Just what the world needs: another lawyer.

Law School always seemed like the correct step for me after college. I can't remember exactly how I reached that conclusion, but it probably had something to do with my high school debate coach as well as my extended family. I took all of the Gov and Econ courses that sounded like decent prep for my future, and I even gave Princeton Review and Kaplan about $1.5k over the past 6 months.

I got the score back, spent a few days flipping through the few catalogues, and put the final touches on my personal statement. As I was filling out my few apps, I realized several glitches in my plan.

On Law School:

1) I am not very studious. I rarely did my reading in college. I always liked the dirty essays for my Politics and Sexuality course (40 something bear prof seducing his twink student). I also didn't mind the Russian Lit or Religion reading. I disliked the Political and Legal theory, and I think that might pose a major problem in LS.

2) I don't like the average law student. I know these people. I debated through high school and a bit in college. I took almost every American Gov class at Smith and spending three long years with that student didn't really interest me. That girl who thinks everything is racist or sexist or that boy who drops postmodern philosopher names in every observation (he likes to observe things out loud). When it comes down to it, these people were the ones who pushed me from the Gov department to the Econ department by sophomore year.

3) By now I'm starting to seriously second guess the law school thing. Law school is expensive. If I have some breakdown by year two, I'm stuck with one very large bill.

On Lawyering:

1) I am not very studious. 80 hour work weeks? Really? I know that it is possible to work more reasonable hours, but I know that my competitive side would kick in and I'd want to be a good little lawyer and work all the time. I promise that I am not a lazy person, it's just that lawyer work doesn't seem to be that engaging and I get bored far too easily.

2) Lawyering is boring. The temping gig allowed me to work at several Boston firms, and it doesn't seem like a way I'd like to spend all of my hours. Phone tag with clients, phone tag with other lawyers, phone tag with people within your firm. Faxes, affidavits, yelling at your legal assistants. Gross. If I'm going to skip naps and time with myself doing what I want with whomever I want, I'd rather skip it for something more enjoyable than drafting the 3rd letter to some little old lady that has trouble with her slumlord. I know that there are different types of law to go into and that not all firms are the same, but as Leila reaffirmed, all the fun ones are just as busy and have even smaller pay.

3) I don't like lawyers. I know these people. I've met them. I've met the future generation of them. I don't really care to spend the rest of my life working with these people. I like myself much more than those people.

So now what?

It's hard to tell, really. I want to work for myself with something I can really love. I want to feel productive and fulfilled. I want my labor to be for my bank, not for another's bank where I'm promised a cut. I suppose everyone wants that kind of set-up, but the kicker is how to land that gig.

I'm looking into a few Professional Writing MA programs. I imagine the MFA kids are the kinds that kept me away from the English classes at Smith. You know, the girls that wear capes to class and come back from a semester in London with an English accent. Reading poetry in the quad with a bunch of emo-hippies is hardly my dream. And as far as technical writing is concerned, I'd rather go to law school.

Sure, one can break into the freelance life without any sort of degree, but I'm not one of those people. I need a paid mentor with some letters behind his name to tell me that I'm worthy and able. I want to try my hand at several different things under the supervision of professionals. If you're reading this blog, you can see that I still have a lot of learnin' to do before I can convince people to hire me. I want the bank to pay my rent and put gas in my car while I fail inside of the classroom in front of other amateurs. I might be spectacular at greeting cards and terrible at magazine writing. These are all things I would prefer to figure out sooner than later, so I decided that a graduate program would be a decent place to start.

Wait until the end of the Spring, and I'll let everyone know where I'm headed. If anyone needs LSAT prep material, just email me!