As for the thing for HighTimes; I liked it alot, though I do agree with you that you may do better without the "...my story is long and boring...", and I also agree with 4252 when he said that the bit about your past troubles may be slightly too much; like he said, talk about your good qualities as opposed to negative subjects. It's the same with anything; people remember what they want to remember, and alot of people (especially in certain environments, such as an application or interview like this) tend to remember the negative over the positive. Like I said, i'm stoned, I don't know.