Lawyer Up! by Erin

Lawyer Up! by Erin - June 2017 Scholarship Essay

As a 6-year-old, I looked up to my parents more than anyone else. My mom, a dermatologist, and my dad, a sports lawyer, were role models to a 3’5” kindergartner, who also idolized the Powerpuff Girls and Kim Possible. Eleven years ago, my dream was to be a lawyer, who would defend the weak against “the bad guys.” I could be the voice for the oppressed and mediate disputes between two parties, as I often did at home with my younger siblings.
Throughout the years, there were many influences that led me further down the path to law school, including “shadowing” my dad in court and watching all twenty seasons of Law & Order by the time I turned 12, but my education by far played the biggest role in my desire to be a lawyer. By the third grade, I had learned about the three branches of government, and the Supreme Court was by far the most interesting to me. I stopped looking up to cartoon characters and started admiring pioneers like Sandra Day O’Connor and Sonia Sotomayor. I even garnered a reputation in class as a mini lawyer, playing mock trial instead of kickball during recess to settle disagreements between classmates. In eighth grade, my history teacher assigned an essay on the Supreme Court, due after our winter break. While my classmates turned in 2-3 page essays, my report totaled in 19 pages, and included an in-depth analysis on each justice, as well as a well-written summary on the functionality of the Supreme Court and significant cases it had heard.
When I entered high school, my thoughts toward law subsided quite a bit. I became more concerned with my schoolwork and less focused on my own extracurricular interests. My mind did not return to law until my junior year, when I took AP US History (APUSH). A major part of the course discusses the Supreme Court, as well as significant cases that the court had heard and decided. The combination of my age and knowledge led me to understand the cases as I never had before. I finally understood the true significance of Plessy v. Ferguson, and grasped the importance behind Roe v. Wade. Since the end of APUSH, my interest in law has heightened once again, and I have begun talking to more college students who are also interested in law school after college, or currently on a pre-law track.
My interest in law has not narrowed my focus in education, but has rather expanded my horizons larger than ever before. Success in law depends upon a wide range of knowledge, from math to music to history. Lawyers are always called in to settle disputes regarding money, whether it be a divorce lawsuit or a contractual affair, and lawyers are involved any time there is an intellectual copyright infringement. Law is the field in which all types of knowledge are useful, the “trivia night” of professions. Therefore, my plan is to major in math and minor in English or communications at whichever university I attend. The logic and critical thinking in math will also help me in law, and English or communications will give me the skills to write clearly and concisely and to communicate the facts accurately and persuasively to a jury or judge. With these skills in hand, paired with my passion for the arts and the environment, I will be able to win cases for a wide variety of clients.
Though nothing is set in stone, I know that the future is full of opportunities for me, especially in law. I could represent worthy causes, and speak up for the voiceless, and maybe even try a case in front of the United States Supreme Court one day. Even better, I could one day sit on the Supreme Court bench, along with some of the best and brightest people in law. In any case, without my education, my inquisition for knowledge, especially regarding the law, would have never begun. Six-year-old me would be proud of my aspirations and accomplishments today.