Comments on: What would I say on Career Day??

By: Raymond

Raymond — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:32:45 +0000

Thanks. I’d lost sight of looking for something that I’d love doing. Listening to my family pressuring me to pursue some high end career that could possibly cause regret has gotten to me. I needed this reminder.

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:46:54 +0000

Seems like there are at least a few people here that are into law. Check out philalawyer.net. His mantra is also “don’t be a lawyer.” I just finished his book and he’s really sharp and mostly talks about the 10+ years of his life he wasted on “law.” Great story-teller.

By: Erica OGrady

Erica OGrady — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:01:17 +0000

One of the questions I always ask on my radio show is if you won 10 million dollars today – what would you do tomorrow? And I always think if that person says they would be doing anything other then what they are doing right now – they are probably in the wrong business.

In fact, I convinced my good friend Jenny Lawson (@thebloggess) to quit her job using just such a line. Now if she fails – it will be all my fault.

By: Martin Cron

Martin Cron — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:16:28 +0000

When I took an intro to law course at the UW, we had a guest speaker who was a successful criminal defense lawyer. He started out by describing the horrible criminal acts his client was accused of. Truly evil stuff. He then explained to the horrified audience how he got his client off on a technicality.

Then he brought it back to why you can get clients off on technicalities: it puts pressure on police and prosecutors to follow the rules and do things the right way. The right to a vigorous defense in criminal trials is an important part of the checks and balances in our free society. Criminal defense law, just like civil liberties law is a mechanism to ensure the freedom and liberty for all of us.

It was one of the most riveting presentations I’ve ever seen. It didn’t make me want to be a lawyer, as I felt pretty established in what I was doing, but it made me sad that I hadn’t seen him years ago when I was in high school. Back then, I never even considered law as a profession.

I didn’t have that many career role models growing up. Maybe these kids don’t either, I don’t know. There seems to be some value in “here’s what I (a real person) do with my life and here’s how it’s awesome for me” as well as “find what makes you happy and do that”.

By: teacherrevised

teacherrevised — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:37:01 +0000

If Allen Ginsberg were alive today, he’d change his poem to, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by law school.”

But I think you’re right. There’s not enough talk about avocation in schools these days—too much focus on vocation.

I hope your friend at least inspired them to ask, “What do I LOVE doing?”