Law School

8/15/2019

I am 39 years old…what in the world am I doing?

I was born into the role of a middle child. I followed the easy path set before me: just copy what my older sister did first. She played volleyball so I played volleyball. She went to Lipscomb University so I followed her there two years later. I trusted her leading the way. Though that trust set me up for so much joy in life, I went along with no real thought as to why I was heading down this path or even if it were the direction I wanted to go.  

I let life happen in the order I knew it should. I compared what was next on the list with where I was and went from there.  When it was time for me to go back to full time work after having three kids, I did not give much thought about what I wanted. I just looked at where I was, added more hours, and called it done. That is what led me to the position of Marketing Director for a multi-unit franchisee of McAlister’s Deli. For two years, I unhappily plowed along doing a job in an environment that was not created for me.

Then one day, when I was working from home, I had How I Met your Mother on in the background. Here is what I heard:

Actor 1: What is it that you want to do with your life?

Actor 2: End poverty

Actor 1: Then every decision from here on out should be in service of that.

Those words stopped me in my tracks…well, those words and the fact they were coming from an actor playing a naked cello player!

Here I was surrounded by budgets, timelines and photos, and I did not want to be. This was not what I wanted to do with my life.  I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help people. I wanted to fight injustice. I wanted to go to Law School.

Finding twenty seconds of insane courage, I called Michele Wokciechowski who had left a message four months prior because my father, a local attorney, had told her I was interested in attending NSL.  I had been wanting to go to law school since I was little but I let fear of failure and the natural flow of life stop me. But no more. I was going to take over and start going where I was going on purpose.

And that is what set me on the path I find myself on today.

I credit my life change to one scene from How I Met your Mother, twenty seconds of insane courage, and an amazingly supportive husband. I am now working toward what I want to do with my life. My heart has always leaned towards those on the outside - those who do not have an easy road; who did not have it all handed to them; who have to go against social norms every day.  My heart has broken for the 15-year-old teenager who is pregnant and scared; for the little boy who loves different and faces difficult decisions because of his “difference”; for the mom who is in a strange land fighting for her kids and a better life.  For years, I have wondered, “What can I do to help those caught in injustice?”   I brought passion to the conversation but no action. In four years, I am going to bring some action. I cannot wait to see what I can do with a Law Degree in my pocket.