As the clock struck 12-midnight 2017 was in the past, and 2018 had officially arrived. Every New Year’s Eve millions celebrate the coming of a new year by recollecting the previous 365 days, and imagine what the next 365 days will bring. As I sat and pondered what 2018 will bring, I hope it is as successful as 2017 was for me.
The year 2017 was very successful for me in how my documentary Angels Of The Sky was selected and screened at 16 film festivals around the country, where it won six (6) award: five (5) for best documentary and one (1) for audience choice. This coming year is going to be the last eligible year for Angels Of The Sky to be considered available for film festivals, as the lifetime of films to screen at festivals is around two (2) years post-completion date.
When I finished the documentary, I figured a realistic expectation of my film getting accepted into film festivals would be that if we got 10, I would call it a success. Well, as of this writing Angels Of The Sky has been accepted to a total of 17, and I have submitted my film to many more for the coming year.
So now that Angels Of The Sky has surpassed my expectations, any acceptances in the final year is just icing on the cake. My only last hope would be that maybe someone along the lines of like the History Channel might pick it up for distribution…but at this point I am extremely pleased with whatever happens.
The last thing that I wanted to talk about that also made 2017 a successful year, is I finally pulled the trigger and have applied to graduate school in order to receive a J.D./Ph.D. in political science. If you have been following me for some time or read my last post, then you know for the last several years I have dreamt of going back to college to get a joint J.D./Ph.D. in political science. However, I never had the courage to apply in the past. Why?
I never applied to graduate school in the past for two (2) reasons: 1) taking standardized tests are impossible for someone like myself as we cannot manipulate the material like a normal individual, and 2) there are only a handful of universities that offer a joint J.D./Ph.D. program; Stanford University being only one of two on the west coast that does so.
That being said, in September I took the LSAT after studying for nine months, I received a terrible score as expected, but I still applied to Stanford as I am tired of sitting around and just reading books. Now, when I set out to apply to Stanford’s joint J.D./Ph.D. program, I figured the probability of me getting accepted with a low LSAT score was basically equal to me walking again. However, after writing the two (2) main essays, (which are below) I think they are incredibly powerful and the crack in the door may have gotten a little wider.
So, overall, 2017 for me was a good year and it set up the potential for 2018 to even to be a better year; will everything I hope and dream about come to fruition, I do not know but time will only tell..
Happy New Year Everyone!
Stanford University — Essays:
Personal Statement:
***Attention, before reading my personal statement below, for the next couple of minutes I want you to imagine not being able to breathe or move a single muscle from your shoulders down. That has been my life for the past 23 years now and for this brief moment, I would like you to imagine what it would be like to be stuck in that situation.***
When it comes to the simple definition of the word “life,” it states: “the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.”
Looking at this simple definition, in reality, is a strange thing. For instance, when one is born, you the individual have no choice of who you are going to be born to, where you are going to be born, or what genetics you are going to inherit. This is what makes “life” interesting and a good visual metaphor for one’s own life is a river. Some are long, some are short, and as the river flows at times, it can be smooth as silk or wild with rapids. The only way to find out where it goes is to paddle forward and see where the river takes you.
My river officially began September 21, 1986, and it started in Irvine, California with me being born as the third child to a young couple Cheryl and Charlie McGee. My dad was a scientist, and my mom was the typical housewife who looked after my older brother, Kevin, and sister, Mara – there was no difference between the McGees or the Cleavers.
As, I grew from an infant, to a toddler, and to a young child, I was the last individual to go through the cycle of growing up. As a result of this, I constantly watched my older brother and sister play and did not want to be left out. Due to not wanting to be left out, I picked up how to ride a bike, rollerblade and play sports quickly as I always had someone to emulate.
Since I was the youngest, I was a precocious child often getting in trouble to the point my nickname eventually became “Trouble Trent.” In terms of my nickname, I was not getting into serious trouble; it just had to do with the fact that I was a daredevil on wheels. For example, I learned how to ride a two-wheel bike just shy after my 3rd birthday because I rode down our driveway on a scooter as I held onto my brother or sister.
After figuring out how to ride a bike I literally could not be contained any further as I jumped off and rode down the stairs that lead to and from our neighbor’s and my house. My mom soon began calling me “Hell On Wheels” because if the device had circular disks – I could ride it. At the time little did my mom know “Hell On Wheels” would take on an entirely different meaning in a few short years to come.
As time went by the summer of 1994, arrived and I was on cloud nine. I had just finished 2nd grade, making me eligible to play kid pitch, my birthday was less than three months away where I was going to turn eight, and finally, to top it off I was heading into 3rd grade meaning my friends and I were going to be at the top of the lower grades totem poll. Life was good, however, roughly three weeks later everything would take an unexpected turn on Monday, July 11, 1994, where I became an innocent victim of a police pursuit – that left me a (C1, C2) quadriplegic.
Monday, July 11, 1994, will always be a memory in my past because not only did my life change forever that day, but in fact the only reason I am even here is a nurse witnessed the accident and gave me mouth to mouth until the paramedics arrived – literally saving my life. After that initial moment, over the next 17 years, despite the significant obstacles placed in front of me, my life’s future looked relatively bright.
Two years after my accident I became friends with Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Women) and James Keach (producer – Walk The Line), where they encouraged me to pursue a career in film because they said, “There is nothing we do you cannot.” When I was young Jane and James would try to show me the art of filmmaking whenever I was on the set of Dr. Quinn. However, I had no interest. Several years later with the seed planted in my brain, I graduated with a BFA in Film Production in 2011. Everything, in my life, was going to plan, but four years ago a dam caused the flow to come to a complete stop. Why?
Post-graduation I was never able to get a job in the industry as my physical disabilities prevented me from being able to do the grunt work, so I could get my wheel in the door. The only way I could get a job in the industry was by selling a script and somehow getting a producer credit, which is a 1 out of million chance. As a result of this, I thought one way I might be able to over come the challenge was by writing a book on my life.
Over the 23 years, I have been in my wheelchair my life’s journey has been filled with rapids making a level six river run look tame. I have been through more than 30 operations, and I should have died six times. However, I have always paddled through the rough and made it out the other side a stronger person. In going about writing my book I started doing research on police pursuits as that is what got me in this situation. In doing so, I always knew there was injustice in this world, but I never knew how much.
Growing up I always thought I was out of the ordinary in how I suffered a catastrophic injury, but I started to learn it is basically an everyday occurrence. My book ended up not getting completed, which is too long of a story for this personal statement. But after studying police pursuits for the past four years, I “woke” up and have decided I want to change career paths and try to help people whose civil rights have been violated like mine.
So, why am I applying to Stanford? I have decided to apply because I am tired of just sitting around reading books and doing nothing with my life. Several years ago I looked into getting a Ph.D. in political science, a J.D. or a combination of both. However, I never pulled the trigger as taking standardized tests for someone in my situation is impossible (see addendum).
That being said, when I started looking into getting a joint J.D./Ph.D. in political science, I did not know whether there were any universities that offered such a program. Well, after doing a little research I saw there were only a handful of colleges that did so, Stanford being only one of two on the west coast.
In applying to get a joint J.D./Ph.D. in political science, I would like to study in the areas of civil rights and American politics. In terms of civil rights, my Fourth Amendment was violated when I was seven years old and there were no real repercussions handed down for either party involved. However, me being the law-abiding citizen I have suffered every day since that fateful day back in 1994.
Over the course of my life, I have had many ups and downs, and I have always questioned, “Why am I still here?” and “What am I supposed to do?” One of the greatest films that focuses on the questions of “life” is Rob Reiner’s The Bucket List.
Carter played by Morgan Freeman, says, “My pastor always says, our lives are streams flowing into the same river towards whatever heaven lies in the mist beyond the falls. Find the joy in your life, Edward. My dear friend, close your eyes and let the waters take you home.”
If you have some free time and would like to get to know me a little better, please check out my blog at: thelifeofaquadriplegicfilmmaker.wordpress.com
Diversity Essay:
Since the conception of the Stanford Law School (SLS) in 1893, every year that has gone by 180 students have been accepted into the SLS program. That means over the course of the past 124 years, approximately 22,320 students have graduated and infiltrated their mark in the Law community.
That being said, has anyone like myself a (C1, C2) quadriplegic ever even applied or graduated from the SLS program? I do not know the answer to that last question, but if the population of the United States consisted of only individuals who had some form of spinal cord injury (SCI), the following is what that world would look like.
In today’s world according to data compiled by SCI-INFO-PAGES, there are 250,000 people in the United States living with some form of SCI. Of those 250,000, 52 percent are paraplegics, and 47 percent are quadriplegics. That means there are approximately 117,500 other individuals who are considered quadriplegics like myself as their injuries range from C1-C6.
With this data and the 2015 Census stating that 33 percent of individuals in the United States have a Bachelor’s degree, that would bring the total number of quadriplegics to have a Bachelor’s degree to be 38,775. This would be 100 percent accurate if the United States population consisted of only quadriplegic individuals – which we all know is not true.
When I entered Chapman University in 2005, I was only the second quadriplegic ever to be enrolled in the university since its founding in 1861 – making me a unique individual. Why? Quadriplegics like myself have only been able to “somewhat” participate in society over the last 30 to 40 years, as doctors figured out how to keep individuals like myself alive. Before that timeframe, ventilator-dependent quadriplegics either died, due to their injuries, or spent their entire life encapsulated in an iron lung.
With someone like myself trying to make my mark in our society, it has been a challenge as the odds are stacked up against me more than a “normal” individual who does not have physical disabilities. What causes individuals like myself to get frustrated is the system does not work for us. For instance, for me to even apply I had to take the LSAT, which is impossible for someone in my situation, and if someone like myself wants to “change the system,” how can we go about doing so if in order to get into a J.D./Ph.D. program – the system does not work in our favor?
A little over three years ago I had surgery to fix a wound and one of the Fellows assisting the main doctor really took a liking to me. The Fellow was Dr. Ryan Spivak M.D. who was attending USC. Dr. Spivak tried to get me into USC’s Ph.D. in political science program by bypassing the GRE, but the university would not even listen to him.
On 2/5/2015, Dr. Spivak said, “Trent is a very special patient…he has undergone a truly amazing journey that 99.9% of us couldn’t even imagine going through. He is very inspirational and I felt very blessed to have had the opportunity to take care of him.”
Even though my LSAT score and GPA are lower than you would like, I would bring a different and unique perspective to the SLS community. Of the 22,320 SLS graduates, how many of them have had their Fourth Amendment violated, sued for their rights to be restored, and lost due to California vehicle code 17004.7? I probably can guess not many.
If you would like to read my court case it is below:
McGEE v. CITY OF LAGUNA BEACH
Trent McGee 