let's set the record straight

First off, I did NOT wear a turtleneck sweater to the first day of law school... in AUGUST.

I feel like I've been really bashing my decision to become a lawyer, so I want to take a minute to publicly state that some really great things came out of that decision to go to law school.  I had fun.  SO much fun.  Maybe, at times, too much fun.  I have heard myself say on a couple of occasions that I had more fun in law school than I did in undergrad (sorry Bucky...).  It's true.  If DU Law had a Big Ten football team, I could wholeheartedly stand behind that statement.

law school graduation card

I began law school known as "Nicki From Wisconsin," the girl who sat in the front of the class, constantly raising her hand, and (allegedly) wore a turtleneck sweater in August.  I went to law school thinking I was about to experience the worst three years of my life, with terrible, cut-throat, note-stealing classmates and a bell curve that people would kill each other over.  To say I had a chip on my shoulder would be putting it mildly.  I judged people and openly rolled my eyes.  I didn't care if people hated me because, after all, "I was there to be a lawyer, not make friends.  I already had plenty of friends from college."  I had the wrong first impression for almost every single person I met in the first two weeks of law school.  Over the course of those three years, it became laughable how utterly WRONG I was about most of the people there.  I had always prided myself on being a good judge of character, on knowing a good person when I saw one, and for generally sticking to my guns on my first impressions of people (that one I learned the hard way).  But law school turned all of that upside down.

The "frat boy" who "totally wasn't my type" and wore a pink collared shirt the first night I met him (insert blatant eye roll here) and I now live together, with a dog and a backyard, and often drink wine and laugh at how WE ended up together.  The bubbly blond girl with the pink "rolley bag" suitcase/backpack, who I met at a "new law student mixer," turned my back on and audibly retorted "who let Malibu Barbie into law school"  (yes, I am aware that this is a scene right out of Legally Blonde... and no, I'm not proud of myself) is not only one of the most compassionate, resilient people I have ever met, but she is hands down one of my best friends on this planet.  I just realized that a picture of her dressed in a bunny costume (from last halloween) comes up on my phone when she calls...  Pretty crazy irony there.

I could go on and on and on about the incredible people I met while studying to be a lawyer.  I could tell story after story of the incredible support and friendship that grows out of three years of constant stress and regularly feeling like Jessie Spano ("There's NO time, there's NEVER. ANY. TIME.!").  Like a mother's response to her child after a nasty, painful divorce, "If I had it to all over again, honey, I would, because you know what?  YOU were worth it."  I feel that way about my friends.  So whether I am a lawyer for the rest of my life or not, I ended up with some pretty unbelievable people in my corner out of this whole thing...