Question of the Day

Sjmonk5 asked:  so my question for you...Are you worried about handling school once the baby comes and do you think your career goals might change after she is born? (i.e. would you worry about the hours a lawyer would have to work, etc.)

Great question - and this is a topic that is constantly on my mind,.  I have to say that out of all the worries I have, this is my biggest concern.  Law school is such a different world than any other schooling I've been through.  It is not a very family friendly atmosphere and even being married is difficult while in law school.  When I first found out I was pregnant, since we had not been planning to start our family quite so soon, I remember panicking about what I was going to do about school.  Sadly, my school has not been helpful in preparing me for the transition back to school.

I head back to school just 5 weeks after my due date.  This short amount of time stresses me out, especially since solely breastfeeding our baby is so incredibly important to me.  Everyone suggested I take a semester off.  But my feeling was that it'll be easier to finish law school before our baby is crawling and walking.  I will say that I am a pusher - so I have pushed and pushed to get my way.  I have put my mommy boxing gloves on and fought it out with my law school.  Law schools have a long way to go in promoting family life.  I am pushing my law school to be more supportive of moms and dads who are brave enough to take on law school (and the debt that comes with it) once kids are in their lives. 

I believe that I can finish law school on time, and do well.  I've worked out 3 different plans depending on how things go with our birth, and how things are going with baby girl when it's time for me to head back to school.  At the end of the day, my biggest responsibility is being a good mom and meeting our daughter's needs.  And I will push for that no matter what, while equally trying to juggle law school.  And let's not forget about trying to maintain a healthy marriage - that is right up there with my responsibility to our daughter. 

Being pregnant has also made me rethink priorities.  Our baby comes first, but having her has also made me realize what type of role model I want to be for our daughter.  I want to be an amazingly devoted mom, but also very successful in my career.  Is it even possible to accomplish both?  I think so! 

I originally was thinking that corporate law or family law might be the areas I'd like to go into.  But as soon as I found out I was pregnant, my interests for careers shifted quite a bit.  After talking with lawyers in each of these areas, I realize that a good worklife balance may not be quite feasible in these two areas.  I am now looking into areas that might provide better balance for being a mom, wife, and lawyer.  Hopefully, it'll all fall into place!

At the end of the day, my advice to someone who may be venturing down a similar adventurous path is to expect that there will be hurdles, major challenges even.  But at the end of the day, if you have a ton of motivation to make it work, and are willing to do the legwork to make it work, then you can do it!  And at the end of it when I'm graduating in May and my daughter is in the audience witnessing that, even though she won't remember that, I think it's so cool that she gets to witness her mama accomplish something so difficult.