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TaylorLawsonFirstEssay 3 - 20 Feb 2025 - Main.TaylorLawson
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It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | |
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> | Lawson the Lawyer? | | | -- By TaylorLawson - 18 Feb 2025 | |
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> | What is a Lawyer? | | | | |
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> | As a child, I rarely went anywhere without a worn-out paperback book in my hands. Relatives would remark, “Taylor loves to read, she’d make a great lawyer one day." I was uncomfortable with this narrative. A lawyer? I didn't know what that was. Old, stuffy people in ill-fitting suits, reading boring books and yelling in court rooms? Why on earth would I choose to pursue that when I could become an astronaut, a veterinarian, or a deep-sea marine diver? At school, it got no better. On the playground, children would chase after me, chanting, “Lawson the Lawyer! Lawson the Lawyer!” In their minds, it was just a silly alliteration. Me? I spent recess crying, their playful words a resonant insult. | | | | |
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> | My next definition of a lawyer was formed at age seven. After school, I spent my time at my grandmother’s house, where the television was always blaring ‘Jeopardy!’ and the evening news. One night, a headline grabbed my attention. Twenty minutes from my house, a man named Sean Bell was gunned down by plainclothes officers, hours before his wedding day. The officers who robbed him of his life had fired fifty shots into the unarmed man. Fifty shots. My heart bled, watching his fiancé cry on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life. | | | | |
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> | On the screen, I saw lawyers commanding conference rooms, speaking out against the injustice committed. To be frank, I cannot quite recall the words they spoke, but I remember the emotion they evoked within me. I remember the authority with which these words were spoken. Lawyers were no longer stale professionals; they were zealous advocates. The trial ended in disappointment, and the verdict stung. It was my first perspective into how this world treated people who looked like me, like my brother, my father. I thought again about the powerful presence of those lawyers. Lawyer became synonymous with someone who worked to create meaningful change. This definition was further cemented as I continued to see lawyers fighting for justice, representing victims of police brutality such as Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. | | | | |
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> | My Path to Law School | | | | |
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> | Still, law was not my first choice. After graduation I worked as a teacher, supporting children during formative years. As I rose through the ranks of education, I was disturbed at the lack of support for children in the public school system. I worked with students whose lives were deeply affected by systemic failures. I taught students carrying substantial burdens and saw the ripple effects it had on their academic success and emotional well-being. The inequities I observed were a call to action. I wanted to be part of a movement that removed barriers and created equitable environments where all children could succeed. I wanted to assist children and their families in their process of navigating the legal system, using the law as a tool for reform and social change. ‘Lawson the Lawyer’ began to have a nice ring to it. | | | | |
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> | When I first applied to law school, I had no idea what 'big law' was. When I told friends about my decision, they warned me about becoming another cog in the corporate machine. I was confused, their views didn’t align with the conception I had formed of what it meant to be a lawyer. By the time I received my acceptance from Columbia, I was extremely familiar with ‘big law’. I had obsessively devoured every law school message board and online forum. Type-A students lamented that if they didn’t attend a Top 14 school, their futures were doomed. Quadruple legacies expressed fear that lowly Black students might steal their seats and complained about meager public interest salaries. Prior to this acceptance, I had already resigned myself to attending a lower ranked school and hopefully working as a staff attorney at a nonprofit after graduation. But now, here was Columbia, THE ‘big law’ school, offering me admission and more grant money than any other institution. Despite my misalignment with this school's focus, it seemed ridiculous to turn down this opportunity. | | | | |
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> | Okay, So What am I Actually Doing Here? | | | | |
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> | My understanding of what it means to be a lawyer has shifted. I compare myself to my classmates, many of whom have clear paths to lucrative corporate careers, and I wonder if my idealism is misplaced in this environment. I find myself disillusioned with the idea of law school. It doesn’t always create change-makers; it also creates people who play it safe and stick to the rules. Lawyers who are stuck under long chains of command, at the beck and call of senior partners. Lawyers who are taught to uphold the same systems I had aimed to disrupt. Combined with the tumultuous political climate, there is an even greater recipe for disaster. The law is decomposing before my eyes. Individuals are actively being stripped of their rights. People are suffering to no avail. I feel utterly hopeless at the state of the world. I wonder how much of an impact I can even make. | | | | |
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> | I often struggle with self-doubt, wondering if I belong at CLS, or even law school. I try to remind myself of my ‘why’, my former students, whose eyes still shone with light despite the unfair cruelties life had placed before them. My focus has shifted to the type of individual I want to become, rather than the type of lawyer. I remain steadfast in my desire to be dynamic in my professional life. I want to be someone who can connect with people, affirm them, and assist them on their journey of existence. I want to tangibly improve life outcomes. I want to spread kindness, to instill joy in others. I want my life to have meant something. | | | | |
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> | Should I have pursued a career in social work, or something of the sorts, instead?
Possibly.
But I am here now, I am going to do the most with this opportunity that I can. | | | | |
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TaylorLawsonFirstEssay 2 - 20 Feb 2025 - Main.TaylorLawson
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< | | | | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. |
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TaylorLawsonFirstEssay 1 - 18 Feb 2025 - Main.TaylorLawson
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstEssay" |
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It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.
Paper Title
-- By TaylorLawson - 18 Feb 2025
Section I
Subsection A
Subsub 1
Subsection B
Subsub 1
Subsub 2
Section II
Subsection A
Subsection B
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