I grew up in a house of thinkers and debaters. When my mom, who was an opinionated person, came home from work and community bringing with her the many issues that affected her life and thoughts, I joined her in the discussions, and often lively debates. As a philosophy major looking forward to entering the law profession, I now realize that my mom couldn’t afford to leave her worries, personal or social, behind her at her workplace and come home being able to forget them. With the additional experience of working in hospitals, my skill set as a writing minor, and my family and social backgrounds, I envision being a law professional who can view her professional work as service to society that cannot and should not separate the legal/professional with the critical issues of family and community.

Lawyers are often seen as people fighting in the interest of large and powerful forces such as the Wall Street and broader social policies, but looking back at my family and community, I look at legal issues and policies in terms of how they affect everyday citizens and families like my own. In fact, I want to focus on working to alleviate the struggle faced by people who go to law offices seeking help, because I cannot just stand by and watch their family, friends, jobs and homes fall into ruin. For instance, as I learned from my own mom’s experience, she was concerned about major issues in the news and about the rights that we as people possess. So, my family would often get into deep discussions about major issues in the news like abortion and about welfare.] Oftentimes, the entire family would debate the issue, exploring different points of views about the topic. This helped to shape my mind into the thinker and debater that I am today and I eventually realized that law is a field that I am interested in.  So, as a law student, I know how important it is to provide everyday citizens the right help, and that requires a lot more than just a professional degree.

I want to shape the future and speak out for others because the voice of law is the voice of the people. The profession of law is one that views all angles of a situation. It tries to understand all the things inside of a claim and the law that is applicable to the case so the client can understand their position in respect to it. Law deeply influences every ones’ life as it is the guidelines for what people need to do. I read in Clark University pre law program that “A good lawyer must have insight into information about the institutions and values which concern the public at large, since it is the lawyer who is a force in shaping such institutions.” This is what a lawyer does. In some way it shapes the future for others and impacts the people each lawyer comes in contact with. I want to do this, to be this person.

When I first learned that there is technically no prerequisite for law school (from reading an article), I was excited, because I knew that I could build upon the foundation of philosophy major, my writing minor, and my liberal arts skills and knowledge such as critical thinking. As the article suggested, people who went under the pre-law heading were less likely to go into law school (Wecker). I found that interesting considering that it should actually better prepare you for it. In fact it was philosophy majors who had the highest percentage of students who went into law school. I wanted to pick something I was interested in and that would allow me to continue on the path I had chosen. I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about philosophy but when I took my first class I saw why it was an amazing field for law. It made me feel like I was actually learning about how people created the law and why.

My educational background in philosophy provides me the ability to look at things from many different views, to use logic to figure out the problem, and how to convey my ideas. So long as the ideas they logic were grounded in weren’t shaky. It forced me to think about things in a new light. It did challenge me and it focused me. I began to analyze things and look at them in a different way. I would then ask myself what this meant and how it related to the topic. Do these set of premises make sense and do they lead to the conclusion. It was the fact there was so many meanings and interpretations to one subject that it allowed you to explore and to view the subject in all lights. Is this not what you do in law? Do we not have to think logically and see all angles of the case so that you can come to the proper understanding of why the case was brought to you? Philosophy laid the ground work for what you needed to be a lawyer. It forced you to analyze and read critically something that is expected in a law schools (American Bar Association). You need to be able to understand the views being presented in front of you. You also need to convey these views in a clear manor for the reader. No philosopher could influence the future in the way he/she did if he/she couldn’t at least write his view clearly. I would imagine the LSAT would be riddled with all sorts of logic.

It worked perfectly with my analytical mind and that’s why I began to enjoy going to class and talking about the subject at hand and I feel, the most important thing was that I was talking. I was never big on talking in class. It bothered me, I was very shy about telling people about my opinions and opening up to others but for it is actually very hard not to talk, you have to understand the material you are learning and you also have to talk about it to fully understand all the different avenues that you can take this new philosophical concept. It opened my eyes in different ways in how to approach my life and all the different things going on in it. I shouldn’t be shy about stating my opinion, I should express it freely and accept all the different reactions toward it. I saw it as a growing experience and I welcomed the change but that isn’t the only thing that philosophy improved my life and helped me be better prepared in the field of law.

It also promoted good writing skills which is very important to law schools. Law schools have a lot of writing in them. Imagine writing in a legal document and not knowing proper grammar or to even be able to communicate your thoughts clearly? Who would higher you? No one. People like to know what they are reading and to understand what the law can do for them. This is what I found to be the most important when looking into the career of law. You need understanding. I never really liked writing at all. It upset me in fact because I suppose I didn’t know how to write and write effectively. A big thing is law is writing a document in such a way that your client can understand you even amongst all the legal jargon. They’ve already come to you for help and it would be quite troubling if they could not understand the help they are getting. I realized I needed to improve my writing skills if I wanted to be a good and effective lawyer. Communication is key because you are working with others. How embarrassing would it be if you couldn’t write properly to your own colleague’s? If you are seeking help from inside the law community you have to clearly state what the case is, what laws apply and what you feel will come of this case when you are done.

Law is a very competitive field and that fit my personality perfectly I love to argue. My dad says that “I’m always arguing a case”. It just seemed to fit my personality on a whole. I am now seeing how to my various learning experience can be applied to my new chosen field and I want to continue. Slowly but surely, I am realizing where I can fit my new perspective in life and why it is important to have all these things when progressing into the field of law. I see how law affects many other domains of our personal and social lives and why it is just so important for everyday life.

Works Cited

“Advertisement.” Pre-Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

Pardi, Paul. “Philosophy News | The Value of Philosophy.” Philosophy News. N.p., 31 Aug. 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

“Pre-Law.” Skills and Values Needed for Law School. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014

Wecker, Menachem. “Future Law Students Should Avoid Prelaw Majors, Some Say.”US News. U.S.News & World Report, 29 Oct. 2012. Web. 19 Feb. 2014