That Time I Went to Law School

I was always that person who insisted that you should pick a career you love; who cares how much or how little money it makes? I constantly told my parents and everyone who would listen that I wanted a career that I was in love with—one that didn't feel like work. I had big dreams of being a musician or a museum curator. Those were my passions, and, by God, I was going to get a job doing one of those two things and I didn't care how difficult it was.

So you may be wondering why, on God's green Earth, did I go to law school? Truth is, I'm wondering the same thing. I let my family push me around a bit. They were constantly telling me how difficult it was to get a job as a curator, or as a musician. In fact, they kept telling me it was simply impossible, that there was no job market for such things. It wasn't their fault I listened to them, but I did, and for some peculiar reason I chose law school as the most logical next step.

My advice to my readers is that...if you go to school for something for a year and you're not in love with it, there's no shame in dropping out or switching your decision and choosing a different path. There's nothing wrong with that. There's no particular reason you should stick it out through four years of debt just to conclude, "Yep, I really don't want to be an attorney after all." I graduated with a double degree and even took the Bar exam. I don't even know if I've passed it or not, but I already know I don't particularly want to practice law. In fact, I don't want to do much of anything that one can do with a law degree.

You see, about six months before graduation, I discovered the wonderful world of pet care. And blogging. Finally, I had found two things I really enjoyed doing. I'm not certain I'm actually good at either, and, of course, neither one makes a whole lot of money starting out. But as I said, I was always that person that said I didn't care how much money one made as long as the career was a dream come true.

It's just unfortunate I needed $70,000 of debt under my belt before I figured out what I actually wanted to do with my life.

Folks, there is no shame in taking a couple years off from school. If I had just waited a couple years between my bachelor's degree and law school, I think I would have figured out what I wanted to do with my life. It would have given me time to find some real-life experience. It would have helped me a lot.

So, my advice for everyone in school is this: if you start feeling like you might not like your chosen career path, really think about that. Do some deep thinking. Figure out whether maybe you've chosen the wrong path, and if you'd be happy doing something else. And secondly, if you really have no idea what you want to do for a living, don't jump into a graduate program just because your family says you need to. It's not worth it.