I ask this question of myself daily and never have a good answer. Today in legal writing, a class which I am usually marginally disinterested despite finding the actual skills it teaches useful, we were prompted to think about what we want out of law school and what we expect from our jobs. I haven’t thought about this much since getting to school. The work has taken over and I’ve been coasting with regard to questioning the purpose of my education. Now, I’m wondering, thanks to legal writing, why I’m here.
Thinking about this – whatever this is – makes me tense because it highlights how little I know about the life path I’m actively paying to follow. Before I got to law school I didn’t know why I wanted to come here, except that it seemed interesting. I may have told you some bullshit answer like, “Intellectual property is compelling.” If I did, I’m sorry. I had no idea what I was talking about at the time. IP is apparently, although I will have no personal experience with the subject matter until the beginning of next semester when I take an IP elective, similar to watching paint dry on a wall.
So, why then? What’s the draw? Do I like it now that I’m here?
Yeah, I like it more than I thought I would. I like that there are rules within which we operate. There is structure, but at the same time a creative mind can work within the structure (in an ethical manner) to do some good. To get a better case for their client. To gain the respect of their peers. And, ultimately, for one’s own satisfaction, to accomplish something. To be able to look back and say that I worked hard and I was sincere and I hope that I made some other people’s lives better as a result.
The day to day of law school isn’t so bad. Civil Procedure and Legal Writing on MWF and Contracts and Torts on TTh. Two classes a day. There’s a lot of free time, which I guess you could call study time, but no sane person would spend all of it in the noble pursuit of law. And those that do bug me. I’m sorry, but there’s more to life than school.
I don’t know where I’m going with this other than to get it off my head and out there. I’ve said a lot of it before, but it won’t get old. Not for three more years, and even then, I’ll be spending the rest of my life being a lawyer.
Hmmm… I’m becoming more OK with that.