I’ve been asked many times why I chose law and I never told the truth.
I came up with a story about advocacy and argumentativeness, but the real story is more sensitive.
About a month ago, a student reached out on LinkedIn, he was in Community College and told me I was the first lawyer he has met. He asked me why I chose law.
I had to tell him the real story.
I told him that in sixth grade my teacher said I would probably never amount to anything. In seventh, the school principal said I was a lost cause (and said, “Kadesh” over me (the Jewish prayer for the dead)).
These voices got stuck in my head and I told myself school wasn’t for me. In high school I studied enough to stay on the wrestling team and in my junior year, I dropped out entirely to join the Israeli military.
In Israel, I met a psychologist. I loved his insight and he made my world make sense. After the military, I started and sold a business. I loved business and loved psychology.
I gritted my teeth and walked into the admissions office at my local Community College. I was an older student and felt out of place.
I failed the entrance exams and took non-credit courses to catch up. But, Community College accepted me for who I was. I was told if I worked hard I would succeed. I was willing to work hard and soon realized I loved knowledge.
Still, it never occurred to me that I could be a lawyer.
When I met my wife, I met someone who believed in me. She saw my full potential and I was able to see it through her eyes. I told her I wanted to be an industrial psychologist because I like business and psychology, and a mentor told me I could.
She said to me, but you can do anything. You want to be a doctor, plumber, lawyer, entrepreneur, or politician. There is nothing you can’t do. But the negative messages I had heard as a child were still the loudest voices in my head and I didn’t even know other professions existed.
As my wife believed in me, I started to believe in myself. When I started to believe in myself, others started to believe in me as well.
I struggled through the LSATs; took them twice and studied for a year. The whole time my wife sat next to me whispering, you can do anything.
The real story is that I never knew I wanted to be a lawyer because I never knew I could be one.
The real story is that I had to meet someone who told me that I could do anything I wanted.
As hard as it is, I have to tell the real story of becoming a lawyer, because that student in high school, community college, or college may not know that they can aspire for more.
I told this story publicly on the Legally Speaking podcast with Robert Haana (you can listen to it HERE).
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