So, I have a good job now, which will allow me flexible hours if I decide to work and go to law school simultaneously. I know where I'm going, too: George Mason University Law School. It's nearby, in northern Virginia, and it's a good school for intellectual property, well known among law firms and lawyers. A lot of the best lawyers from D.C. firms teach there as well.
It's been a long long road. I first decided to go to law school about a year ago, when I posted this. I had to go through the process of signing up for the LSDAS, talking to all my connections, trying to get recommendations, getting stuff signed by my alma mater, getting transcripts, studying hard for and taking the LSAT, writing personal statements and essays and filling out applications... I can't believe it took over a year...
Now, I have to decide. I can go to school full time, which will be financially difficult, or I can go to school at night, work during the day, and have more than enough money but no free time. I am leaning toward the latter. If I go full time, I'll finish in 3 years, but part time will take 3.5-4 years. I think I'll be much less stressed if I don't have to worry about money in addition to everything else though.
I'm starting to feel the impending doom... ;) Orientation is August 16. That is also the day I have to fork over a major wad of cash...
Well, I have to make this decision as soon as possible so they can start fitting people into classes... I've got to say, I'm the first and only coder I know who will be transmogrified into a lawyer. ;) It's strangely exciting.
Hello Trevor, may I just say that I wish you tremendous luck with this? And that I'm sure it will work out for you. I'm going through a period very similar to what you describe in your original post: I'm looking to switch career and lifestyle pretty fundamentally. I'm not so far as you were, in that I don't know yet what I want to do instead. But this soul-sucking must cease.
Thanks a lot, man. :)
I also hope you can find something to do that will satisfy you. It's a difficult thing to do, and I'm sure the grass is never greenest where you are at the moment. That's why I've decided never to rule out anything from my future anymore, and always try to keep my options open.
I've gone through so many changes that my younger self would probably barely recognize me now. But that's how it goes -- the only constant is change, the Dao. If you fight the Dao, you lose, and you also feel stupid for trying. I feel optimistic about the future now because I know I've learned to accept even drastic changes to my life... :)
Good luck to you and all the other Dao surfers out there. :)
Posted by: Trevor Hill at June 13, 2003 02:51 PM
Posted by: dan at June 13, 2003 09:58 AM