Nnamdi, as the original post writer, and anyone above, I am curious if you mean your happiness and fulfillment exists in big law in the actual big law ecosystem, or in the money from big law? What makes you happy?

-- OliviaMartinez - 02 Feb 2021

I agree very much with the original fears expressed by Nnamdi. However, I don't feel that my happiness exists in the ecosystem of big law. I really feel that it exists beyond that.

I think I have tougher expectations for myself than my family members. My parents have worked both day and night shifts 5-6 days a week for almost all of my life. They often remind me that I have to have something to make me happy, and if that can be work, that's the kind of privilege they've worked for me to have. I still feel like money would do more for all of us than me being my most happy self in work. Like Elizabeth said, I feel the pressure of making the most of my parents' sacrifices, especially those they continue to make as I get older and the struggles I've had to see them go through in my absence at school. As really the only person in family right now to even have the prospect of making it, and at such a young age, my family does remind me how much they're relying on me as a means of encouragement, but they don't pressure me to immediately make money. Beyond all of this, my loans are ridiculous and need to be paid.

While the prospect of financial stability does make me very happy, what really makes me happy is making a difference for others. I'm a big believer of walking in your purpose, and I just don't feel like my purpose is firm work.

I don't think my happiness lies in big law, but I really do need the money.

-- OliviaMartinez - 02 Feb 2021

Also, one more thing: Something that bothers me is that I've been told firms don't care what work you've done before or what you want to do because they know you'll work for a certain amount of money. They know the price you'll sell yourself, and maybe your happiness, at. But public interest organizations have to care, because the resources are so limited. I don't like the idea of agreeing to a price as a symbol of happiness.

-- OliviaMartinez - 02 Feb 2021

Maryam, I wish I had an answer to your question. The only reason I feel I might be unhappy is a firm is because there's something I know I'd rather be doing more. Would also love to talk about finding a way to live comfortably.

-- OliviaMartinez - 02 Feb 2021

I just figured out how to use these topics. I was a little confused navigating the website but I am grateful to my classmate, Olivia, for helping me! If anything, that is a great reminder how useful our network can be. The people that we surround ourselves with can really help us! I share all of our concerns about money... And I appreciate this class because it seems to be giving me an alternative to getting that money... Using the resources/networks that we create so that we can not only have a fulfilled life but ALSO have money. I guess I had mostly thought of it as one or the other before this class.

-- TaleahTyrell - 01 Feb 2021

I can relate to the prior sentiments about pressure from family. As a child of immigrants, I feel like it's engrained, or perhaps even self-imposed, that I make the most of my parents' sacrifices. However, call me naive, but I was hoping to use the name and prestige of CLS to help create a fulfilling path of my own. Yes, I will probably work at a firm for a few years to help pay off some debt and obtain excellent legal training, but after that, I would like to think I can do what I want. Start a business, perhaps? Work for an investment bank? Work for a central bank? Write a novel? A fulfilling career does not have to end with a firm---it technically does not have to start there either.

-- ElizabethOsei - 27 Jan 2021

I agree, Deborah, with feeling pressure from family members and other loved ones. For me, I think this stems from a sense of guilt that my parents sacrificed so much for me to be where I am today, I can't help but feel that if I don't measure up to their very specific expectations that I am in a sense taking for granted all that they have done for me. I know this is a silly way of looking at it, and that it is ultimately up to me what to do with my life to find my own happiness, but it is hard to separate the two in my own head. I would love to one day provide for them everything that I can, as they have provided for me my entire life. That is where I struggle.

-- ElizabethBartzokis - 27 Jan 2021

I definitely agree with all that has been said. The financial insecurity that exists within this country has only been exacerbated by the global pandemic.

I think one nuance that I'd like to add to this thread is a question or request for advice on exactly how to juggle a fulfilling career while also being paid sizeably. Does the participation in the biglaw sphere inherently mean that a career is unfulfilling? If that is not the case, why is that the stereotype regarding the career?

On this point, how can one receive a position outside of biglaw while still being able to live comfortably amidst financial insecurity, student debt, familial obligations, etc.

-- MaryamAsenuga - 26 Jan 2021