Day 4 - So you want to go to law school
Shhh, shhh - we’re pretending it’s still Day 4. My post isn’t late. Shhhhh... Not another LSAT memory, but another one from right before law school. The law school I go to started it’s life as a night school for working professionals.  Over time, that focus has unfortunately been lost and we’ve been absorbed by a bigger university system who is um, re-evaluating their relationship with nontraditional students.  There, that was diplomatic.  When I was accepted, they had a special panel offered to the night students.  The topic was how your family was going to survive law school and it led off with some scary statistics about law school divorces.  Day students were invited too, but it was primarily night students in attendance since the majority of us were going to be working full time during school and dealing with a little more life baggage than the traditional law student.  The panel consisted of current & alumni night students with their spouses.  I attended with my partner. Â
Towards the end, the panel was asked “What’s your one piece of advice to these new law students and their families?”  And I will never, never forget the best piece of advice that sustained me through all the madness of this crazy journey: “Realize that going to law school, becoming a lawyer, that’s one of the most selfish things you can do.”
Of course, this was met with stunned silence punctuated by a couple nervous laughs. Â So he continued and this is how I remember what he said (it was a few years ago, so there may be some embellishments that my memory has superimposed on his explanation):
“No, hear me out. You don’t need to go to law school; no one needs to be a lawyer.  You’ve already got your first degree.  Recognize that you are making this decision to put your family’s lives on hold for three to four years.  This is for your dream.  And yes, your family is probably very supportive of this or you wouldn’t be here.  But there are going to be nights when it seems impossible - when you’ve been at work all day, your boss has been riding your ass, your professor made you feel absolutely stupid in front of everyone, you feel like you haven’t seen your kids in two months because they’re in bed by the time you get home, and your spouse is tired and upset and covered in mac and cheese because there was a foodfight while his back was turned and one of the kids mouthed off that he wished mom was here because her mac and cheese is so much better.  You’ll get through the fights and you’ll get through to the end with everyone cheering for you at graduation if you remember this: you are all working together to get you across the finish line.”
