I'm Bad at Two Things

Mom and I on a train in Europe, just days after the LSAT

Three years ago, I was wrapping up my last week of studying for the LSAT.  I had always wanted to go to law school ever since my AP Environmental Science class.  My internship working at a city attorney's office had gone super well. I actually liked doing the work that the attorney's were giving me and I was good at it.  Plus, I got to save the environment!  There were plenty of women working there and they loved it. They had both a great career and time for their families.  So, I, unlike so many other law school applicants, knew why I wanted to go to law school.  I had the grades, the extra curriculars, the personal statement.  Needless to say, I was feeling good about being a law school applicant.  I just needed to get a great score on the LSAT.

So like all good future law students, I didn't take a job that summer and only focused on getting myself an awesome LSAT score to match all the rest of my awesomeness.

Only problem, is that it turned out that I was not actually very good at the LSAT.  Even after my not-so-cheap prep course, I was still not getting it.  It was kind of a problem.  I had only even been not great at one thing.  That was trig-based calculus.  I was okay with being not great at calculus, but I couldn't be not-that-great at two things.  So, I kept studying and took the test.  The day of the test, I went in and felt amazing about the first section.  But, then I got to the second section.  And I panicked.  The second section was a repeat of the same types of questions as the first section.  Which meant that the first section did not count because it was an experimental section!  All my confidence drained away.  I kept looking at the clock, which I never did during practice tests. The test wore on and finally the test was done.

Notre Dame before some yummy crepes

Luckily, my mom and I were hoping on a plane to Madrid for my graduation present 24 hours after that whole ordeal, so I didn't really have to think about it too much.

Given that I now have MURP after my last name and not Esq., some things have changed in the past three years.  I didn't exactly get a top score on the LSAT and within a year and a half I realized that I actually didn't want to go to law school.  Flash forward three years to today and I'm chatting with my friend whom I met volunteering at the Hispanic National Bar Association.  We talked about how years later we are both very happy that for one reason or another, neither of us went to law school.  About how it was probably a good thing that the LSAT was there to actually stop us from going to law school.  It made me think back to high school where if you were smart, you were either going to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer.  I was blessed to have the support of my family to explore urban planning when I signed up for my first course at UCLA.  And, even if it took a couple of years, they were happy for me when I said no for the last time when my mom asked if I was going to apply for law school.  And I think they are especially happy now that I only have 1/3 the debt I would have had if I'd gone to law school.  I'm not trying to say that law school is bad.  No, in fact, one fo my favorite classes in grad school was a course I took in the law school.  Nerdily, my environmental law case book is one of the five personal objects I have in my cubicle at my new job.  Reflecting back on the journey that brought me to where I am today, I am grateful for all the experiences and people that helped me realize where I really wanted to be.  You all know who are you.  Thank you (especially to my mom, whose birthday is tomorrow!)  Send her some happy birthday facebook love.