Last March, when it was time for me to schedule my classes for my junior year of college, the only feeling I was having was pure excitement. I had two more years to mentally prepare for the intensity that will eventually be law school, and at least one more year to prepare for the LSAT and to look at law schools before I had to start applying. But then as I sat down and began to work out a schedule I realized something equally amazing and terrifying — I could finish my bachelor's degree a year early.
Most people would be thrilled to graduate early. It meant I would get to save $20,000, and that I would get my life and career started earlier than I had anticipated. But I instantly began to panic. I had less time to prepare for law school, less time to mess around in college. And mostly it meant that time was flying, and I was going to be a real adult in the real adult world before I knew it.
After I had completed my schedule and made sure it fulfilled all of my requirements, I met with my advisor to make sure I had it all right. Was I really able to graduate a whole year early? Was I really going to get a bachelors degree in just 3 years? She okayed my schedule, helped me apply for graduation, and sent me on my way. I had forgotten how many credits I had earned in high school from taking college classes. I was totally skipping junior year. It was almost time for me to go to LAW SCHOOL.
It feels as if yesterday I moved into college and tomorrow I'm moving out.
I so vividly remember just two short years ago moving into my dorm, nervous to be on my own without anyone I knew, but ecstatic to have my own place. I moved to this big city all alone as a small town girl with no clue how to live life without all of my friends and my family surrounding me. I came to college my freshman year as this young little girl who brought too many clothes and too many decorations to fit in a dorm room.
All of this feels as if it happened yesterday. And now here I am entering my senior year of college,
So, as I enter my final year of college, I have a million and one thoughts and feelings running through my head every single day. And I'll be the first to admit: I'm nervous. This year is going to kick my butt. How do you even apply to law school? Where should I go to law school? Am I going to be a good lawyer? Do I even want to be a lawyer? What kind of law am I going to practice? Can I find a job with my bachelor's degree? What kind of job can you get with a bachelors degree in sociology and criminology? What if I fail and I end up working at, like, a bank the rest of my life?
But also, I am proud of myself. School has always come easy to me, but college is different. I have worked hard since I was in the first grade to achieve my dream of being a lawyer.
When you asked me what I wanted to be when I was little it was always a lawyer, even when all the other little girls wanted to be ballerinas and the little boys wanted to be firefighters. But it was always just a dream. Now that it is becoming a reality, I can't believe I've almost done it. I'll be the first to graduate with a bachelor’s degree out of all of my friends and family, the first to go to law school, and in just 4 short years, I'll be a lawyer.
I'm proud of myself for preservering when things got hard and for never giving up even when the end goal felt so far away. Now that it is within reach, I am so excited for my future, and I can't wait to see where I am in my career ten years from now.
It's happening. My final year of undergrad, moving on to bigger and better things. Karlie Baker: Attorney at Law. Watch out.
