The Long Way Around

The Past, Present, and Future: The Path To Law School

I like to write with a theme in mind. For the past few months I have been focused on taking the LSAT exam for Law School so focusing on other topics has not been easy. Let's start with where we left off and move on from there through my stream of consciousness.

Ireland was an amazing experience. Heather and I made it across the country and made the most out of every moment we shared. We ventured through Dublin, Waterford, Galway, Killarney, Blarney, and every road along the way. Our rental car was a Fiat, the model being the "Panda". It was very, very tiny. Combined with the fact that it was also a stick shift, that we had to drive on the opposite side of the road, and that I was driving from the passenger seat made the trip even more interesting. I got used to it by Day 3.

Driving there reminded me of The Shire from Lord of the Rings. It was so incredibly green everywhere we looked. The countryside is littered with farmland, cows, sheep and little homes. It was like a beautiful painting. Once in a while we would spot a castle along the way to our next destination, some bigger than others, stationed upon a lakeside or a hilltop. Too bad we didn't see any knights on horseback roaming the land. One day, I'm sure we will travel there again. I would even consider living there.

Next year, my family, Heather, and I are planning to go to Italy. Prosciutto, wine, history, religion, and good times await us. My parents and I are taking an Italian language class on Tuesday nights. It's sinking in a little.

It's been a few weeks now since I've taken the LSAT test so I'm feeling a bit more refreshed. I'm focusing on applying to different law schools and awaiting my score. I put so much effort into studying that now that I'm finished, I find myself unsure of how to spend my free time. We are slowly but surely writing and filming "Going Nowhere" which only gets better with each occasion we meet up. I'm also thinking a lot about the past and what the future holds in store.

When I first got out of school in 2009 I was very bitter about not being able to get a job in my field. Here I was fresh out of Stony Brook with my Masters Degree with no form of employment. The problem was that the economy had collapsed under George W. Bush at the end of his glorious term, resulting in a hiring freeze in the field of politics. No work for the everyday Master of Arts in Public Policy graduate any longer. What's a guy like me to do?

I tried to make it in other ways.

I started my own business selling posters while delivering pizzas, serving coffee, and acting in various theatre groups. I love acting and enjoyed every moment with SOS but I was killing myself with all those jobs while making very little money. That didn't work.

Then I started selling merchant services to businesses with my cousins. Of course, just like the economy, here was another situation where the business and credit card processing industry as a whole had been much more profitable just a few years earlier. I worked as hard as I possibly could. My time there ended with mixed results. I was still making very little money but gaining residual pay for the accounts I brought on.

Finally, I wound up at Bob's Discount Furniture as a sales associate. This is the most profitable position I have ever held in the workforce. I've been there for five months now and have enjoyed my job as well as the people I work with. I have been successful with a lot of hard work.

A few months in I was struck with a revelation. I've worked so hard on my education that the fact that I could have been doing what I'm currently doing right out of High School is blowing my mind. No position I have ever had has required so much as a Bachelors Degree, yet I have a Masters Degree. I realized that since I'm working hard anyway, I might as well work hard and make the amount of money that I feel I deserve. The time has come to implement a new plan for my life and career. Hence, the LSAT.

When I was a kid I wanted to become a lawyer. Even at a young age, I tended to think things through in the world with logic. I couldn't understand why kids would bully other kids, especially since there would be no apparent instigation, just a seemingly obvious desire to make another person feel bad. It just made no sense to me. I couldn't wait to grow up and be able to deal with people on a more sensible level. I thought that being a lawyer would be the best way to help people through facts and reasoning. Well, somewhere along the way I got sidetracked.

Ironically, had I stayed the course I originally envisioned I would be in my second year of work as a lawyer. Instead I followed other dreams and ambitions of mine. I won't say that my other goals ended in failure, only that I don't have the means to complete them. Risks, investments, and time are what is needed to be successful in business or as an actor/producer. You can't have those things unless you are willing to take a chance or if you have some insider helping you penetrate those fields.

As a lawyer, I will lay down the foundation to be successful in all facets of life. My family, my career, and my dreams. I want to forge a legacy that can be carried on for generations. Someday I will become a film producer and start my own company geared towards people that have the desire and will to be successful. Maybe I'll even start my own brewery. Or perhaps I will love being a lawyer so much that I'll start my own practice. My cousin and I may even start up a delicious burger joint.

See, I want to do lots of things but I finally realized the most direct path to everything I desire is the one I have been avoiding this entire time. I don't know why I didn't see it before, but I do now. I've always held the key within. The path won't be easy, but at least I'm used to working hard at this point in my life.

I find out my score on October 31st, 2012. I'm ready for this.