I love animals. I have four dogs who are the loves of my life! I don't live in Seattle but of all the places that I have ever traveled to, Seattle feels the most like home and I go every chance I get. Seattle will always be my home and I will live there when I graduate law school. I currently work for an engineering firm, I love grocery shopping, I love Kurt Cobain, I hate working out (but I do go), I love traveling, I love love shoes, I love getting into fresh cool sheets, I randomly bought a vintage Airstream on eBay, and the LSAT was a horrible beast who almost ate me alive but didn't... Here is my story...
I graduated in Political Science/Pre-Law in 2009. I was pretty set on NOT going to law school after working for some pretty crooked attorneys during my undergrad years. In fact, I went back to school for Biology in 2010 and something just didn't feel right so I quit and focused on working. I worked at some pretty amazing jobs.
I managed private investigators in the western half of the country, managed guys in the oil and gas industry, worked in the ER at a local hospital, not to mention volunteered and raised money for animal shelters. I felt like I had a pretty good grasp of "the real world" at this point especially since I had worked and volunteered at most of the non-profits in my area during undergrad, some of which include: a domestic violence shelter, the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, teaching people to read, a Hospice day camp for children dealing with the loss of a parent, the local Boys and Girls Club, a shelter for pregnant teens, and YMCA to name a few. I still felt in my heart that I needed more education, but what?
I adopted a dog who changed my world. He was only 22 pounds, had scraps of metal in his belly, and had his color embedded into his neck. I saw him online one day and my heart instantly broke. I had never hurt for another living being like I hurt for him. After much prayers and after he was healed, I got to adopt this beautiful dog who is now 55 pounds! He changed my soul. I was already an animal lover but adopting him pushed me to do more. I went back to school again for a year and a half in Pre-Vet. I even traveled to Canada and Seattle numerous times. I took a road trip to Seattle with my mom and my four pups in my tiny two door Honda.
While in school I worked in emergency veterinary medicine, shelter medicine, and in day practice. I scrubbed in on surgeries, started, IV's, learned to suture, drew blood and ran labs. It was amazing! Some of my co-workers on the other hand were... NOT. I couldn't believe that some of the so called "animal people" were abusing these animals, while they were sick no less. This was a struggle for me. I became an outcast at some of the clinics I worked at because I would always speak up for the animals. I was their voice. Anyway, God pushed me in a direction that I would have never taken for myself. The direction that I initially set off in.
At the end of my time in Pre-Vet, I started having an old, familiar tug at my heart; the same tug at my heart that got me started in Pre-Law to begin with. I secretly looked into it one night and scheduled a meeting with the old Pre-Law adviser at my undergrad institution. In that time, my long lost best friend who had just graduated law school contacted me and we chatted about her wonderful accomplishment and it was one more push towards the inevitable.
It was so heart-breaking to leave the veterinary field. For some of these animals, I was the first bit of love that they ever felt. Many of them died in my arms while their families left them. Many died in my arms having known nothing but horror. I comforted them, helped them and above all, loved every single one whose life was in my hands. I realized though, that it is wonderful to help them this way, to heal them and send them along, but it doesn't change the injustice that so many of them endure. Real healing comes when the laws are changed. I have the ability to change laws and that is amazing to know that I can make a difference. I can do more. I can change the world!
To make a long story...err... shorter, I took the LSAT 3 times. I took it twice before I got into a school that I did not want to go to at all. It was a hard decision to make to not go to this school because even though this school was not my choice at all, hey, I got into law school. Still I wasn't filled with excitement. I enrolled in an LSAT class in a town an hour away and drove three nights a week to this class. All I did was study. I took the test for the third and final time and waited and waited and finally got the news that I was admitted. I couldn't believe it. It was finally real, I was going to LAW SCHOOL!
School will start in August, it's still early and I have some time before things get real. I am just working now and preparing myself. I hope to travel a bit within the next few months. I really want to take myself to Washington DC as kind of a precursor to law school. Anyway, this is my story and I hope everyone enjoys reading it.
XOXO
Stay Fabulous,
LawGirl.