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The Path to Law School | |
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< | In truth, I cannot say that I feel I deserve to be where I am because of all the hard work I did to get here. As was said in class and as I believe, most of us have never had to work that hard, relatively speaking. I have done, merely, what I was told to do or supposed to do, there were never any real forks in the road or hard choices to make. The path to law school was relatively straightforward from the moment I decided I wanted to be a lawyer, go to college, study and take this test, go to law school. Although, I had always thought about being a lawyer, I realize now it was rather generally and abstractly. I had been more fascinated by the idea of being a lawyer, saying that I was a lawyer, and never given much thought to what comes after I’ve met my goal of becoming a lawyer. So now, the question is do I continue on this linear path that has been neatly laid out, go out to a firm, attempt to make partner or leave and go in house somewhere, or do I break from this norm and do something different, what that thing is yet is hard to conceptualize because I have never been trained to think otherwise. | >
> | In truth, I cannot say I feel I deserve to be where I am because of all the hard work I did to get here. As was said in class and as I believe, most of us have never had to work that hard, relatively speaking. I have done, merely, what I was told to do or supposed to do, there were never any real forks in the road or hard choices to make. The path to law school was relatively straightforward from the moment I decided I wanted to be a lawyer; simply go to college, study and take this test, go to law school. Although, I had always thought about being a lawyer, I realize now it was rather generally and abstractly. I had been more fascinated by the idea of being a lawyer, saying that I was a lawyer, and never given much thought to what comes after I’ve met my goal of becoming a lawyer. So now, the question is do I continue on this linear path that has been neatly laid out, go out to a firm, attempt to make partner or leave and go in house somewhere, or do I break from this norm and do something different, what that thing is yet is hard to conceptualize because I have never been trained to think otherwise. | | | Lucky or Qualified? | |
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< | My fear now is what we mentioned in class, that the luck that carried me so far is coming to an end. When I was applying to college and law school, I would think, just let me be fortunate enough to get in and then I will take over from there. And although I have always felt that I was up to the standards, at least intellectually, some part of me believed that it was this intangible luck that was responsible for my success. I think my conception of being lucky derived not from thinking I was not qualified, but thinking that there were so many people that are intelligent enough to do the same as me. So in applying to a firm, for me it is more of a matter of proving to myself that the luck has not run out, at least for now. But to say that this is me looking for some type of security would be wrong. By its definition, being “lucky” is an insecure state, one due to chance and fortunate circumstances. I feel that the purpose of “luck”, which in truth, is simply the product of the work and influence of my family and mentors, has been to place me in position to transfer this luck to those I choose, whether that be my future children or the general community and society. | >
> | My fear now is what we mentioned in class, that the luck that carried me so far is coming to an end. When I was applying to college and law school, I would think, just let me be fortunate enough to get in and then I will take over from there. And although I have always felt that I was up to the standards, at least intellectually, some part of me believed that it was this intangible luck that was responsible for my success. I think my conception of being lucky derived not from thinking I was not qualified, but thinking that there were so many people that are intelligent enough to do the same as me. So in applying to a firm, for me it is more of a matter of proving to myself that the luck has not run out, at least for now. But to say that this is me looking for some type of security would be wrong. By its definition, being “lucky” is an insecure state, one due to chance and fortunate circumstances. I feel that the purpose of “luck”, which I know to be simply the product of the work and influence of my family and mentors, has been to place me in position to transfer this luck to those I choose, whether that be my future children or the general community and society. | | | The Type of Lawyer | |
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< | Therefore, the type of lawyer I want to become is simply one that no longer needs the luck to survive or progress, for a lawyer that does not feel “lucky” is much less susceptible to be taken advantage of. As we said, part of feeling lucky has been created all of our lives due to the process of applications, testing and interviewing, all lined with statistics suggesting that you were lucky to be where you are. And I know that the process only continues on through firm life as young associates struggle against each other for promotions and career progression. In simply acknowledging this though, I feel that this is already a step in the right direction and removing the feeling of luck. An additional way, as was suggested in class, would be to have a job that any moment I am capable of walking out the door and not looking back. My main reservation though, is I am not sure a job, with such little attachment, is something I could manage or want for my entire career. Essentially, what job is worth having if at any point you are ready to give it up and move on. The better solution is perhaps to make yourself valuable enough that losing your job is not an option, something easier said than done. | >
> | Initially, I thought the type of lawyer I wanted to become was one that no longer needed luck or thought of himself as lucky. We said in class, that the processes of applications, testing and interviewing were designed to make us feel that our successes were due to luck and fortune. And I know that these processes only continue throughout firm life as young associates struggle against each other for promotions and career progression. Yet, I don’t think we should ever try to separate ourselves from the idea that we are lucky or reason out why we shouldn’t feel lucky. I realize now, I was wrong in thinking that the luck would ever run out or stop or that I could separate myself from it, we feel lucky because we are. I could never remove the privileges and opportunities that so many others have not been afforded. And by constantly remembering I am lucky to have what I have and be where I am, I will have a moral reminder to make sure that I am actively providing opportunities for luck and sharing my fortune with others. | | | | |
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< | What I have come to realize throughout the semester, is that whether I am lucky or not, deserve or don’t deserve to be here, is largely irrelevant in determining what comes next. It is admirable to appreciate that I am here and that I have slightly begun to understand the way the system works but that it is no longer enough to simply know that we are smart, young and lucky. At the same time however, I believe that it is too difficult and somewhat meaningless to create specific objectives and goals far in advance, such as the specific sector of law, in house or partner, public or private. It is far easier to keep a simple framework in mind, mine being, in no particular order, to have a substantial income, a close family, and eventually control my own hours. Ultimately, I feel the specifics and the details are shaped by events and experiences that have yet to happen, while the simple framework is always something fully determined by me.
Which leaves us sort of nowhere, really, I think. Taken literally,
the paragraph says that you learned that the subject of the essay so
far is largely irrelevant, and there's not much that can be said
about the future, because the details of the future are shaped by
things that haven't happened yet.
This isn't very good for the reader, who seems to have gone on a
wild goose chase, rather than a trip from the starting point to
somewhere past the end. We've followed an idea that turned out to
be mostly irrelevant on a trip to a destination we can't see. The
essay has become rather self-neutralizing. What I think we need is
an animating central idea that we can watch you develop to a
satisfying conclusion that still leave some room for the reader to
venture further on herself.
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> | Having said that, then the lawyer I want to become is one that can provide opportunities and create luck for others. I still want to have a firm job and I would love to eventually become partner at that firm. Nor will I deny that desire is largely motivated by monetary and prestige incentives. But my hope is that feeling morally good and doing good are not directly at odds with working at a firm and the firm culture. I do fear that as a young, smart and lucky twenty-something, I could easily sacrifice a little of my morals for a bigger paycheck. Slowly over time, losing myself in firm culture and thought, instead of remaining the young and optimistic rising 2L who thought he would spread his luck to others. I think though, in acknowledging and recognizing this danger early as well as understanding the ultimate long-term moral, not necessarily career, goals I want, I have put myself in a strong position to prevent and control the danger. And for that, I have this class and the perspectives and ideas that flowed from it to thank. | | | |
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