It seems like you present the issue as your decision whether or not to go to Colombia, and that your mom's position won and your dad's lost, or that your love for your family won and your desire to do "the most well-considered, just and helpful" activity you could find lost. From what I know of your life experience, I don't think it was really like that. You may not have gone to rural Colombia, but you did go to rural Texas for Teach for America and taught kids that I'm sure desperately needed motivated role models like yourself. Hence, rather than a win/lose situation, it seems more like you had two parts of yourself which you had to balance, and going to Texas was a better balance than going to Colombia. Maybe you personally believe the situation in Colombia was more in need of your help than Texas, but I don't think you would have ended up where you were if there wasn't a need for your passion to help.

This reminds me of the class discussion about personalities; they are multiple and varied, and it's not so much about which decision is best for us, but which decisions are best for all the different parts of us. Like you said, it's complicated, and I think that's because our different personalities want different things. I know as I contemplate my young legal career I have numerous motivations pulling me in all different directions, but I think realizing what they are and that they can all be satisfied in one way or another is the major part of the battle. Based on your paper it sounds like you have a good handle on it as well, but I thought this line of thought is something you might like to incorporate as you edit.

-- RorySkaggs - 21 May 2010

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