These Big Steps

December 6, 2021

My biggest accomplishment these last two weeks was that I conducted interviews with both referrals Mrs.Britton gave me. In these interviews, I received some great advice about how to get into top tier law schools, learned about working at the ABA on civil rights projects, got to learn about what it is like to work in BigLaw, and even got a lead on a potential internship. Looking back, I think it is safe to say that this has likely been the most successful two weeks I have had yet in ISM.

The advice Judge Wheless gave me left me with a couple questions: Do all law students at top tier colleges get into well paying jobs? How do I make myself stand out at a top college from the other students there? I am hoping to answer these questions through ongoing communication that I maintain with Judge Wheless.

The biggest challenge I have been facing is getting professionals to take time out of their day to speak with me. These professionals are incredibly busy and responding to a high schooler is certainly at the bottom of their priority list. This can be seen in everything from law firm receptionists informing me that their attorneys are too overwhelmed with work to speak with me, to professionals taking more than a week to respond to my emails. Despite this challenge, I was successful this week in that I was able to speak with a professional that formerly worked in Big Law and so was able to gain a lot of insight into that area of law. In addition, I was able to gain a significant amount of advice about getting into law school and working in civil rights law.

For this next week, I need to focus on contacting new professionals and making call backs to show professionals that I am committed and will not waste their time speaking with me. I also want to focus on scheduling an interview with a practicing attorney. Through those conversations, I want to learn more about the LSAT and what the test is like. I would also like to learn more about the internship program Judge Wheless mentioned, so I will continue contacting her this week.

Overall, I am very proud of my accomplishments this week and truly believe that these big steps I made will take me just a couple steps closer to the future I envision for myself.