Oh, I guess I should also thank him for being a great help during the process of choosing and then applying to law schools. I went through a relatively successful search and destroy process in which I killed 11 law school applications in fulfilling my mission. (Yeah, I know that metaphor really makes no sense.) I'm 3-1-3, with 5 abstaining right now, which is far from a perfect record, but far better off than I would be without the help of Joe, the pre-law advisor, and a few others.
Senior year--supposed to be a breeze, but almost completely tainted by the search for something meaningful to do afterwards. I spent so many hours preparing for the LSAT and taking it twice, re-writing my personal statement for a total of about 15 printed drafts (not counting all the edits in between), visiting law schools, and then eventually applying and interviewing with Teach for America.
Why, oh why, did I apply to law school. That was a big whoops. I started out by thanking Joe for his help, which I still stand by, but I should have listened a little more to him and all the others who told me to make sure it was what I wanted before I applied. After a couple of law-related courses, a job offer, and some hard thinking, I still believe that some day I'll end up in a law school somewhere, but that day is not yet. I just wish I'd figured that out hundreds of hours and dollars sooner.
I am excited to be in Denver, teaching for America for the next two years. It also has been a difficult process, but at least I reached the goal of getting something of a life plan together.
More to come.
I obviously had to comment because I had the honor of being PERSONALLY NAMED in another person's blog. I never thought I'd lived to see the day I would achieve such a distinction. I can die a happy man. I must repay this honor by linking your blog from my blog, which, I am sorry to report, will not do much to help your readership.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I understand your frustrations, I think your senior year was exactly what it was supposed to be. I always tell people that a degree from BC doesn't get you a job; a liberal arts education is not like an engineering degree. So I think most people have to spend their senior year doing exactly what you did.
Personally, I'm jealous because you realized law school wasn't for you (yet) before you actually committed to going. I began to want to teach around second year in law school, far too late to reverse course. If the application process gets you in the right place after graduation, I think you have to consider that a victory.
Incidentally, I thought "following" meant, "I'll be informed when you make a post." I'm very bad at "keeping up." I need like e-mail notifications to stay posted. There's a serious flaw in the system here, I think.