THE THREE WORDS I'D SAY TO MY 18 YEAR OLD SELF
THE THREE WORDS I'D SAY TO MY 18 YEAR OLD SELF'
I saw a meme today that posed the question, what would you say to your 18 year old self using only three words. I always love these type of hypotheticals.
I believe I made mostly great life choices thus far but like everyone you think about how you couldâve did somethings differently. I love how things panned out but if I really had the choice to affect something I would put me on my current path sooner.
So whatâs the three words I would say to myself? I would say âBecome a Lawyerâ. If you know anything about my back story, you know I didnât give a clownâs nose about becoming a lawyer. It was more logical for someone like my brother or my mother to become one. My brother because, my Grandma would always tell him, âJay you like to argue so much you need to become a lawyerâ (wait until she find we spend 90% of our time avoiding arguing lol).
I would say my mother because she worked years as a paralegal so if she ever decided to go that route it would make sense. But me? No it made zero sense. Nothing about my life said I would be a lawyer, I was a nerdy kid that loved the creative arts (and obviously still do). My grades wasnât top of the top.
Honestly I was the average student. My art skills werenât praised, my grades werenât praised, the only thing that stood out for me was my personal style and my sense of humor. I was âaverageâ on paper but never did I look at myself as âaverageâ I knew I was extraordinary from the beginning lol.
I would choose those three words because my 18 year old self wouldâve been smart enough to know that donât mean stop the arts but it wouldâve gave me a north star much sooner. I made the decision to go to law school in 2015, when I was in a corner financially and was lost career wise. 2015, I was one year removed from undergrad, with no job in my field in sight. I was thinking I cannot be a struggling artist I have to make something happen and then reinvest my earnings into my arts.
So I thought I know Iâll become a lawyer, it then took me two years just to get into law school! Graduating in 2020, it took me until 2023 to become licensed! So thatâs 8 years spent to gain the illustrious title of âattorneyâ.
If I was able to tell my 18 year old self âbecome a lawyerâ my 18 year old self wouldâve streamlined his life to make himself get into school any means necessary. Those three words would change so much, hereâs how I imagined it wouldâve played out. I still wouldâve attended UAPB, but with those three words from Future me in my head, my major wouldâve reflected law instead of marketing. I wouldâve focused on gaining internships and working in a firm during school, which wouldâve saved me from the agony of being a broke college student lol.
Knowing my infatuation with New York, I wouldâve applied to every New York school possible. Also, I wouldâve attended school immediately after undergrad, no breaks. I wouldâve probably treated law school the same way I did in this timeline but having more knowledge about school in the alternate timeline, I wouldâve had a bar prep program from the beginning lol. ( I never used one to get licensed but definitely wouldâve did it in this scenario).
After passing the bar, wouldâve been in New York licensed earlier, solving financial woes way quicker and enjoying success at an earlier age. With all that said Iâm glad it did not happen that way. God made sure things happened exactly as they should. The endless Lâs I took gave me much character growth and it makes me a better person everyday. These questions are fun because it make you think of endless possibilities but that is also the problem. Donât get caught up in the âwhat ifsâ and âwhat couldâve beensâ, weâre in the now and God blessed us with the gift to be present. Make today count and avoid future regret at all costs, I know I will! #StayFocused
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