My Something Right

While you’re in law school, you can expect to have a lot of nights that you have never had before or would never even have dreamed of having. You will have nights of triumph like after finishing a class where you properly recited an entire 50-page case for the first time. Then you will have nights of self-doubt when you start to think that no matter how amazing you were in college, you’re just not good enough to be a lawyer (you are wrong if you think that, btw). There are nights when you are shocked by how many girls have suddenly taken an interest in you simply because they see you as a future lawyer. Then there are days where you surprise yourself, like when you smoke your first cigarette for the first time in 5 years because of all the stress that has been killing you.

 I could keep going about all the kinds of nights that you would have as a law student, but not a lot of these stories will change how you see the law, or the privilege of being a member of the bar. But there is one night that’s worth telling you about.

 It’s the night that every law student needs to have before they finally see their name being flashed on a screen in Faura. This night is the big one. It’s the night that stands above the rest. The gamechanger. It is The Night.

 You see, when you get in to law school (if you’re not already experiencing or haven’t yet experienced the hot, fiery furnace that it is), you’ll find out that people have a lot of different reasons for going. Some go because they’ve always wanted to. Others, because their parents told them to. Some want better-paying jobs or advancement in their current careers. Some just have nothing to do at home. Some are sick of working and just want to go back to school. And a ton of others.

 But when this night comes, you finally realize that when you got accepted into law school, no matter what your reason for going, a load was put on your shoulders that’s a lot heavier than you’ve ever been asked to carry before.

 The game-changing night can happen after you ace an exam or a round of recitation.

It can come right after you failed a major exam horribly.

Or when you’re fourteen and you find out that your dad was killed in a car accident and the guy responsible got away because they knew someone.

It can happen the night before a moot court competition while going over your case one last time before you go to sleep.

Or maybe after you received your first failing grade in your whole life.

It could be after you’ve had your first child.

Or after you lose a parent or an aunt or uncle or a grandparent who has always dreamt of calling you “attorney.”

The Night can come at one of these times or any other. But no matter when it comes to you, I hope you’re ready.

 Cause that’s the night that you realize that you’re not just doing this for yourself anymore.

 You’re now doing this for your 8-year-old self who loved seeing “A Few Good Men” for the first time and realize that you want to be tough and fight for what’s right.

You now carry on your back your parents who are proud and happy to have a future lawyer.

You’re carrying your little brother, little sister, your nephew, your niece or maybe your own child who, when people ask about who they want to become in the future and why, they point to you and say, “I want to help those who are weak. I want to fight for them.”

You have your friends who begin to trust you more than ever, telling you about some of the most difficult parts of their lives, hoping not just to confide in you, but also to seek justice.

You’re now studying for your best friend who is like your little sister, because she told you about all the horrible things her own uncle did to her.

Parents whose children have been taken from them forever.

The most hardworking people who built their empires from blood, sweat, and tears to get to where they are and are about to lose it all.

The indigenous who are taken advantage of.

Children of farmers who have laid down their own lives to finally receive what’s rightfully theirs.

Women and children who have been abused by strangers, trusted friends and even relatives.

You carry most, if not all of them and more on your young shoulders.

 When the night comes that you realize this, you stop being who you once were.

You begin to pray if you don’t already.

You study harder.

You stay up later.

You read more and faster.

You understand better.

You remember easier.

And then you pray some more.

Not for you.

But for them.

 If you haven’t had this night yet, I hope you do. And I hope you have it soon. Because when you do, you’ll know that this isn’t just about you or your reason anymore. It’s about the people you’re going to serve when you finally take that oath and sign that roll.