

Your style doesn’t have to be as formal as other kinds of academic writing, but it should be clear, direct and coherent. Make sure that each paragraph flows smoothly from the last, using topic sentences and transitions to create clear connections between each part.

Don’t be afraid to rewrite and restructure as much as necessary. Since you have a lot of freedom in the structure of a personal statement, you can experiment and move information around to see what works best.

Finally, it’s essential to carefully proofread your personal statement and fix any language errors. Before you submit your application, consider investing in professional personal statement editing . For $150, you have the peace of mind that your personal statement is grammatically correct, strong in term of your arguments, and free of awkward mistakes.

A statement of purpose is usually more formal, focusing on your academic or professional goals. It shouldn’t include anything that isn’t directly relevant to the application.

A personal statement can often be more creative. It might tell a story that isn’t directly related to the application, but that shows something about your personality, values, and motivations.

However, both types of document have the same overall goal: to demonstrate your potential as a graduate student and s how why you’re a great match for the program.

The typical length of a personal statement for graduate school applications is between 500 and 1,000 words.

Different programs have different requirements, so always check if there’s a minimum or maximum length and stick to the guidelines. If there is no recommended word count, aim for no more than 1-2 pages.

If you’re applying to multiple graduate school programs, you should tailor your personal statement to each application.

Some applications provide a prompt or question. In this case, you might have to write a new personal statement from scratch: the most important task is to respond to what you have been asked.

If there’s no prompt or guidelines, you can re-use the same idea for your personal statement – but change the details wherever relevant, making sure to emphasize why you’re applying to this specific program.

If the application also includes other essays, such as a statement of purpose , you might have to revise your personal statement to avoid repeating the same information.

If you want to know more about college essays , academic writing , and AI tools , make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.

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Three seniors at Brooklyn high schools are determined to get their entire classes to college, even though they aren't even sure they are going to make it there themselves. They are working as college counselors in their three schools because many of their friends have nowhere else to turn for support. PERSONAL STATEMENT is a feature-length documentary that follows Karoline, Christine and Enoch through their senior year and into college. They work tirelessly as peer college counselors to realize better futures for themselves and their peers. They struggle and they stumble, but refuse to succumb to the barriers that prevent so many low-income students from attending and graduating from college. Personal Statement is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV, and available for rent or purchase on Prime Video. It's a documentary movie with a high IMDb audience rating of 8.7 (31 votes).

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Three seniors at Brooklyn high schools are determined to get their entire classes to college, even though they aren't even sure they are going to make it there themselves. They are working as college counselors in their three schools because many of their friends have nowhere else to turn for support. PERSONAL STATEMENT is a feature-length documentary that follows Karoline, Christine and Enoch through their senior year and into college. They work tirelessly as peer college counselors to realize better futures for themselves and their peers. They struggle and they stumble, but refuse to succumb to the barriers that prevent so many low-income students from attending and graduating from college.

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Karoline, Christine and Enoch are high school seniors who want to be the first generation in their families to go to college, and they are determined to bring their friends with them. That's why they work as peer college counselors in their schools even as they reach towards their own college dreams. Karoline, Christine and Enoch are fighting for the right to a better future, for themselves and for every single one of their classmates.

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2018 Application Countdown, Part 2 - Personal Statement

How to Build Momentum in a Personal Statement

The personal statement must “smell authentic” meaning that it could never be possible to confuse it with any other applicant. To be compelling, your story must be told with humility while also highlighting your strengths and leadership. Begin your personal statement by telling your story of public service and your contributions to the public good. Define your passion for specific policy issues and the ways in which you have engaged with those areas either as a volunteer or paid professional.

Next, explain your reason for applying to a graduate school of public policy and international affairs. Be sure to explain what is motivating you to pursue this degree, what skills you expect to acquire and how the School best fits your interests.

Of critical importance is to show your focus, which means that we want to know what you intend to do with this degree following graduation. Indicate not only the sectors where you wish to work, but name the specific organizations, agencies, non-profits, multilateral institutions, foundations, advocacy, elected office and so forth. By naming the sector and providing specific job examples, you provide a clear and strong indication of your ambition and future leadership. Yes, it is aspiration rather than accomplishment. However, we want to admit new students who are outrageously ambitions – yet realistic of the progression in their careers.

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How to Create a Great Personal Statement + 2018-19 PTCAS Essay

• Thread starter PT_Student_123
• Start date Apr 9, 2018
• Tags 2018 2019 applications essays physical therapy ptcas

PT_Student_123

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• Apr 9, 2018

JustBeingPatient

• Jun 25, 2018

Thank you for sharing! I watched the webinar and it was extremely helpful. I liked that the last presenter offered up some ideas on how to brainstorm and start writing. I followed the process that she described- creating a web of words and then doing free writing. It was extremely helpful and I was able to suss out some experiences and traits that I wanted to focus on. I would like to start my personal essay describing one event (a discussion I had with a stranger on a bus) that reshaped how I viewed my future career (I will obviously write about how my view changed). This paradigm shift started a chain of events, and using this new view I started "testing-out" different careers through internships, volunteering, and part-time work. In this essay, I would like to describe the important experiences and skills I gained during this time. The prompt asks us to describe " a meaningful experience." I am wondering if discussing multiple experiences will not properly address this prompt. I plan to tie all of the experiences back to the specific "woman-on-the-bus" experience. Would approaching the topic in this fashion be smart, or should I try to find a singular experience (possibly my experience in Massage Therapy school) and focus on skills/knowledge/insights that I developed from this singular experience.  

JustBeingPatient said: Thank you for sharing! I watched the webinar and it was extremely helpful. I liked that the last presenter offered up some ideas on how to brainstorm and start writing. I followed the process that she described- creating a web of words and then doing free writing. It was extremely helpful and I was able to suss out some experiences and traits that I wanted to focus on. I would like to start my personal essay describing one event (a discussion I had with a stranger on a bus) that reshaped how I viewed my future career (I will obviously write about how my view changed). This paradigm shift started a chain of events, and using this new view I started "testing-out" different careers through internships, volunteering, and part-time work. In this essay, I would like to describe the important experiences and skills I gained during this time. The prompt asks us to describe " a meaningful experience." I am wondering if discussing multiple experiences will not properly address this prompt. I plan to tie all of the experiences back to the specific "woman-on-the-bus" experience. Would approaching the topic in this fashion be smart, or should I try to find a singular experience (possibly my experience in Massage Therapy school) and focus on skills/knowledge/insights that I developed from this singular experience. Click to expand...

ACPTWannabe

• Jun 26, 2018

ACPTWannabe said: I'm like you. I had the idea to write about how a combination of experiences impacted my attitude towards dealing with adversity beginning with having to withdraw my admissions from my first-choice college and culiminating with two rounds of rejections from physical therapy schools. I included a line or two about how no one experience completely alters our perception instead our perceptions are formed by a combination of experiences. I don't know if it will be ok or not, but I have a draft done and am forwarding it to my pre-health advisor for review. Click to expand...

• Jun 28, 2018

JustBeingPatient said: I would love to hear what your adviser says about that approach. Would you be willing to give us an update? Click to expand...

• Jun 10, 2019

PT_Student_123 said: Good Luck on your 2018-2019 applications. This is fantastic resource! https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/recordingView?webinarKey=8189520333217785603& [email protected] Bonus: 2018-19 PTCAS Essay "Describe a meaningful experience in your life. Reflect on how that experience influenced your personal growth, such as your attitudes or perceptions." Responses will be limited to 4500 characters. I got these from a UCSD pre-health advisor. Click to expand...

• Jun 13, 2019

dptdiaries said: Hi, does anyone know the prompt for 2019-2020 application cycle? Click to expand...

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Personal Statement 2018

Distributed by Good Docs Produced by Juliane Dressner and Beth Levinson Directed by Juliane Dressner Streaming, 52 mins

Middle School - General Adult Adolescents; Education; Social Work

Date Entered: 11/26/2019

In the intimate, affecting documentary Personal Statement , three high school seniors become peer counselors at their various high schools, to encourage their fellow students to develop the drive and skills to get into college, while they themselves are working on their own college applications. Enoch, Karolina, and Christine each work in the student success center in their separate high schools, all of which are located in Brooklyn, N.Y. Supported by their own school counselors, they are in essence becoming mentors and social workers to their peers, a burden that sometimes hangs heavily on them, especially as they face their own struggles – institutional, familial, personal – to keep their own aspirations and college plans on track. The film admirably doesn’t try to preach or even intrude into their daily lives, but instead simply shows them progressing through the school year, making conscious decisions to try to help their peers, working on the personal statements for their own college applications, and trying to deal with the various obstacles in their way to finding, choosing, getting accepted to, and finding the money to go to college.

Each senior, though similar in age and socioeconomic background, is very different personally. Karolina is the bossy big sister to her peers, knowing that they will have to fight for their own educations and pushing them to do so. She’s driven and honest about her own struggles and theirs. Bullied in middle school because she’s a lesbian, she’s learned to be tenacious, persistent, and unafraid. Enoch is laid-back, quiet and highly observant. The tenderness and gentle persuasion he approaches his fellow students with is similar to the way he cares for his young niece. Christine is the most interesting of the three, with a friendly but wary demeanor covering a rock-solid belief in herself and firm commitments to her activism and her college goals. She’s the one constantly encouraging others to commit to their dreams. But her struggles center around her family, who don’t understand her activism, and her mother, who loves her but doesn’t see why she needs to go to college.

The filmmakers follow a Frederick Wiseman style of documenting their subjects: no narration, no interviews, and no exposition (beyond occasional titles introducing characters and their relationship to Enoch, Christine, or Karolina). This approach has pros and cons. The film can be scattered at times, and feels incomplete in its second half, with an almost immediate jump from sending applications in winter to spring acceptance letters. Opportunities to give more complete pictures of the primary students were missed. For example, though Karolina mentions her home life in passing, nothing of it is ever shown, and so there’s never any added definition to her personality than what she says about herself. When Enoch commits to SUNY-Cortland, it’s clear he’s of two minds in doing it, but the filmmakers’ process means that we never get to hear about his potential objections, or why he decided against them.

However, on the plus side, the realism of the film is front and center. Sometimes documentaries err in “making a movie” rather than showing people’s lives. Personal Statement never drifts in that direction, and the film is much stronger for it. Bag checks on entering school, truancy questions, hallway discussions, and classroom college prep sessions are mundane, yet vital to what will come next for these students. Tensions during family talks, such as when Christine’s cousin advocates on her behalf to her mom or when Enoch has to track down his unemployed mom to try to get a 1099 tax form out of her, are heightened because they’re so raw, and so crucial to the future. The story the filmmakers are telling really is the students’ own story, in their own words and actions. The viewer comes to feel deeply for these three students as they experience joys and sorrows around their pursuit of college. The camera, while never intrusive, also never shies away from uncomfortable conversations, tears, or happiness.

Though the documentary is too brief in places, and ends far too abruptly, it’s a captivating, intimate study of its subjects. I can understand the needle the filmmakers are trying to thread: wanting to offer a documentary which is digestible at less than an hour, and yet still contains enough content for a viewer to feel like they come to know Christine, Karolina, and Enoch, their personalities and their struggles. I came away from the film wanting at least another 30 minutes, or more, to spend with them. And that in itself seems to me the hallmark of a successful documentary film.

Best Documentary Feature, Big Apple Film Festival; Best of Fest, Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival

The power of a personal mission statement, and other lessons from a recent graduate

By Joel Burt-Miller, MPH ’23

June 3, 2024 — I am about to begin an exciting new chapter of my career as one of 10 new residents in the U.S. pursuing dual training in family medicine and psychiatry. Reflecting on how I got to this point, I have learned some important lessons. I’ve laid them out here in the hopes they might resonate with others seeking to define their paths.

Define your life’s mission

My introduction to the field of public health came as a freshman at Brandeis University, in a course on inequities in health care and health outcomes. It ignited a flame in me and led me to define a clear mission for my life: I would advocate for the inequitably resourced, both locally and globally. I would serve and heal both individuals and communities. I would focus not just on treating disease, but on supporting a holistically healthy life.

My journey from that point took many twists and turns, but throughout, I held tight to that mission statement. It helped me evaluate each opportunity with clarity and purpose.

Be open to new interests

When I entered medical school at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, I planned to go into primary care. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which also exposed an ongoing mental health crisis. I became invested in finding a solution. I designed a research study based on the South African philosophy of Ubuntu that used small groups, called Ubuntu groups , to effectively address the social isolation and burnout experienced within my learning community while promoting a sense of belonging. That project sparked my interest in psychiatry. Yet, I remained committed to preventive medicine as well.

Was it possible to accommodate my interest in both fields of medicine? Through a quick Google search, sure enough, I found five residency programs combining family medicine and psychiatry.

Seek mentors (even when it’s daunting!)

The existence of these programs was promising — but I wanted to know more. With piqued curiosity, I entered the same search terms, “family medicine and psychiatry,” on LinkedIn. To my delight, someone popped up: Rohit Abraham. His bio described him as a ‘Combined Psychiatry & Family Medicine Resident at Boston Medical Center.’

I decided to take a leap of faith. Though I’d never met Rohit, I sent him a message. I hoped he would be kind enough to respond but was also prepared for a reality where he would not. A few hours later, he replied, and we scheduled a time to speak over Zoom.

In our conversation, I gained much more than knowledge of his career path in medicine. Though I didn’t know it at the time, I gained a lifelong mentor.

Don’t be afraid to take detours

In our initial conversation, Rohit explained why he saw his combined residency as an ideal pathway: He was training to provide comprehensive primary care that would let him address both the physical and the mental health needs of urban underserved populations, with an intersectional focus on substance use disorders.

Reviewing his bio on LinkedIn, I noticed that during medical school, Rohit had pursued an MPH in health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health as a Zuckerman Fellow. When I asked him about the program, he explained that he wanted to address health disparities at both the clinical and policy levels. He expected the dual MD and MPH degrees would help him do that. His goal sounded so much like my own life’s mission. I was inspired.

In just one conversation, my new mentor had opened the door to a possibility I had not dreamed of before.

I applied to the Zuckerman Fellowship program and gained acceptance, prompting me to take a year away from medical school to pursue an MPH.

The degree program exposed me to many new experiences. In my practicum, I worked with MassHealth to disseminate state funding to local communities to expand mental health services. A Harvard case study also introduced me to Boston Medical Center’s model of care, which aims to provide consistently excellent and accessible health services to all in need, regardless of status or ability to pay.

With each new experience, I was able to better articulate how I could achieve my life’s mission.

Keep looking for new lessons

I returned to medical school for my final year shortly after receiving my MPH. And just a few months ago, I learned that I matched at my first-choice residency program at Boston Medical Center — following in Rohit’s footsteps.

As I reflect on my path, I can see how much it helped me to define my life’s mission clearly — and then to keep myself open to considering different ways to achieve it. I can also see how important it was to take a few leaps of faith along the way, including reaching out to a stranger I hoped might be able to give me some guidance.

I’m thrilled to launch into this new stage of my career. I know I’ll learn many new life lessons along the way, so long as I keep myself open to the power of possibilities.

Joel F. Burt-Miller is a resident in the combined family medicine and psychiatry program at Boston Medical Center. He holds an MPH in health policy from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, an MD from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, an MS in biomedical sciences from Duke University, and was a 2022-2023 Zuckerman Fellow at Harvard.

Photo: Kent Dayton

Hunter Biden to plead guilty to two tax charges, resolve federal gun violation: DOJ

Biden has been under investigation since 2018 and he acknowledged in 2020 it involved tax matters..

• Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is investigating Hunter Biden, announced the tax and gun charges in a court filing Monday.
• Biden has acknowledged the inquiry covered tax matters, but he has denied wrongdoing.

WASHINGTON – Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion in federal court in Delaware and participate in a pretrial program for a firearm offense, after a multi-year investigation into his tax matters , a case with implications for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign and dealings with congressional Republicans.

U.S. Attorney David Weiss filed a letter in federal court Tuesday citing the charges and the plea agreement. In one case, the president's son will plead guilty to the tax charges, which allege willful failure to pay federal income tax. In another case, he agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement for the gun offense, in which he acknowledged unlawful possession of a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver, despite being addicted to drugs.

The Justice Department will recommend probation for tax charges, according to The Associated Press, based on an unnamed source. The diversion program could eventually lead to dismissal of the gun charge.

Weiss asked the court − a judge has not yet been assigned − to set a date to formally process the plea agreements. Weiss began in 2018 with questions about taxes on overseas business deals , after his work in Ukraine and China drew federal scrutiny .

Biden's lawyer, Christopher Clark, said his understanding is that the agreements resolve the five-year investigation.

"Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement," Clark said. "I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward."

Biden himself disclosed the inquiry in December 2020.

Asked Tuesday if he had spoken with his son, President Biden said, "I’m very proud of my son."

The White House has previously said the president hasn't discussed the investigation with Attorney General Merrick Garland or the Justice Department.

“The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life," Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. "We will have no further comment.”

The case has political implications. Former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have attacked Hunter Biden as a potentially bad influence on his father . Trump appointed Weiss. IRS agents say they were removed from the probe. Hunter Biden has sued a laptop repairman for allegedly distributing private personal information to Trump supporters and reporters.

Here is what we know about the inquiry:

What are the tax charges?

One of the court filings explained the basis for the tax charges against Hunter Biden.

He allegedly received more than $1.5 million in taxable income during 2017, when he lived in Washington, D.C., and owed the federal government more than $100,000, according to a court record. He was required to pay the tax by April 2018 but didn't, according to the document filed by Leo Wise and Derek Hines, two special assistant U.S. attorneys in Weiss's office.

Biden again received more than $1.5 million in 2018 and failed to pay his taxes by April 2019, according to the document.

IRS investigators recently removed from probe

Congressional Republicans have questioned Biden's overseas business deals. A whistleblower at the Internal Revenue Service, which has been investigating Biden for potential tax violations, told lawmakers in May his entire team was removed from the probe, according to a letter from his lawyers obtained by USA TODAY .

Mark Lytle, the attorney for the IRS whistleblower, wrote to lawmakers that his client has information about a “failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition” of  a criminal investigation related to Biden’s taxes  and whether he made a false statement in connection with a gun purchase.

The letter said the IRS criminal supervisory special agent "was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress." The Justice Department informed the whistleblower about the change.

Another charge involves allegedly false statement when buying a gun

Another charge in Weiss's inquiry alleges Biden made a false statement on a federal form when he bought a gun in 2018.

The Gun Control Act prohibits drug users from possessing firearms . The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ruled the ban applies to "a conviction for use or possession of a controlled substance within the past year."

Biden filled out a federal form when he bought a handgun in October 2018 in which he replied “no” to a question of whether he was “an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance," according to the Washington Post .

By his own account in his memoir “Beautiful Things,” Biden battled drug addiction and for periods during 2018 smoked crack “every 15 minutes.”

But Biden could potentiallly challenge the law under his Second Amendment right to bear arms. The Supreme Court overturned a New York gun law in June 2022 , in a decision that threatened a variety of firearms regulations.

How does Hunter Biden's laptop figure into the probe?

A  laptop became a focal point  of congressional inquiries because it contained a trove of documents and pictures of Hunter Biden.

When Trump raised questions about the laptop at a 2020 presidential debate, Joe Biden initially replied that it was Russian disinformation. The laptop’s legitimacy has  since been confirmed by CBS News and The Washington Post , but the contents remain under investigation.

Biden drug addition: Hunter Biden's drug use back in public eye as criminal charges could be around the corner

A  computer repairman, John Paul Mac Isaac,  gave the laptop information to the FBI after Hunter Biden failed to pick up the MacBook Pro following repairs in April 2019. Mac Isaac later gave a copy of the laptop's contents to Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who shared the material Trump's political supporters and with reporters.

Hunter Biden filed a claim in federal court alleging  Mac Isaac violated his privacy , took part in a conspiracy and helped others invade his privacy. The filing was in response to a $1.5 million lawsuit for alleged defamation that the repairman filed in Delaware Superior Court against Biden, CNN, Politico and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. The case has been moved to U.S. District Court in Delaware.

Biden became lightning rod for political conflict between father's administration and House GOP

The inquiry carried political implications from the start because of his father's ambition as a former vice president to return to the White House and because of clashes with congressional Republicans.

House Republicans led by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., have argued that Hunter Biden peddled influence on the administration through lucrative business deals and the sale of art. For example, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee released a report in March saying Hunter Biden and other relatives received $1.3 million from a business associate after he received a wire transfer from a Chinese company.

Biden paternity case: How the Biden family name became latest wrinkle in Hunter Biden's paternity battle

Comer called the charges a "slap on the wrist" and said they reflect a "two-tiered system of justice."

"Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery," Comer said. "These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee’s investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed.”

Trump, who has been indicted on federal charges over classified documents and New York state charges over business records, said in a post on Truth Social the Justice Department gave Hunter Biden "a mere 'traffic ticket.' Our system is BROKEN!"

The White House has dismissed the inquiries into Hunter Biden’s business deals as hyperpartisan and politically motivated. Joe Biden has defended himself and his son from attacks by Trump since the 2020 campaign .

Attorney General Merrick Garland has told Congress that the department’s decisions in the case would not be politicized.

“I stand by my testimony, and I refer you to the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, who is in charge of this case and capable of making any decisions that he feels are appropriate,” Garland said at an unrelated news conference May 2.

Contributing: The Associated Press