My mission in law...

To be honest, I'm proud of what I've learned in the year since my father passed away. He had kept his past heart problems a secret to purposely keep me from worrying about him. The week before, he had called to tell me about how excited he was to fly in for my graduation that spring. That was the last conversation I had with him.

Rather than mourn the loss of my father, I have celebrated his strengths by taking his determination to succeed as motivation to become more driven towards achieving my goals, despite the new responsibilities I would have and still am having to deal with. For instance, after paying my own expenses to fly overseas to attend funeral services, I chose to remain in school because it was important not let anything keep me from finishing my college education. This is what my father would have wanted most.

In addition to excelling in my pre-law studies, I was the sole executor of my father's estate. Through working my part-time paralegal jobs, I gained the familiarity of how probate operates, as well as the other legal and financial ramifications that come along with a death in the family. I was left with nothing short of true appreciation of the law by experiencing first-hand of my situation from the other side of the desk. In this case, having left behind no will or trust or assets of any kind, my father's death inadvertently forced me into a situation that has helped to firm my resolve in pursuing a legal career.