How Far I've Come....

Seeing as this is my first official blog, I suppose I should tell you all a little about myself. As you may have already guessed, my name is Dara, and I am in the second semester of my second year at St. Thomas University School of Law. I graduated from the University of South Florida in 2002, moved to New York City to do the starving actress thing, and then moved back home with my parents after deciding that taking my LSAT and going to law school seemed like the lesser of two evils…
Now that the formalities are dispensed with, I can get down to the nitty gritty, the truth about my life, or lack thereof, as a law student… Have you ever had a day where you had nothing to do, and you just stayed in bed all day watching television and reading magazines? Sigh… I remember those days. Those pre law school days. See, I never thought I would end up here. My original plan was miles away from St. Thomas, and from law school in general. I started out as an actress. An honest to goodness, theatre majoring, NYC auditioning, working in retail to pay the bills, actress… It never ceases to amaze me how things turn out. If you would have told me four years ago that I would be sitting in the breezeway at St. Thomas, writing this blog so I didn’t have to read my monster Con Law assignment for tommorrow… I would have called you crazy. But here I am, and my NYC days seem to get further away with every word I type. Don’t think for one minute, though, that I regret my decision to go to law school, because that is definitely not the case. I have channeled my love of theatre into a newfound love of litigation and am completely smitten with the courtroom. Not that it has always been an easy transition. True confession time… I was fortunate enough to land an interview with one of the bigger firms in South Florida. I was so excited… I had my new suit… my resume all prepared… all my perfect answers carefully held on reserve until just the right moment presented itself to impress them with my brilliance… the first attorney I met with was the hiring partner. THE HIRING PARTNER! I was ready. I was so going to land this job. He shook my hand and hit me with the line I will never forget, “So… you were a theatre major? Really? That’s a real major? They really let you major in theatre?” Long story short, he wasn’t kidding… he thought I was a moron without ever hearing one of my brilliant answers. I didn’t get that job.
But its not all sadness and worry here in the land of the reformed actress. I impressed the heck out of another firm who only does litigation (litigators get the whole theatre thing), and I will be working there as a summer associate beginning in May. This “stupid” actress has also been elected the President of Mock Trial, been selected as a member of Law Review, and is going to be published in an upcoming issue of said Law Review. So take that, Mr. You Were An Actress So You Obviously Have No Brain.
I will end with a little unsolicited advice. Don’t let anyone dictate what you can do with your life. You know who you are, and what you are capable of. People will always try to tell you that you can’t. Don’t listen. I never really knew how much I was capable of until I turned my world upside down and came to law school. There are days where I sit back for the few seconds I have to myself and allow myself to think about how far I’ve come…. and I am proud. Live your life in a way that makes you proud! Catch you next time
Cheers,
Dara